CCL REJECTS ASIO VETO OVER WHO IS AND WHO IS NOT AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN

Friday, 20 January 2006

NSWCCL media release: 2/2006

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties has condemned government plans to give ASIO a veto power over who can and can't become an Australian citizen. The new Citizenship Bill, currently before the Senate, also proposes to deny citizenship to a person unless the Minister is ‘satisfied’ of their identity. These proposals are oppressive and violate Australia’s international human rights obligations.

Under proposed changes to citizenship laws, the Citizenship Minister will not be able to grant citizenship to anyone who has been issued with an "adverse security assessment" by Australia's secret spy agency, ASIO.

"This is an unwelcome intrusion of faceless secret agents into the process of defining who is a citizen in our free and democratic society," CCL's submission to the Senate says.

Another proposal stops anyone from becoming Australian unless the Minister is satisfied of their identity.

"In an imperfect world, there are many reasons why a person might be unable to prove their identity. For example, people fleeing persecution or their war-torn homes may not necessarily have the time or opportunity to bring with them proof of identification. These people are vulnerable and deserve the support of the community, not its rejection," CCL's submission to the Senate says.

CCL has also condemned further proposals to strip people of their citizenship because of third party fraud on their citizenship application. This could punish the innocent victims of third party fraud and even leave an innocent child stateless or liable to deportation.

CCL is also concerned that the new Citizenship Bill discriminates against both opposite-sex and same-sex de facto couples.

Many of the proposals breach Australia's international human rights treaty obligations.

The government needs to go back to the drawing board. This Citizenship Bill will devalue Australian citizenship and make ASIO the final arbiter on who is and is not Australian.

For more information contact:
Cameron Murphy, NSWCCL President, 0411 769 769.

You can read CCL's submission on the Senate's Inquiry into the Australian Citizenship Bill 2005 at: http://www.nswccl.org.au/docs/pdf/citizenship%20submission.pdf.