Australia Takes Aim At People Smuggling, Human Trafficking | Gov Monitor

AS POSTED HERE ---> Australia Takes Aim At People Smuggling, Human Trafficking | Gov Monitor

The Australian Government today welcomed the report of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee into the Anti-People Smuggling and Other Measures Bill 2010.

The Committee’s report provides bipartisan support for the Bill which aims to significantly strengthen Australia’s people smuggling laws.

The Bill will enable the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to specifically investigate people smuggling and other serious border security threats and will also allow national security agencies to collect foreign intelligence about non-State actors, including people smugglers and their networks.

In addition, the Bill will include additional offences targeting those who finance or provide support for people smuggling activities as well as strong penalties that recognise the seriousness of people smuggling offences, including:

creating a new offence of providing material support for people smuggling with a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment and/or a fine of $110,000;
creating a new offence of people smuggling involving exploitation or danger of death or serious harm, applying to ventures entering Australia, with a maximum penalty of twenty years imprisonment and/or a fine of $220,000;
ensuring that where a person is convicted of multiple people smuggling offences, mandatory minimum penalties set out in the Migration Act are applied; and
providing greater clarity and consistency by harmonising people smuggling offences in the Migration Act and the Criminal Code.
The Senate Committee strongly endorsed the Government’s view that the proposed new offence of ‘providing material support for people smuggling’ appropriately targets organised criminal networks which facilitate and profit from people smuggling.

The Government is committed to targeting criminal groups who organise, participate in and benefit from people smuggling activities.

This legislation represents an important part of the Government’s comprehensive approach to combating people smuggling.

The Government will now seek to expedite the passage of this important legislation and calls on the Opposition to support it through the Parliament.