The successful passage of a Greens’ disallowance motion has overturned the government’s attempts to scrap a range of essential, affordable family and carer visas.
“The Senate has voted to keep families living together and looking after each other in Australia,” the Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“The success of this disallowance motion means that thousands of Australian families will have a chance to reunite with relatives from around the world.”
The four ‘non-contributory’ visas that had been scrapped were the relatively affordable Age Dependent Relative Visa, Remaining Relative Visa, Carer Visa and the Aged Parent Visa.
“The Abbott government should never have scrapped these essential visas, which only serve to keep families together,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“The Abbott government was trying to make family reunion the exclusive preserve of the rich, but this disallowance stopped that from happening.”