Australian Immigration Minister not informed about New Zealand stepfather

Australian Home Affairs Minister Stephanie Foster has admitted that her department failed to advise Immigration Minister Andrew Giles on court decisions allowing non-citizens to remain in the country despite committing serious crimes.

Giles was under intense pressure from the opposition over a departmental directive that a foreigner’s ties to Australia should be taken into account when a court decides whether to cancel his or her visa.

On this occasion, a New Zealander named CHCY had his visa revoked by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal despite being found guilty of raping his stepdaughter.

“The department has failed (Minister Giles). We failed to follow our very clear protocol and in particular we did not advise him in any way on the … cases that were the subject (of media coverage),” she said at a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday.

“We are not saying that none of these cases have been brought to the minister’s attention. We are saying they have not yet been brought to him… that is what I am trying to get to the bottom of.”

Ministerial Directive 99 was issued in January 2023 after the New Zealand Government raised concerns that too many people were being deported despite having closer ties to Australia than to New Zealand.

This direction requires that visa applications take into account the following factors: protection of the community, whether the conduct constitutes domestic violence, the person’s ties to Australia and the welfare of children.

Interior Ministry officials also announced that 3,309 visitor visas were issued to Israelis and 2,341 to Palestinians between October 7 and March 31 in the wake of the recent war in the Gaza Strip.

According to the committee, only 571 Palestinians managed to arrive safely in Australia.

In response to questions from Green Senator David Shoebridge, ministry officials said the majority had fled Gaza to escape violence.

The total number of tourist visas applied for by Palestinians during the same period was 9,600, of which 1,831 were rejected.

They acknowledged that the rejection rate for tourist visas for Palestinians was above average.

Shoebridge sharply criticized the government for providing about $440,000 in financial assistance to the 571 Palestinians since April, saying that about $800 per person fleeing a war zone was paltry.

Senator Shoebridge also questioned the Department about the Immigration Assessment Authority, which was set up under the Abbott coalition government and is soon to be abolished.

“What are the plans for the 7,500 people whose asylum applications were rejected in the fast-track procedure that the government now recognises as unfair and wants to abolish?” he asked.

“I believe the IAA’s decisions will stand,” Foster said, adding that ministerial intervention would be needed to overturn any decisions.

However, the senator objected, arguing that this could not work in practice.

“How on earth could one person, especially given the other responsibilities of a minister, process thousands and thousands of such applications?”