Clive Palmer strikes deal over safe haven, TPVs for asylum-seekers

CLIVE Palmer has struck a deal with the government to deploy asylum-seekers to labour-starved regions of Australia.

CLIVE Palmer has struck a deal with the government to deploy detained asylum-seekers to labour-starved regions of Australia, helping to clear Labor’s backlog of 30,000 unprocessed refugee claimants.

The five-year “safe haven enterprise visas” will be open to “legacy” asylum-seekers who arrived under the Rudd and Gillard governments but were not accommodated in the humanitarian intake.

The government is also reintroducing temporary protection visas for asylum-seekers.

VISAS: Morrison wins Palmer backing

SHEV asylum-seekers would be “required to confine themselves to designated regions” with labour shortages, but would be rewarded with the opportunity to apply for an onshore visa if they can stay off welfare benefits for three-and-a-half years.

They would never be allowed to apply for a permanent refugee visa, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said.

The SHEVs would be offered as an alternative to “temporary protection visas”, which would expire every three years, allowing the government to reconsider whether the refugee still needed protection.

Like TPVs, the SHEVs would not entitle asylum-seekers to family reunion and they would not be allowed to re-enter Australia if they left.

Mr Palmer’s senators would provide three of the six Senate crossbench votes needed by the government to pass the legislation.

Mr Palmer, speaking in Brisbane, said “everyone” on Christmas Island and in mainland detention Australia would have the ability to apply for SHEVs.

“There are a lot of places in Australia where you just can’t get (workers),” the Palmer United leader said.

“I was talking to a mayor last night (who said) you can’t get a person to assist in radiology, for example. There are a lot of local regions and councils that would know that.

“This is a really positive thing for those rural communities. It’s a really positive thing for these people to be given this opportunity. They can also elect to decide they want to study in a regional section of Australia, if they want to.”

Mr Morrison told parliament: “TPVs will provide refugees with stability and a chance to get on with their lives, while at the same time guaranteeing that people-smugglers do not have a ‘permanent protection visa product’ to sell to those who are thinking of travelling illegally to Australia.”

“The SHEV will be an alternative temporary visa to the TPV, and encourages enterprise through earning and learning.

“A state or territory government, local government, or employer can request to be designated.”

Mr Morrison stressed the TPVs and SHEVs would only be available to asylum-seekers whose refugee claims are verified.