KILL MORRISON’S BILL

Last week Immigration Minister Scott Morrison proposed what is perhaps the most draconian assault on refugee law we’ve ever witnessed.

It’s impossible to overstate just how wide-sweeping and dangerously transformative the implications of Minister Morrison’s proposed Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment Bill will be if it passes through the Senate.

The bill has been in the works for a while, so you may have already heard about it and wondered what you can do to stop it. Well, the legislation has been referred to a Senate Committee Inquiry, which will be accepting submissions on the legislation up until this Friday 31 October.

Click the link below to find out how you can make a submission to place your opposition to this bill on the record. And to find out exactly why we must do everything we can as a movement to ensure it gets knocked down in the Senate.

Make your submission to the Senate Committee today: http://www.getup.org.au/nsw-block-this-bill

There is so much wrong with this bill, ethically and legally. If it passes, our rigorous legal system will be jeopardised. The bill seeks to redefine who is considered to be a “refugee” and while the details are still unclear on this is one – it’s certainly not good news for people seeking protection in Australia. If this bill passes, what will it say about us as a nation?

If Morrison gets his way, it will mean we are a nation content with condemning innocent people to a lifetime of mental health problems and uncertainty. Minister Morrison’s bill seeks to reintroduce three year Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs). TPVs have been widely criticised by mental health experts, as they force people to live in a state of uncertainty and instability – resulting in significant negative mental health impacts.

If Morrison gets his way, it will mean we’re a nation that no longer believes in the values we subscribed to when we signed the UN Refugee Convention sixty years ago. The most egregious part of this bill will see most references to the UN Refugee Convention removed from Australian law. The UN Refugee Convention has no bearing on Australian law unless our Parliament decides to legislate them as part of domestic law. In short, we might as well withdraw our signature from the Convention altogether.

There are countless other hidden nasties in this mammoth piece of legislation, which means we simply can not allow this bill to pass. Not only would it significantly reduce the scope for independent oversight of our government’s actions – it could quite literally determine life or death for people seeking protection.

The good news is we still have some time to stop it. The Senate won’t vote on the bill until the Senate Committee provides their report on the legislation, which is scheduled for 27 November. This report will be influenced by your submissions, and this is your chance to have your voice heard. Minister Morrison has been lobbying hard, he wants to see his bill pushed through before the year’s end – let’s try and make sure he doesn’t get his way.

There are currently 31 submissions to the Committee. If all of us make a submission opposing the bill, we can make sure that when the Committee reports to the Senate, they will present evidence of overwhelming public opposition to it. Click here to state your opposition to this bill before submissions close this Friday 31 October:

http://www.getup.org.au/nsw-block-this-bill

We currently have one month to beat this bill, which Minister Morrison is counting on to give him the power to dodge international and domestic law, and play God with people’s lives.

Let’s make sure this bill doesn’t cement Australia’s shame, loss of compassion and respect for human rights.

Let’s knock it down!

Alycia, Erin, Kelsey and Sally for the GetUp team