Lifetime refugee visa ban off Morrison’s agenda … for now

There are no plans to revive the government’s ‘lifetime ban’ bill that would make it easier to resettle refugees in New Zealand.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Picture: Getty Images

There are no plans to revive the government’s “lifetime ban” bill, which if passed would make it easier for Scott Morrison to accept New Zealand’s offer to annually resettle 150 refugees from Nauru and Manus Island.

Confirmation the government was not considering the bill came as New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the offer remained on the table but there had been no conversations between the two governments in recent days. The Prime Minister has not ruled out accepting Ms Ardern’s resettlement offer after managing to repeal the controversial medivac laws with crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie’s support.

Government sources said Senator Lambie’s “proposal” she demanded in exchange for her vote for the medivac repeal was already Coalition policy, amid claims they had clinched a “secret deal”.

Mr Morrison wants the lifetime ban bill, which would stop people who were adults when they were sent to Manus Island and Nauru from applying for an Australian visa if they are resettled in a third country, legislated before considering the New Zealand option.

“We’ve always been very aware of the New Zealand government’s offer,” Mr Morrison said.

“Our objective hasn’t changed and our record speaks for itself. Every child off Nauru, every child out of detention. We’ve closed the detention centres that Labor had to open. Our record speaks to our objective and our aspiration, and that is to resolve the caseload that’s there.”

The lifetime ban bill, initially introduced by the Coalition in 2016 and reintroduced to the lower house in July, would give the minister the power to allow an affected refugee to apply for a visa to Australia if they deemed it was in the public interest.

It would also close the so-called backdoor loophole if refugees were resettled across the Tasman, as New Zealand citizens are able to live and work in Australia without applying for a visa.

When parliament resumes in February, the government will hold 36 of 76 Senate seats and require just three crossbench votes to pass legislation when it does not have the support of Labor or the Greens. Centre Alliance, which holds two Senate votes, is opposed to the lifetime ban.

Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff has proposed a temporary ban, such as for 10 years, for any refugee resettled in New Zealand but this was never taken up by Immigration Minister David Coleman.

Labor frontbencher Stephen Jones said Labor was supportive of the New Zealand offer but labelled the lifetime ban “impractical”.

“Let’s say one of them (a refugee resettled in New Zealand) joins the New Zealand National Party and becomes a minister in the New Zealand parliament. Is that guy excluded from coming to Australia?” Mr Jones told Sky News. “Let’s say they’re the trade minister. Are they excluded from coming to Australia? We’re talking about forever and ever and ever sort of arrangement. I think that’s a little bit silly.”

Senator Lambie declined to confirm whether what she sought in return for voting to scrap the medivac laws was Coalition policy, nor say when she understood her proposal would take effect.