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

The applicant, BQGB, sought judicial review of a delegate of the Minister's decision to refuse to revoke the mandatory cancellation of his Subclass 202 Global Special Humanitarian visa. The applicant, who arrived in Australia at the age of 16 as a refugee from Iraq, had his visa mandatorily cancelled due to criminal convictions, primarily related to drug offences. The case was heard by Deputy President B W Rayment AOM QC.

The central legal issue before the court was whether there was "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation of the applicant's visa, as contemplated by the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). This required the court to consider the principles outlined in Ministerial Direction No. 90, specifically regarding the protection of the Australian community, the applicant's international non-refoulement obligations, impediments to his removal, and the strength, nature, and duration of his ties to Australia.

The court reasoned that while the applicant's criminal conduct was serious, several countervailing factors warranted the revocation of the visa cancellation. These included the applicant's traumatic childhood in Iraq and Syria, his early arrival in Australia at a formative age, his subsequent engagement with rehabilitation programs, and the significant risk of harm he would face if returned to Iraq, where he had no knowledge and his Christian minority status made him a target. The court noted that the applicant had all his surviving family in Australia and had expressed a strong unwillingness to return to Iraq due to fear for his life. Applying the principles of Ministerial Direction No. 90, the court found that the strength of these countervailing considerations, particularly the risk of refoulement and the applicant's long-standing ties to Australia, justified revoking the cancellation.

Consequently, the court set aside the delegate's decision and substituted a new decision revoking the mandatory cancellation of the applicant's Subclass 202 Global Special Humanitarian Visa.