No guarantee of Australian residency for Hong Kong visa holders: Tudge

Hongkongers granted safe haven in Australia will not necessarily be allowed to stay permanently, Population Minister warns.

Hong Kong residents who are seeking protection visas, Karen and her son Wai (6), at Blacktown Station in Sydney. Population Minister Alan Tudge won’t guarantee that anyone in Australia who is fearful of returning to Hong Kong will be allowed to stay. Picture: News Corp

Population Minister Alan Tudge has not guaranteed that pro-democracy Hongkongers who fear persecution from Beijing will be able to stay in Australia.

Mr Tudge said the government’s proposals, which offer a path to citizenship for Hongkongers in Australia on skilled worker and student visas, did not mean every temporary migrants from the Asian city would be able to stay in Australia permanently.

“What we are saying is that people will have the opportunity to apply for permanent residency,” Mr Tudge said on ABC’s Insiders program.

“But I mean, if there is a serious security issue in relation to that person, they will be sent back. If there’s a character concern, they will be sent back.

.@AlanTudgeMP says he can't guarantee that Hong Kong citizens currently in Australia will be allowed to stay. #insiders #auspol pic.twitter.com/7aZglnPmQy

— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) July 11, 2020

Under the government’s proposals announced last week, Hongkongers on skilled worker and student visas can have a five-year extension on their stay.

“At the end of the five-year period, we’re indicating at the moment that they will get the option to apply for permanent residency,” Mr Tudge said.

“What we’ve done is that we’ve offered particular visas for people to come here, and particularly the global talent who is residing there.

“And we’ve also signalled that we want to get some of the businesses who want to move locations to come to Australia as a great destination for them to set up shop.”

The visa changes were made after Scott Morrison suspended Australia’s extradition treaty with Hong Kong and declared Beijing’s implementation of tough new national security laws in the city represented a “fundamental change of circumstances”.

Mr Tudge defended the government’s decision to not include a special humanitarian intake for pro-democracy supporters in Hong Kong, declaring people who were persecuted could apply under the existing programs.

“If people are genuinely persecuted and they can prove that case, then they can apply for one of our humanitarian visas in any case,” Mr Tudge said.

“That option is open to everybody, regardless of which country they are in if they are facing persecution … they are able to apply for a humanitarian visa.”

Mr Tudge said there was “certainly a greater risk” that pro-democracy supporters in Hong Kong could be persecuted under Beijing’s new laws.

“It does change the situation in Hong Kong. And that means that many Hong Kong passport holders may be looking for other destinations to go to, and hence why we have put forward our additional visa options for them,” Mr Tudge said.

Opposition immigration spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said the policy did not offer a “safe haven” for Hongkongers.

“Despite Scott Morrison’s announcement, Tudge refused to guarantee that anyone in Australia who is fearful of returning to Hong Kong would be allowed to stay here,” Senator Keneally tweeted.

An utterly confusing @InsidersABC interview from Acting Immigration Minister @AlanTudgeMP. Despite @ScottMorrisonMP’s announcement, Tudge admitted the Govt has *not* created a visa or pathway to permanent residency for Hong Kong citizens.

Talk about over promise & never deliver.

— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) July 11, 2020