Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson says the Anthony Albanese government has opened the door for more illegal boat arrivals after figures revealed the shockingly high number of permanent visas granted.
Home Affairs department figures revealed that 21,581 permanent visas were granted to partners and family members of illegally arrived asylum seekers between February 2023 and September 2024.
Nearly 20,000 asylum seekers who arrived before Operation Sovereign Borders started in 2013 became eligible to apply for permanent visas under an Albanese government reform.
The decision meant asylum seekers who held or had applied for Temporary Protection Visas and Safe Haven Enterprise visas would have access to social security and family reunion rights if granted a Resolution of Status visa.
The exact number of permanent visas were granted was 21,581 and Mr Paterson told Daily Mail Australia the Albanese government could well have opened the floodgates for illegals to turn up in their droves.
‘The Albanese Labor government’s decision to grant permanent visas to partners and family members of asylum seekers who arrived by boat is just the latest in a litany of border protection failures from this government,’ Mr Paterson said.
‘This is a direct result of Labor’s decision to undermine Operation Sovereign Borders through its decision to abolish the use of temporary protection visas. Now they are not only giving permanent visas to 19,000 illegal boat arrivals, but their family members too.
‘No wonder people smugglers are testing Australia’s resolve again. They think Labor will eventually give in as they have with this cohort.
Home Affairs department figures revealed that 21,581 permanent visas were granted to partners and family members of illegally arrived asylum seekers
‘Only a Dutton Coalition Government will restore operation sovereign borders to its full strength which first stopped Labor’s boats.’
Mr Paterson also claimed that the Prime Minister had defied his own party.
‘It was Kevin Rudd, as Prime Minister, who said that if you come here by boat, you will never be permanently settled in Australia, a policy upheld by subsequent Coalition governments,’ he said.
‘Anthony Albanese has clearly walked away from this commitment made by his own party and former Prime Minister.’
The latest figures by Operation Sovereign Borders showed two boats carrying a total of 13 people attempted to come to illegally enter Australia in November last year.
The Tony Abbott government claimed a 90 per cent reduction in maritime arrivals of asylum seekers.
There were 207 in November 2013, as opposed to 2,629 in November 2012.
A Home Affairs department spokesperson said the Albanese government was committed to Operation Sovereign Borders.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson says the Anthony Albanese government has opened the door for more illegal boat arrivals
‘Australia’s border protection policies have not and will not change – any person who attempts to travel to Australia irregularly will not settle permanently here,’ the spokesperson said.
‘People who do not engage protection obligations, who are not awaiting a merits or judicial review outcome, and who have exhausted all avenues to remain in Australia, are expected to depart Australia voluntarily and may be provided assistance to depart.’
Greens immigration spokesman David Shoebridge said not enough was being done and claimed at least 5000 people had been excluded from the Resolution of Status Visa process.
Mr Shoebridge said while some asylum seekers were having their applications ‘assessed fairly’, most people who had their claims refused had no way to correct it.
He accused the government of being weak saying Anthony Albanese was playing politics with opposition leader Peter Dutton.
‘This should be burning a hole in the ALP’s conscience, with thousands of people who sought asylum, many with partners and children, who had their claims unfairly rejected,’ he said.
‘You don’t accept the score if a football match has been rigged, but that is what the government is asking thousands of people seeking asylum to do.
‘What is needed is a credible and fair pathway to permanent protection. The country celebrated when this was done for the Biloela family, now it is time to find a similar path for other families.’
