Hon Christopher Finlayson

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General) on behalf of the Minister of Immigration: I move, That the Immigration Act 2009 Amendment Bill be now read a first time. The Minister, the Hon Jonathan Coleman, is not here tonight because he and his wife have just had a child, and that is a cause of great celebration. But I will not talk about squawking children too much, because I certainly do not want to upset Mr Chauvel.

I do not intend to use my full quota of speaking time for a bill that is as short as this one. I would like to take the time, however, to note that the Immigration Act was passed in this House last year with considerable support. Both the Government and Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition understand the importance of immigration, and understand the importance of this Act in modernising and future-proofing the immigration legislation. Work towards implementing the Act is under way, and this bill will support the continuation of that work. It will ensure that specified powers and functions in the Act can be exercised early.

For example, it will allow the Immigration and Protection Tribunal to be set up, and will allow the chair of that tribunal to initiate the education and training of members before the tribunal starts to hear appeals. It will also allow the chair to begin to work, for example, on a code of conduct for members. The new tribunal is a cornerstone of the new Act, as it will enable the streamlining of the appeals system. It has been put in place to reduce duplication and delay in the system.

The principal Act is significant legislation, and the implementation of the changes that are being introduced is indeed a sizable task. Section 474 was included in the Act to allow certain implementation work to be done by the Department of Labour before the rest of the Act comes into effect. This bill will bring that section into force on the day after the bill receives the Royal assent. I commend this bill to the House.