Coalition calls for 'extraordinary' immigration powers to be tightened as High Court ruling looms

The federal government is seeking new powers to help respond to a cohort of people currently being held in immigration detention. (Immigration Department, file photo)

The federal government’s bid to gain extraordinary new immigration powers to aid deportations of non-citizens rests on whether it is willing to do a deal with the Coalition to make a series of amendments.

A Labor-led Senate committee has been reviewing the migration amendment which passed the House of Representatives in March before it was stalled in the Senate.

The changes would make it easier to deport non-citizens by granting the government power to force certain people to apply to leave the country or else face imprisonment.

It would also allow the government to effectively ban travel from countries that do not accept involuntary returns of their citizens.

The government was seeking to have the powers before the High Court ruled on the case of a man known as ASF-17, who is refusing to co-operate with authorities seeking to deport him to Iran, where he argues he will face persecution.

The High Court will hand down its judgement on Friday, which government solicitors say will have implications for 150 people being held in immigration detention.

While the Coalition backed the bill in the lower house, it joined with the Greens to refer the matter to a committee ahead of a vote in the Senate.

Coalition pushes for rules to be tightened

In a dissenting report attached to the Senate inquiry’s findings, the Coalition proposed 17 amendments that it said were necessary in order for the opposition to support the bill, including more oversight provisions.

The committee’s deputy chair, Liberal senator Paul Scarr, said the legislation as drafted could also affect thousands more people than intended.

“We want to make sure that people who still have judicial review proceedings on foot, who have made ministerial applications, that their position is considered in this bill and that removal powers do not apply for them,” he said.

“The scope of this bill at the moment, as it’s presently drafted before amendment, would apply to thousands of people in Australia.

“We think it’s really important to narrow down the scope of the bill and make it absolutely clear that these extraordinary powers, which would apply mandatory minimum criminal penalties, only apply in situations where people have genuinely exhausted all avenues to stay in Australia.”

Senator Scarr also said there needed to be a greater focus on the potential consequences of designating a country for visa processing to be paused.

The Coalition has recommended the bill be amended to require the minister to consider the potential impact of that on diaspora communities.

It has also recommended adding a sunset clause for designations, meaning they would expire after three years.