The changes, which were passed on Thursday afternoon less than a week after they were drafted, have been described by the government as crucial to border management.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s explain what is changing.<\/p>\n
Can Australia now block entry to some people on temporary visas during global conflicts?<\/p>\n
Yes. If signed off by the prime minister and the foreign affairs minister, the home affairs minister can issue an \u201carrival control determination\u201d suspending temporary visa holders from certain countries for a period of six months.<\/p>\n
While the ruling applies as a blanket block for anyone falling under the determination\u2019s categories, individuals can get permission to travel to Australia if they can show they remain a \u201cgenuinely temporary entrant\u201d.<\/p>\n
In practice, a power like this could be used to prevent Iranians, issued with tourist visas before the US and Israel struck Tehran, from visiting Australia.<\/p>\n
The home affairs department\u2019s immigration head, Clare Sharp, said the changes give Australia \u201cadequate time to better assess and manage risks associated with those non-citizens travelling\u201d here.<\/p>\n
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said in a media conference on Wednesday the changes were to ensure visas granted by the government were \u201cdeliberate decisions\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u00a0get a visa at a time that your country\u00a0was not \u2026 a war zone, and then it becomes a war zone, there are visas\u00a0out there that in the current\u00a0context, we would not have issued,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have the power to cancel them\u00a0right now. But we have to do it\u00a0individually for each one and\u00a0that\u2019s just not a practical thing to\u00a0be able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can the power be used to target particular groups?<\/p>\n
The law indicates that the controls can apply to certain \u201cclasses\u201d of non-citizens. That class is determined by the country their travel documents have been issued from and the type of visa they\u2019ve been given, Sharp told a committee hearing this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe travel document that identifies the nationality they\u2019re travelling on as well as the type of visa are the two points by which for our systems it\u2019s easiest to identify a group or class of people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe law doesn\u2019t apply to visa holders who are onshore in Australia, recognising that at the time a crisis erupts, Australia does want to support those people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does recognise, however, that there are a very large number of temporary visa holders offshore, and it is trying to manage the impact on Australia\u2019s migration system should they all choose to travel to Australia immediately after the event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why does the Albanese government want to introduce this now?<\/p>\n
While the new powers are country-agnostic, the speed in which they were introduced and passed is related to concern about people movements following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
There are more than 40,000 temporary visa holders across the affected region at the moment, with 7,200 in Iran, as of Tuesday.<\/p>\n