Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton Source: AAP
The federal Immigration Minister has defended proposed changes to the Migration Act that would extend his powers to make visa-related decisions for "a specific class of persons". Under the changes, which the government says are relevant to a 10-year visitor visa for Chinese nationals, Peter Dutton could require revalidation checks for categories of visa holders if deemed to be in the public interest. Labor says the proposal doesn't guarantee adequate scrutiny and leaves open the possibility that groups of people could be prevented from entering, or living in, Australia based on the passports they carry or countries they've travelled to.
The federal Immigration Minister has defended proposed changes to the Migration Act that would extend his powers to make visa-related decisions for "a specific class of persons". Under the changes, which the government says are relevant to a 10-year visitor visa for Chinese nationals, Peter Dutton could require revalidation checks for categories of visa holders if deemed to be in the public interest. Labor says the proposal doesn't guarantee adequate scrutiny and leaves open the possibility that groups of people could be prevented from entering, or living in, Australia based on the passports they carry or countries they've travelled to.
