31st May 2012, 1:58 PM – Representatives Migration Legislation Amendment (The Bali Process) Bill 2012 - Second Reading - Read a second time

An equal number of members voted in favour of and against a motion to read the bill for a second time.

However, the motion was ultimately successful because the Deputy Speaker Anna Burke gave her casting vote with the ayes.

This means that the bill was read a second time.

Someone who voted aye (that is, in favour of the bill), agreed with the main idea of the bill.

Background to the 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 [2011] 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