The Australian Government is considering giving the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton ‘Trump-like’ powers over certain visa holders.
Under Schedule 1 of the Migration Amendment Bill 2016, which is currently before parliament, it would allow Minister Dutton to re-validate visas of a "specified class of persons".
He can then refuse to re-validate the visa if there is "adverse information" relating to the person.
The minister can invoke the power if it is "in the public interest" - a broad term that could take into account public health and safety, national security or Australia's economic well-being.
As reported by SBS News, Mr Dutton could identify the group based on whether they hold a particular passport, live in a particular state, province or country, may have travelled through a particular area or applied for a visa during a certain period.
Labor has likened the amendments to US President Donald Trump's temporary immigration ban and fears proposed new laws could exclude entire groups of people from living in or travelling to Australia based on their religion or nationality.
READ THE FULL PROPOSED BILL HERE.
LABOR WILL NOT SUPPORT THE BILL
Opposition party Labor has vowed to strike down this attempt by the government which gives immigration minister "Trump-like" powers.
Labor's immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann said the opposition cannot support a bill that could see whole groups of people targeted on the basis of their place of birth, passport or religion.
"The measures ... will give the minister unfettered power to target whole groups of people for extra scrutiny and visa suspension through the re-validation process," he told the lower house on Wednesday.
"Labor cannot give Trump-like powers to a minister who has such a high desire to see a divided Australia."
Mr Neumann said it was "extraordinary" that the measure had no genuine parliamentary oversight and could be abused to pursue a political agenda.
He said the minister already has the power to cancel visas on a number of grounds, including national security.
"These measures and the targeting of people should be of concern to everyone in Australia."
DUTTON HAS DEFENDED INCREASED IMMIGRATION POWER
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has defended the proposed bill and said the bill was apparently supported by Labor up to the point it was debated in parliament on Wednesday.
He said the new powers are designed to be used in extreme cases - such as an ebola or bird flu crisis - to protect Australia's national interest.
"If there was an ebola crisis, a bird flu crisis, if there was another Tiananmen Square, for example, and we saw people that started to come in mass numbers, then there is the ability ... for us to put in place a suspension until we can conduct an orderly migration process," Mr Dutton said.
Mr Dutton says the bill is necessary to facilitate the introduction of longer-term visas, such as a 10-year multiple-entry visitor visa for Chinese nationals.
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