The fairness of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's decisions to grant visas to a series of au pairs has been called into question as part of a Senate inquiry.
In her submission to the inquiry on the matter, registered migration agent of 18 years Helen Duncan singled out the failed ministerial intervention plea of a Vietnamese family who had lived, worked and studied in Australia for a decade.
French au pair Alexandra Deuwel - Mr Dutton intervened to help the woman stay in Australia. Source: SBS News
"It seemed so unfair to me that the minister did not deem it in the interests of Australia to let them stay," Ms Duncan said.
"They would have made ideal Australians. However, they were people without any higher level connections."
Ms Duncan acknowledged that Mr Dutton receives hundreds of requests each year, but stressed such powers should be applied with integrity.
"In my experience I believe that it is often a case of who the applicant knows that decides the outcome, rather than the merits of the application," she said.
"This appears to be the case with the au pairs who were granted visitor visas despite an assessment by the immigration official at the airport, that they intended to work in breach of the conditions on their visa."
Australians had until August 31 to send in submissions for the inquiry run by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee.
The Senate referred the matter for inquiry on August 23, with a final report due by September 11.
The Labor-dominant committee received only four public submissions in that time - three from Queensland, the home of Mr Dutton's electorate.
Italian au pair Michela Marchisio. Source: SBS News
For his part, Mr Dutton described the Senate inquiry as "dodgy" in an interview with 2GB on Thursday, rejecting assertions he had acted improperly.
"I had a look at the case and I made a judgement based on the merit of the case. Not my knowledge of the person that had referred it," he said.
Speaking to Sky News on Friday, Labor immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann was forthright: "I think it stinks," he said.
"The Australian public would say it reeks of hypocrisy."
Labor leader Bill Shorten even roasted Mr Dutton on the issue in an address to the Queensland state Labor conference on Saturday.
"I mean seriously, what is the go with the au pairs?" he quipped.
"Who would have thought such an arch-conservative, inspiration to the Institute of Public Affairs, was secretly working towards a nanny state?"
