Summary of proposal
Party
Australian Greens
Policy Topic
Immigration
Portfolio
Home Affairs

This proposal has 5 components.

Component 1 – End offshore detention would commence from 1 July 2022, and would:

  • Abolish Australian funding for offshore detention centres, honouring all contractual commitments in place as at 1 March 2022.
  • Abolish the practice of removing unauthorised maritime arrivals in suspected illegal entry vessels from Australian waters (‘boat turnbacks’).
  • Continue Navy operations and the current criminal penalties for operators of boats. • Continue the defence in-depth operations which would continue to deter and disrupt people smuggling operations in neighbouring jurisdictions in the region and continue the strategic messaging campaigns and co-operative diplomatic dialogue and support currently in place.
  • Use existing onshore detention facilities and, if required, set up new facilities in, or near, domestic regional centres.
  • Establish a seven-day time limit on onshore immigration detention, contingent on the completion of health, character and security checks.
    • Preliminary checks would be completed in seven days, and within current budgets.
    • For cases where red flags were raised through a preliminary check, or where the preliminary checks could not be completed within a week, a seven-day extension could be sought from the courts.
  • Accommodate the majority of asylum seekers arriving by boat in community detention while claims are processed
  • Abolish Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEV).
    • Current TPV and SHEV holders would be granted a Permanent Protection Visas (PPVs).
    • Current TPV and SHEV applicants would be granted a bridging visa and provided assistance under the Status Resolution Support Services program.
    • The number of PPVs granted would be in addition to the number of PPVs granted under the Humanitarian program.

Component 2 – Increase Australia’s humanitarian intake would commence from 1 July 2022, and would:

  • Increase Australia’s annual humanitarian program to 50,000 places per year, exclusive of the quota for Community Support Program places.
    • There would be 5,000 places for onshore (SC 785) and 45,000 places for offshore (SC 200, 201, 203 and 204) humanitarian applications in each year. This would include offering resettlement in Australia to all refugees and people seeking asylum who were detained offshore in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
    • If the annual quota is reached, people arriving by boat would be held in Australian immigration onshore detention facilities and processed in the following year.
    • This increase in places would include the additional 16,500 Humanitarian visas allocated for Afghan nationals over 4 years from 2022-23 under the 2022-23 Budget, and would increase this to 20,000 places for people fleeing conflict and persecution in Afghanistan, within the current cap of 50,000 places per year.
  • Increase the cap for the community sponsorship program to 10,000 places, with the following arrangements.
    • The Australian Government would cover visa processing costs.
    • The sponsor would provide travel and accommodation costs, food and living expenses and would assist with employment opportunities. This employment assistance would replace any Commonwealth assistance.
    • The refugee would have access to the same services as entrants under the humanitarian intake with these costs covered by the sponsor.

Component 3 – More funding to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would provide additional funding to UNHCR offices in Indonesia and Malaysia totalling $500 million, evenly distributed over four years from 1 July 2023, with the strategic aim of supporting multilateral efforts to stop boat departures and encourage asylum seekers to use existing UNHCR resettlement channels, in light of the increased humanitarian intake.

Component 4 – Royal Commission into the immigration detention system would provide $60 million in 2022-23 for a one-year Royal Commission into the immigration detention system.

Component 5 – Additional Humanitarian places for refugees from Ukraine would commence from 1 July 2022, and would:

  • Provide 20,000 permanent protection visas for Ukrainian citizens over a period of up to 2 financial years. These places would be in addition to Australia’s annual humanitarian intake.
  • Provide permanent protection visas to any Ukrainian citizen who is in Australia on a temporary visa over the next 2 financial years.