Deputy Speaker, I watched with dismay in the last term of government when the Albanese government rushed through bill after bill limiting the rights of asylum seekers and visa holders in our communities. The measures they introduced included mandatory visa cancellations for low-level offenses, giving the government immunity from civil liabilities in connection with bridging visa cancellations, and expanding powers to search and seize items in immigration detention centers without warrant.

Each time there was some contraction of the usual parliamentary process to get the bills through quickly and quietly—whether it was failing to refer bills to relevant committees for review or gagging debate on the bills in this house. And we're seeing it again here with this bill.

This bill may have significant ramifications for the people to which it applies. Combined with the measures passed last term to which I've already referred, this bill may be another step in that slow creep towards stripping away rights of asylum seekers in this country—people we have harmed by exposing them to the cruel and unusual offshore detention systems we dreamed up in a shameful world first. A system that the UK government toyed with copying from us but abandoned because it was just too inhumane.

I agree with the Leader of the Opposition's statement that the bill is rushed, secretive, and chaotic—and this for a bill which explicitly confirms that people like these do not have a right to natural justice in administrative processes. Administrative processes which could result in them being forcibly removed from this country to a third country with no ability to be heard in the courts about that occurring.

What we're really talking about here is a breakdown in processes, a reduction of democratic norms at two very significant levels: at the individual rights level around people's right to natural justice, and at the parliamentary level by curtailing the opportunities for scrutiny and informed debate. It's for both of these reasons that I consider the member for Curtin's motion to be entirely reasonable. Referring a bill with such significant ramifications for people's basic rights to a committee for review is the absolute bare minimum level of scrutiny that government should permit.

And Deputy Speaker, the government won a big margin in the last election, 94 seats in this house. They must not be tempted to exploit that position by abandoning basic tenets of our parliamentary, our democratic processes. On the contrary, I strongly urge them to use their huge majority to be the leaders that our people have elected them to be.

And I give the call to the Assistant Minister.

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. The government will not be supporting the referral of this bill to the Human Rights Committee. As a matter of course, the Human Rights Committee considers all bills that are introduced to parliament as part of its normal scrutiny process. And in its scrutiny reports, the committee may make minor comment on legislation, provide its assessment on an advice-only basis, or may seek a written response from the minister. The government does not support any referral to the committee beyond that.