Hussein and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application by Mr. Hussein for Australian citizenship and the subsequent decision by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to cancel the approval of his citizenship. The dispute arose from the Minister's satisfaction that Mr. Hussein was not of good character, a ground for cancellation under section 25(2)(b)(iii) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 1948* (Cth). The case was heard by Ms. Anna Burke, a Member of the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Minister was justified in cancelling Mr. Hussein's citizenship approval on the basis that he was not of good character. This required the Tribunal to consider the meaning of "good character" in the context of the Act, the role of the Citizenship Policy in interpreting this term, and the application of relevant case law to the specific facts of Mr. Hussein's situation.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the interpretation of "good character" as referring to a person's enduring moral qualities, rather than their public reputation, as established in *Irving v Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs*. The Tribunal noted that the Citizenship Policy, while providing guidance, explicitly states that decision-makers are not bound by a checklist and must assess each case on its merits. The Policy also highlights that the character requirement is a privilege of citizenship, not a further punishment for past conduct, and that the State has the right to determine who is included as a citizen, as discussed in *Re Fenn v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs*. The Tribunal was required to apply these principles to determine if Mr. Hussein met the good character requirement at the time the Minister proposed to cancel his approval.