‘Sign here’: high court finds no requirement for minister to read submissions on visa decisions

The high court ruled that then immigration minister Alex Hawke could rely on department briefs that accurately summarise material relating to visa decisions. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

The immigration minister is not required to personally read submissions for intervention on visa decisions, the high court has ruled, in a decision breaking Labor’s losing streak on sensitive migration cases.

On Wednesday, the high court unanimously ruled in favour of Andrew Giles in a long-running case featuring a “bizarre” photo of a signed ministerial brief next to a steering wheel.