Dutton to get powers to override citizenship decisions

New citizenship laws will give Peter Dutton powers to override controversial AAT decisions granting criminals citizenship.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton. Picture Kym Smith

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton would be able to override Administrative Appeals Tribunal decisions granting criminals citizenship under a tranche of new laws due to be debated in parliament this week.

The new laws would have allowed Mr Dutton to set aside controversial Administrative Appeals Tribunal decisions which have allowed rapists, violent organised crime bosses and paedophiles to remain in Australia in recent years.

Mr Dutton said the laws would align citizenship laws with current laws which apply to the granting and cancellation of visas.

“The line between the current arrangement in terms of visas and the treatment of a cancellation or in fact a reinstatement of the visa, that law at the moment is an anomaly in terms of the way in which it applies to the citizenship aspect, so this change that we’re proposing really just aligns our treatment under the citizenship provisions as it does with the current visas,” he said.

“That means that people can appeal, which is their right, to the full Federal Court, ultimately to the High Court in some circumstances if a case is with merit, so there is that ability, but the important point here is that this aligns the current treatment of a visa cancellation and a reinstatement by the AAT.”

Mr Dutton said he didn’t expect to overrule the tribunal’s decisions on citizenship very often.

“There were three cases that were pointed out in the paper today where somebody, as a paedophile, had had their decision by the AAT changed so they had the ability to become Australian citizen,” he said.

“It will also apply to people who are involved in serious crime or terrorist activity, for example.

“I think we’re just reflecting modern reality and making sure that people who become Australian citizens will abide by our laws and values.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Mr Dutton announced the overhaul of citizenship laws and policy in April.

The changes will include a tougher Australian values test, greater English language proficiency and an increase in the length of time people need to spend as permanent residents before they can apply for citizenship.

Abbott: citizenship laws a test for Labor

Former prime minister Tony Abbott said the passage of the citizenship laws would be a test for the Labor Party.

“Do they want properly accountable decisions, or do they want the accountable elected politicians constantly being second-guessed by the unelected and largely unaccountable members of the Administrative Appeals tribunal?” Mr Abbott told 2GB.

“I reckon that frankly there should be a long, hard look at members of the AAT and those that make bizarre decisions shouldn’t have their contracts renewed.”

“It’s got to be a common sense tribunal and I think that based on decisions that we’ve been reading about in the papers, to overturn sensible official decisions, common sense is pretty rare in the AAT right now.”

Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh said that despite announcing the citizenship changes in April, Mr Dutton was yet to make the legislation public.

Dr Leigh said Labor would work through the detail of the powers allowing Mr Dutton to override court decisions.

“But I think Peter Dutton is largely interested in his own power plays and less interested in details of legislation,” he told Sky News.

“If he wasn’t, he’d be public about the consultations and he would have given Labor a copy of the legislation weeks ago.”

“If he wants our support, he needs to work with us. We’re up for a constructive discussion about improving laws, but the document in April almost contained more photos than it did words. “There’s very little detail out there on the public domain about issues that really matter.”