Thompson and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, and Multicultural Affairs to refuse to revoke the mandatory cancellation of the Applicant's Class TY 444 Special Category (Temporary) visa. The Applicant had failed to pass the character test. The case was heard by George SM.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the mandatory cancellation of the Applicant's visa should be revoked, considering Ministerial Direction No. 90. This involved assessing the weight to be given to various considerations, particularly the seriousness of the Applicant's offending conduct and the presence of family violence, against any mitigating factors.

The court reasoned that the Applicant's offending conduct, including murder and prior assaults on the Deceased, constituted serious family violence. In applying Ministerial Direction No. 90, the court found that the Applicant's conduct weighed very heavily against the revocation of the visa cancellation. The court noted the escalating seriousness of the Applicant's offending and the cumulative effect of his repeated acts of family violence, which resulted in the death of the Deceased. The court concluded that it could not exercise the discretion to revoke the mandatory cancellation.

Consequently, the decision of the delegate of the Respondent, which affirmed the mandatory cancellation of the Applicant's visa, was affirmed.