‘Madness’ for Labor to block deportation law

Labor’s move to oppose legislation expanding the government’s ability to revoke criminals’ visas has been labelled ‘madness’.

Immigration Minister David Coleman. Picture: Kym Smith

Labor’s move to oppose legislation expanding the government’s ability to revoke the visas of criminals — which New Zealand has said would damage bilateral relations with Australia — has been labelled as “madness” by government MP Jason Wood.

The opposition says the threshold for deportation under the laws is too low and could lead to the deportation of young offenders who may be caught shoplifting, making threats or for dangerous driving.

The New Zealand government opposes the legislation as the ­Coalition has already ramped up the deportation of non-citizen criminals that has led to a large increase in New Zealanders who have lived most of their lives in Australia being sent across the Tasman.

The Ardern government says the new laws will increase those numbers.

Victorian Liberal Mr Wood, a member of the intelligence committee who previously worked with the Victoria Police counter-terrorism unit, said the move by Labor was “madness” and would give a “green light” to criminals.

He said it meant the government would have to rely on crossbenchers to get its legislation passed.

Immigration Minister David Coleman said Bill Shorten was “refusing to support a bill that would remove foreign criminals from Australia”.

“These crimes inflict long-lasting trauma on victims and their friends and family. Those foreign criminals who commit them are not welcome in our country,” he said.

Scott Morrison is due to visit New Zealand this month to discuss co-operation in the Pacific Islands.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he complained about the issue during a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Marise Payne last week.

“That sort of thing is not helpful to our relationship at a time when our sound relationship is a critical objective,” Mr Peters said.

It has become a red-button issue in New Zealand. The Ardern government has said the new laws would “make a bad situation worse for … New Zealand … The further imbalance in treatment of New Zealanders compared to their Australian counter­parts in New Zealand would exacerbate the corrosive impact of the 2014 changes to the Migration Act on the New Zealand-Australia relationship.”

The opposition’s immigration spokes­man, Shayne Neumann, said there were already “strong laws in place” to cancel or refuse visas on character grounds under Section 501 of the Migration Act.

“These laws already allow the minister to stop criminals from coming to Australia — and allow the minister to kick them out if they’re here.”

The Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill was scheduled to be debated in the first sitting week of parliament this year.

The bill expands the grounds for visa cancellations and anyone convicted of an offence punishable by at least two years in prison could have their visa cancelled.

It includes “designated offences” such those involving violence, sexual assault, use or possession of weapons and domestic abuse.