The scandal-plagued Sydney-based migration agents lobby group, the MIA, is embroiled in yet another act of scullduggery, as noted by the VISA REPORT’s latest exposé.
In 2017 our founder Mr Robinson was offered and accepted a “Fellow of the MIA” FMIA. That award was granted by the MIA president of the time President Jonathan Granger.
Mr Robinson did all that was asked of him: all he was require to do – he even got a hand written letter from Jonathan Granger National President congratulating me on the FMIA and this should have been the end of it
However, before the niceties and formalities of the award (the printing of the certificate, etc) were complete, a new president was installed. That president was the odious and corrupt Kevin Lane.
Now Lane’s corruption – like the behaviour of his good friend Jack Ta – was a well-known open secret at the MIA. It is important to remember that Jack Ta was not only a member of the MIA for 20 years but also the Vice President for a time and a Fellow of the MIA.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/introducing-migration-agent-jack-ta-20221106-p5bvzr.html
Our story begins with an email from the MIA to Mr Robinson (a long term MIA member – who first joined the MIA in 2003)
Email between Mr Robinson and MIA official Angela Galipienzo
Email trail: Thursday, 31 March 2016 4:27 PM
To: Angela Galipienzo
Subject: Re: MIA Membership Application #1693 –
Request for Further Information
Hello Angela. I hope you are well. I spoke to your colleague about the fellow etc and she said that the MIA is no longer sure they will offer that – certainly not in the immediate future. Given my Master of Migration Law and Practice I would think I qualify, but if the MIA may no longer, or not in the short term be offering the position I may not move forward with the application. So please clarify if the “fellow” position [is still] offered and will my qualifications be recognized. Cheers Anthony Robinson
From Angela Galipienzo To ‘Robinson AR LAW Services’ Date 2016-08-17 12:22 Message Body
Hi Anthony,
Yes, we do have a new board, the members on it are elected every two years and the current board formed in November 2015.
With regard to your query regarding fellowship of the MIA, the Board has advised that a Masters of Migration Law and Practice is not the equivalent of a post graduate Masters in other disciplines and will only be accepted if the person has an undergraduate law degree….
Regards, Angela (The original email and meta data is available)
The email stated that Mr Robinson qualified – pursuant to the MIA guidelines – for the award of a Fellow of the MIA, given:
1) He held a law degree – Mr Robinson holds an LLB from Monash University, Australia (One of Australia’s leading law schools) and
2) He also holds a Master of Migration Law & Practice (Griffith University 2013)
Consequently, Mr Robinson qualified and accepted the offer and was awarded the Fellow of the MIA – FMIA.
However, before the award formalities, Lane was appointed President, and the process ground to a halt.
Given the award had been held up for many months by Lane, Mr Robinson called the MIA.
[It should be recalled that in 2017 there was a virtual civil war raging between migration agents and immigration lawyers – the prize for the lawyers was to throw off the yoke of Mara and dual regulation. Mr Robinson a lawyer was at the forefront of this battle and Lane a migration agent hated him for it!]Sometime between 25 December 2017 and the 1st of January 2018, Mr Robinson and Lane had a phone call. Lane intimated the matter could be resolved if Mr Robinson were to pay an amount of money into Lane’s private account – not the MIA account – but Lanes. And call it migration advice.
Lane was soliciting for a kickback. Pure and simple.
Given the bad blood between the two men the call became heated. Lane made a series of disparaging remarks about Mr Robinson’s wife’s cultural heritage and other slurs.
So the President of the MIA Kevin Lane was openly asking for a kickback before he would “rubber-stamping” the award of the Fellow of the MIA: FMIA. Mr Robinson refused to pay this corrupt kick-back – hence Mr Robinson was denied the FMIA and later expelled from the MIA.
The corroboration of the story can be found in the story of L, a migration agent.
There was a woman, lets call her L, who unlike Mr Robinson is not a lawyer – she does not hold a law degree – but she did do the same Master of Migration Law & Practice (Griffith University 2013) course as Mr Robinson. (Public record shows Mr Robinson won a prize for this degree)
Yet even though L did not qualify on the MIA’s own guidelines: which stated to secure the FMIA, candidates must hold both:
1) An Australian Law degree, and
2) a Master of Migration Law & Practice
L is now a Fellow of the MIA: FMIA
Now the VISA REPORT is not saying L paid a “kick back” to secure a FMIA she is not qualified to hold (we do not know and are not suggesting she did anything corrupt) but it is strange that Mr Robinson who meets the MIA policy guidelines but did not pay the corrupt kickback demanded by the odious MIA President, Kevin Lane, was not awarded the Fellow of the MIA: FMIA
Whereas L a migration agent, who does not qualify pursuant to the MIA stated policy and guidelines, was granted a Fellow of MIA: FMIA.
The VISA REPORT reached out to Peter the CEO of the MIA for comment and asked if he thought now that Lane is no longer at the MIA, it was a good time for the MIA to turn the page on its corrupt behaviour and reinstate Mr Robinson as a Fellow of the MIA: FMIA.
Was it time for the MIA to do the right thing by its long-term members and renounce its history of scandalous corruption?
We are awaiting the MIA reply….
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