Immigration laws look set to get tighter with Prime Minister Tony Abbot announcing an urgent review of how the Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis slipped through the migration checks and subsequent police monitoring.

Media reports claim that the Iranian authorities warned the Australian government that Monis had been charged with multiple counts in 1996, the time he made an application for asylum in Australia.

Prime Minister Tony Abbot has told ABC radio that the Australian authorities “had to do better” and is demanding answers as to why Monis was granted a visa in the first place and how is it that he was not subsequently monitored given his chequered past and criminal conduct in Australia.

When asked whether the system had failed, despite the introduction of a raft of new security laws in Parliament this year, Mr Abbott agreed it “did not adequately deal” with Mr Monis. “There’s no doubt about that. That’s why we have to learn the lessons of everything that happened, we have to be constantly asking ourselves is this the best we can do and frankly we have to always be better than this, because if we aren’t good at this our people suffer” said Mr Abbot.

The Sydney Morning Herald has called for probationary period to be introduced for new migrants. “Monis is a classic case study of why Australia needs to have probationary conditions applied to the residence status and then citizenship granted to immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers. To cover for mistakes, this probationary status needs to be rigorous and lengthy.”

Mr Abbott said he wanted to see a report into the events leading up to the Sydney siege, which he intended to release publicly.

The department of immigration will charge 50 per cent more for partner visa application fees from next year, according to a recent media release by DIBP.

A check on the charges using DIBPs online visa charge calculator however shows that it has yet to be updated with the new few structure therefore potentially misleading applicants who are intending to lodge their applications next year.

The new charges will apply to several partner visa categories namely Partner visa subclasses (combined 309/100 and 820/801) and the prospective marriage visa (subclass 300).

DIBP has not stated why it has targeted Partner visas for such a massive price increase and simply notes that it is required “to fund whole-of-government policy priorities.” The fee increases are expect to raise revenues by $373.6 million over four years.

The price rise will come into force from January 1, 2015.

Our heartfelt condolences to the victims of the Sydney siege.

The Migration Alliance wishes to express our sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the Sydney siege. We are shocked and saddened by the incident which we like most people in this peaceful country are still trying to comprehend and come to terms with.

Our thoughts are with the families of the Sydney barrister and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson; and Lindt Café Manager, Tori Johnson who were tragically killed in the incident.

The ‘offshore ID’ scheme has had one website, www.dreamvisas.com boast of a special relationship with DIBP on the basis that, “the Australian migration department has given him [an] offshore agent id”. A Migration Agents Registration Number (MARN) is nowhere to be seen on the website and the only advertised name, Manoj Palwe is not listed on the Migration Agent’s Registration Authority register of agents. This entity is not only providing migration advice without any liability under the Code of Conduct for RMAs but is also offering to franchise its operation. DIBP's scheme certainly allows for the spawning of a web of unregistered practitioners over whom it has no controls.

Another website, www.vmakevisas.com prominently displays the MARN logo and claims to have RMAs. However it names no individual consultant nor does it display any MARN number as required under the Code of Conduct for RMAs. The company name draws a blank when searched on the MARA register of RMAs. Perhaps MARA could take this blog post as a complaint, and comment on the matter. Given that copyright conventions are international, the issue of jurisdiction should not stop MARA from at least issuing a ‘takedown notice’ to this website owner (and any others for that matter) to stop them from using the MARA name and logo.

There are no two ways about this issue. DIBP and MARA need to send out a clear message on this: the authorities will not tolerate unregistered practitioners. It undermines the whole registration regime which in essence aims to protect unwary visa applicants from dealing with practitioners not obliged to abide by the Code of Conduct for Registered Migration Agents.

Unfortunately, DIBP not only sends out mixed signals by encouraging unregistered practice, it also maintains an antagonistic approach in its publicity material about RMAs. In a recent post on DIBPs migrationblog.immi.gov.au, DIBP has posted an article “How the department engages with your registered migration agent’ where it diminished the role of RMAs in the application process making RMAs sound like inconvenient post-boxes.

The photograph above is courtesy of the businessinsider.com.au website:

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/reports-hostages-taken-by-armed-man-at-sydneys-martin-place-2014-12

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