Peter Dutton turns visa heat on Labor

Peter Dutton has turned the blowtorch on Labor MPs who have asked him to intervene in immigration cases.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in Brisbane yesterday. Picture: AAP

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has turned the blowtorch on Labor MPs who have asked him to intervene in immigration cases, ­including bikies “involved in ­serious crimes”, amid an ­escalation of the au pair scandal.

Mr Dutton’s office last night ­released details of a number of cases to show Labor MPs had ­advocated on behalf of their constituents to overturn a departmental decision, including senator Jacinta Collins who made a representation for British national Nikko Kelly.

Mr Kelly was convicted and ­imprisoned for recklessly causing injury in 2013. While he arrived in Australia in 1998 and had permanent residency, he had not ­obtained citizenship and was sent back to Britain in May last year after his visa was mandatorily ­cancelled.

Asked why she advocated for Mr Kelly, Senator Collins told The Australian: “He had been born, bred and raised in Australia. He had no connections in the UK. His crimes were related to drug abuse, where he obviously needed support. His family, including his 10-year-old daughter, suffer lack of complete access to the father or the son.”

Mr Dutton has been under pressure for using special ministerial powers to allow a French and Italian au pair to enter Australia on tourist visas, on condition they did not work, after representations from AFL boss Gillon McLachlan and a former Queensland police colleague Russell Keag.

GRAPHIC: Time for an intervention

Launching a counter-attack yesterday, Mr Dutton said he had a “very good list” of Labor MPs who had come to him with “quirky cases”, and questioned whether they had a “personal friendship” with those people. He singled out Labor frontbenchers Chris Bowen, Brendan O’Connor and Tony Burke, who were immigration ministers during the Rudd and Gillard governments.

“I would like you to ask them questions about the sorts of visas they have issued or where they intervened to use their ministerial power,” he said. “I suspect it is completely above board and not too different from many of the facts in the cases where I have been able to act.

“I’ve got countless examples where Labor were issuing visas to bikies, to people who were ­involved in serious crimes. I don’t know whether those people had links to the CFMEU.”

In another instance, opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann asked for two Fijian footballers to have their visas extended so they could play for a local rugby league team after the department rejected them over ­eligibility concerns. Mr Dutton used ministerial discretion to allow them to stay.

Bill Shorten yesterday said he did he did not know whether he had ­approached Mr Dutton or a previous immigration minister to ­intervene in a migration case for a constituent.

The Australian understands the Opposition Leader has made a handful of representations regarding the immigration portfolio but not necessarily about the granting or stripping of a visa.

“Ministerial discretion is part of the system, we all know that, but I don’t know if ministerial discretion was ever designed to ­rescue au pairs on tourism visas in Australia,” Mr Shorten said. “The real issue that Australians are raising with me is it’s not what you know, it’s who you know under this Liberal government. That’s not the way to run an immigration policy.”

Mr O’Connor said he had never used his ministerial discretionary powers for or at the behest of friends. Mr Burke and Mr Bowen said at no stage had they intervened to help au pairs who had “broken the rules”.

Greens MP Adam Bandt said he would move a no-confidence motion against Mr Dutton when parliament resumed next week with the support of independent Andrew Wilkie and Labor, claiming he had “misled parliament”.