Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025

Mr TIM WILSON (Goldstein) (17:19): Sorry to the other member; I will not take long. I know everyone in this parliament is raring to go and get excited. I am speaking on this legislation because it is exciting and important.

We know full well how important it is to secure the Commonwealth and how important it is to have a legislation framework in place to achieve that, particularly in the context of migration and citizenship law. Having previously served on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I know making sure we get the framework right is particularly important because of the increasingly nefarious actors on the global stage who seek to undermine Australian sovereignty.

We not only need to make sure we have an alignment in our laws with global standards as well as across the states and Commonwealth but also need to make sure we protect people's rights and freedoms. One of the ongoing and enduring challenges of being a legislator in the modern age is that of protecting and securing the rights and freedoms of Australians. We have dealt with this a few times in parliament in recent years, particularly since about 2001, and we will continue to do that, particularly in the digital age.

I know there are other issues that will arise in the context of artificial intelligence in the years to come. Obviously, biometrics and biometric integrity will be incredibly important. Anyone who has been through an airport in recent years will know how important a smart gate is for identity assessment.

We need to make sure that, when the government accesses that information provided through your passport, that it is not nefariously used by foreign actors. This part of legislation is another important step in securing the data security of Australians—something we fundamentally believe in. When we take these steps to build the systems necessary to protect Australians, we need to do so in a relatively bipartisan way, because we understand how important these measures are.

This legislation does a number of things, including update biometric definitions and procedures so that systems can be properly designed, and it clarifies what constitutes a facial image. It is common sense to make sure that automatic systems operate lawfully and efficiently. Deputy Speaker Aldred, I don't know if you have been through an airport recently, but I can assure you that technology is getting better and better by the day.

One of the challenges that we will all face, not just in Australia but elsewhere, is how to make it faster for us citizens to use these services, because the technology is getting better at identifying people at the point of the border. The bill also proposes to relax the 180-day residency rule for certain new citizens. It is reasonable in its intent because there are legitimate cases where some aspiring citizens have perfectly justifiable reasons for spending more than a quarter of two years prior to applying for Australian citizenship in other countries.

We don't believe that this is something that should be done flippantly. I have very deep views about the commitment that new Australians should make if they are to go on the pathway to citizenship. Every few weeks, I go to a citizenship ceremony.

I actually hope every member does so on a regular basis because one of the most fulfilling parts of this role is the opportunity to go and see new Australians, swear them in and be part of that journey. It is one of the most uplifting parts of this role because, despite the number of challenges you have to face, when you get to be part of a new Australian's journey into the Australian community, it is not just uplifting, it is not just fulfilling, but it brings you an incredible amount of joy.

New Australians have to make a commitment not only in oath but, indeed, of loyalty to this country, and it is what we should expect. We want new Australians to become full participants in the Australian way of life and to become integrated socially, culturally and economically so that they are contributors to the country and have a social licence to be part of the social fabric of our country.

The current test for becoming a citizen has a timeframe; the expectation is that people are here and that they stay here. But, in the modern world, that is increasingly being tested and challenged for lots of different reasons—professional reasons, personal reasons, family reasons, sporting reasons—so there has to be appropriate flexibility in the context of those issues arising.

I know this does come up periodically with constituents who want to go on the pathway to citizenship and find it difficult to do so because of the current structure of the laws. There's a need to provide some modicum of flexibility, particularly for people who have very professional employment pathways and need a certain degree of flexibility. I completely get that, so I think we just need to be mindful of the need to provide some component of flexibility.

Australians need confidence in the system. New Australians need pathways to realise their dreams of becoming a part of the Australian family, but we need to do so in a way that maintains integrity so that, when people become Australian citizens, they have the confidence of Australians who were born here and Australians who have chosen here and they can hand on to the next generation of Australians who choose our wonderful country, as part of a future where it continues to be welcoming for others.

We know full well the consequences when we lose control of our borders, when we have illegal migration and when Australian people lose confidence, including people who were born here, new Australians and those people who have chosen to live here. When that happens, it becomes a backlash against continuing support for legal and illegal migration. While this measure may seem non-controversial to many people, it fits as part of the legislative tapestry that's necessary to maintain public confidence in our border security.

It's part of the legislative tapestry of what we need to maintain social licence for our migration program, and, more importantly, for pathways to citizenship so that we can continue to build the type of country that we want to be—one where people feel invested, feel a sense of ownership and feel part of the Australian community and family so that we can hand it on with the greatest sense of stewardship to the next generation and future generations to come.