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2010-2011
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
SENATE
Migration Amendment (Declared Countries) Bill (No. 2) 2011
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by the authority of Senator Hanson-Young)
GENERAL OUTLINE: Policy Rationale
The very nature of the debate around whether Australia will send asylum seekers who have
arrived by boat, seeking our protection, to a third country, be it Malaysia, Papua New Guinea,
Manus Island or Nauru, should not be a decision left to the Minister of the day.
The Migration Amendment (Declared Countries) Bill (No. 2) 2011 seeks to amend the
Migration Act 1958 and the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 to require that any agreement to
send asylum seekers to a third country is brought before both houses of Parliament as a
disallowable instrument.
This Bill is not about preventing the Government from engaging in international affairs, or
overriding any attempt to negotiate a genuine regional protection framework, but rather
acknowledges that any proposal of this nature is given the attention and debate it deserves.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short title
This clause provides for the bill, when enacted, to be cited as the Migration
Amendment (Declared Countries) Act (No. 2) 2011.
Clause 2 - Commencement
This clause provides for sections 1 to 3 of the Act to commence on the day it receives
Royal Assent, and Schedules 1 and 2 to commence the day after this Act receives
Royal Assent.
Clause 3 - Schedule(s)
This clause provides that an Act that is specified in a Schedule is amended or repealed
as set out in that Schedule, and any other item in a Schedule operates according to its
terms.
Schedule 1 - Amendment of the Migration Act 1958
Item 1 - After subsection 198A(4) insert subsections 198A(4A) and (4B)
This amendment ensures that any declaration that is made under subsection 198A(3)
is a disallowable legislative instrument, that cannot come into effect until it is laid on
the table of both Houses of Parliament.
Schedule 2 - Amendment of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003
Item 1 - subsection 44(2) (table item 26)
This amendment ensures that declarations made under subsection 198A(3) are
disallowable legislative instruments.