Post-Haneef, power worries Australian minister

Months after Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews controversially used his powers to revoke the visa of Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef and force him to leave the country even after a terrorism charge against him was dropped, his predecessor on Tuesday surprised a Senate committee by saying he had “too much power” and was uncomfortable “playing God” with people’s lives.

“I have formed the view that I have too much power,” Chris Evans, the new Immigration Minister told the Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Tuesday. “The (migration) Act is unlike any other Act I’ve seen in terms of the power given to the minister to make decisions about individual cases…I am uncomfortable with that, not just because of concern about playing God, but also because of the lack of transparency and accountability for those decisions,” he said.

Evans’ statement came after a series of scandals over the treatment of migrants by the Conservative Government of former prime minister John Howard, ousted by the centre-left Labour Party in November elections.

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Evans said there had been a big increase in ministerial intervention in individual migration cases during the Howard Government and in some cases people had no right to appeal. Evans said he was considering an Ombudsman’s report that called for reforms to ministerial powers, including his ability to revoke the visas of long-term permanent residents.

Last year, Mohammed Haneef’s ensuing detention became the longest without charge in recent Australian history, which caused great controversy in Australia and India.