Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam has conceded it is “hard to put a number” on the amount of migrants targeted by the Coalition’s hard line immigration policy, which proposes a taskforce to deport illegal residents from the country and claims migrants from liberal democracies are more likely to share “Australian values”.
This week, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor revealed what he described as a policy to ensure migrants share “Australian values”, drive out illegal residents and “put up a red light to radicals”. He claimed the Coalition’s Australian Values Migration Plan would close the door to people who “are actively working against our nation”.
Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam described the immigration system as “broken”.
“For too long, we’ve turned a blind eye to a reality of immigration and integration,” Mr Taylor said on Wednesday.
“Those who migrate from liberal democracies have a greater likelihood of subscribing to Australian values compared to those migrating from places ruled by fundamentalists, extremists, and dictators.”
He said the Coalition would strengthen social media screening tests for visa applicants and establish a “joint agency task force” to remove unlawful overstayers from the country.
The comments triggered scathing backlash from human rights organisations and refugee advocates, including Amnesty International, the Refugee Council and the Asylum Seekers’ Resource Centre. Many branded Mr Taylor’s rhetoric as divisive and accused him of demonising migrants.
On Sunday, Mr Duniam did not provide a figure when asked how many people would be deported or have their visas cancelled under the policy, if the Coalition won government, saying it was “very hard” to put a number on it.
“I don’t think you can put a number on that. If we’re doing our job properly and stopping the bad eggs from coming in, then it would be a minimal number,” he said.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor revealed the Coalition’s immigration plan in an address to the Menzies Research Centre. Picture: Gaye Gerard/ NewsWire
Grilled on the policy’s scope, Mr Duniam later added: “It’s very hard to put a number on these things, because there are global events.”
“You have conflicts in certain parts of the world which drive immigration patterns,” he said.
But the Coalition would put “resources and efforts into supporting agencies” responsible for enforcing immigration standards, including the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force and the Home Affairs department.
“To (weed) out these people before they get here in the application process and anyone that does happen to get here somehow, and we would do everything we can to stop this, we’d boot them immediately,” he said.
Critics have also questioned how the Coalition’s plan differs from the existing character test provisions, namely the Australian Values Statement that all visa applicants must sign and pledge to abide by.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke dismissed the Coalition’s immigration proposal. Picture: Gaye Gerard/ NewsWire
But Mr Duniam brushed the commentary aside, telling Sky News Sunday Agenda: “Well, critics will always criticise, won’t they? Or else they wouldn’t have much to say.”
“But the reality is, what this government does with regard to the values statement and the values test is they don’t make it enforceable,” he said.
The Coalition’s proposal seeks to amend the Migration Act to establish a legally binding values test as a visa condition. It comes despite the existing powers of the Home Affairs Minister to cancel or refuse visas under the same legislation.
Critics of the Coalition’s policy, including Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, have called on the Coalition to provide an example of a person whose visa cannot currently be cancelled or refused under the Minister’s existing powers.