Labor gives $12m to asylum claims amid migration crunch
Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan has criticised Labor for investing $12m to fund free legal advice for asylum seekers, as the number of protection visa applications surges to new heights.
Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan has criticised Labor for spending $12m to fund free legal advice for refugee claims, as the number of asylum seekers in Australia soars amid a clampdown on net migration.
The Albanese government has been quietly funding legal assistance for asylum seekers to lodge humanitarian visa applications through a $160m package to address the integrity of protection visas claims.
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal the funding, introduced by former immigration minister Andrew Giles in October, was allocated to legal and refugee advocacy organisations in each state and territory to provide “specialist legal assistance at the primary protection visa processing stage”.
The number of asylum seekers in Australia surged to 118,089 last month, including 89,929 who have had their claim rejected and are yet to be deported.
The surge in humanitarian visa applications has triggered warnings that many foreigners applying for protection did not have a legitimate claim, but were instead exploiting prolonged processing times, caused by a significant backlog, to extend their stay. This includes former international students who had been rejected under a government clampdown on student visas.
Mr Tehan said taxpayer funds should not be used to assist asylum seekers file claims, criticising the government for keeping the announcement secret.
“It beggars belief that in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and when more than 50,000 asylum seekers have already arrived by plane since Labor were elected, that Anthony Albanese is using taxpayer money to provide free legal advice to help plane arrivals lodge asylum claims,” he said.
“When Labor announced their plan for asylum seekers arriving by plane in October they never mentioned this funding.
“Since Labor made their October announcement, they have sacked both the home affairs and immigration ministers, and more than 23,000 asylum seekers have arrived by plane, an average of over 2100 arrivals a month.
“Labor can’t be trusted when it comes to immigration and they have no plan to deal with non-genuine asylum seekers arriving by plane.”
Migration has become a point of contention for the government as it pushes to curb overseas arrivals after a post-pandemic surge in temporary visa-holders.
Former immigration official Abul Rizvi said while net migration was declining, it was unlikely to fall fast enough to hit the government’s forecast of 260,00 this financial year. Mr Rizvi said net arrivals in July and August had fallen 15 per cent from the previous year, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics arrivals figures released this week.
“There’s no question migration is been falling now for probably six months, but it’s not falling nearly as fast as the Treasury forecasts require it to fall,” he said.
Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Tony Burke has also come under fire over the rising numbers of asylum claims from Palestinians, since the government allowed those fleeing the Middle East conflict to enter the country on visitor visas. Last month, 118 new protection claims were lodged by Palestinians, bringing the total since the start of the war to 1033.
A spokesman for Mr Burke said the $12m was targeted as addressing exploitation in the migration system, fuelled by unmeritorious asylum claims and massive delays in visa processing.
“We inherited a migration system which was taking almost a decade to process a protection claim, fuelling massive rorting of our migration system and allowing people to game the system to stay in the country for years,” Mr Burke said.
“We have made changes to fix almost every aspect of that system, aimed at reducing processing times and quickly throwing out fraudulent applications. Undoing a decade of wilful mismanagement will take time.
“The opposition complain about the backlog, which they created, and now complain about the efforts to fix it.”
More Coverage
Join the conversation
Hindmarsh Island bridge expert debunks ‘blue-banded bee’ tale
The anthropologist whose research helped to debunk the ‘fabricated’ secret women’s business at the Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission has cast serious doubt on claims of a dreaming story about the blue-banded bee at the proposed Blayney gold mine.
Read more
Tanks for the fight to save a democracy: Australia answers Kyiv’s firepower plea
Australia will donate 49 of the army’s M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in the nation’s most significant and lethal contribution to the country’s war against Russia.
Read more