Extract from ABC News
Analysis
Being released from Christmas Island into "community detention" in Perth this week was a welcome relief for the Murugappan family.
But these Tamil asylum seekers remain in limbo and, for all the confusion within the Coalition about what to do next, one thing is crystal clear: there will be no permanent resettlement for the family under the current government and the current law.
Both the Prime Minister and the Immigration Minister have stressed this point. Any refugee status bestowed on the family (which is by no means guaranteed) would not be permanent. They would join more than 18,000 others on temporary refugee visas.
This is the so-called
"legacy caseload" or perhaps more accurately described as the "forgotten
caseload". Like the Murugappans, these 18,000 people are amongst those
who fled to Australia by boat nearly a decade ago. Unlike the
Murugappans, they have already been found to be genuine refugees.
The idea that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke would use his powers to grant permanent visas to a family who have been found by the courts not to be refugees was never in contemplation, particularly when so many who have been found to be deserving of protection remain stuck on temporary visas.
Labor has long supported returning this family to the Queensland town of Biloela. It repeatedly calls on the Minister to use his discretion to "let them stay in Biloela". Labor, however, has been far more careful about declaring whether they should be granted permanent visas when thousands of refugees in Australia have not.
Supporting permanency for the Murugappans, but not those already determined to be refugees, would be a difficult argument to make.
At this point, it's worth briefly recalling the political history of Temporary Protection Visas in Australia.
Visa restrictions slammed as punitive, cruel
The idea of granting only temporary refuge to those fleeing persecution was first floated by Pauline Hanson back in 1998. The following year, TPVs became Howard Government policy as the Coalition chased back votes lost to One Nation.
Labor abhorred the concept and the Rudd Government abolished the temporary visas in 2008. In 2014, after a change of government, they were back. The Abbott Government, with Scott Morrison as immigration minister, restored three-year Temporary Protection Visas, along with the new five-year Safe Haven Enterprise Visas for those willing to work or study in a regional area.
Both visas allow refugees to work, study, access Medicare and Centrelink benefits as well as schools for their kids while they're in Australia. Unlike permanent visa holders, however, these refugees aren't allowed to apply for family reunions.
Those on a TPV or SHEV can't access HECS, meaning if they want to go to university, they must pay the full international student rate. And as the name suggests, refugees on these temporary visas must re-apply every three or five years to prove they would still face persecution "back home".
It's the uncertainty created by this lack of permanency that's long been criticised. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for example, calls the conditions placed on TPV holders, "punitive" and "cruel".
The government is unmoved. Whether it's
the Murugappan family or the 18,000 already found to be refugees, Alex
Hawke says "no one who came here illegally by boat will be resettled
permanently in Australia". Along with boat turn-backs and offshore
processing, the Coalition has long argued TPVs are critical in deterring
people smugglers and has weaponised the issue at successive elections.
A new promise from Labor?
In 2016, Malcolm Turnbull said Bill Shorten's plan to abolish TPVs would be used as a "marketing ploy" by people smugglers, weakening Australia's border protection.
Scott Morrison, who often
reminded voters he was the one who "stopped the boats", ran a similar
line against Shorten in 2019. After that third consecutive election
defeat, Labor decided to "review" its position on TPVs.
Anthony
Albanese is yet to announce a policy position, but a big hint was
delivered at the ALP's Special Platform Conference three months ago.
The platform, unanimously supported at the conference, made clear that "Labor will abolish Temporary Protection Visas and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas and transition eligible refugees onto permanent visa arrangements". It's understood that will be Labor's exact position at the next election: a promise once again to scrap these controversial visas.
Within the opposition, the strongly held view is that TPVs are unconscionable. After a decade here, Labor MPs say, refugee families should be able to call Australia their permanent home.
Most
understand, however, that giving Scott Morrison any sort of opening to
wedge Labor on border protection is a political risk.
The big
unknown is whether the plight of the Murugappan family, which has left
the Coalition looking heartless and out of step with community
sentiment, is representative of a wider shift in voter sentiment on
refugees and asylum seekers and a desire to abolish TPVs.
The Morrison Government reckons that's unlikely and is ready to roll out one of its favourite campaign themes if given another chance.
David Speers is the host of Insiders, which airs on ABC TV at 9am on Sunday or on iview.
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