Bassi and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision to cancel Mr Bassi's visa. The applicant, Mr Bassi, a citizen of Canada, sought to have the cancellation of his visa revoked. The respondent was the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was tasked with rehearing the matter afresh and determining whether the cancellation decision was the correct or preferable decision on the evidence before it.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether there was "another reason" to revoke the visa cancellation decision under section 501CA(4)(b)(ii) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), having regard to the considerations outlined in Direction No. 90. This required the Tribunal to weigh various discretionary considerations, including the interests of Mr Bassi's wife and daughter, against the nature of his offending and community expectations.

The Tribunal considered the interests of Mr Bassi's wife, who would face significant disruption to her life plans in Australia if she remained alone or substantial disruption if she returned to Canada with her husband. It also gave significant weight to the interests of Mr Bassi's young daughter, Khloee, noting that Mr Bassi's removal would fracture the family and potentially place Khloee at greater risk of a dysfunctional family environment and illicit drug use if they returned to Canada as a unit. While acknowledging the reprehensible nature of Mr Bassi's offending, which involved sharing drugs at a buck's party, the Tribunal found that his more limited purpose and relatively low risk of recidivism, subject to certain caveats, were important factors. On balance, the Tribunal concluded that the discretionary factors weighed in Mr Bassi's favour.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review and substituted a decision that the cancellation of Mr Bassi's visa be revoked.