Migration Legislation Amendment (The Bali Process) Bill 2012

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Greens Senator Christine Milne.

Among other things, the amendments would have increased Australia's refugee intake, increased funding to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and call for Australia to enter discussions with Indonesia relating to refugees.

Someone who votes aye in this division supports these amendments. The majority voted no in this amendment so it was unsuccessful.

Background to Bill

The bill was introduced by Independent MP Rob Oakeshott in response to the High Court's decision in Plaintiff M70/2011 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship () HCA 32, which put an end to the Labor Government's Malaysia Solution policy.(Read more about the decision on Wikipedia here and on ABC News here. Read more about the effect of this decision on the Malaysia Solution here. )

To this end, the bill amends the Migration Act 1958 to replace the existing framework for taking offshore entry persons to another country to assess their refugee claims.(More information about this bill and context can be found here.) It also amends the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 in relation to making and implementing any decision to remove, deport or take a non-citizen child from Australia. However, these amendments would only have effect for a period of 12 months.

By making these amendments, the bill attempts to codify the Bali Process into domestic law.

References