Border farce slammed
Bungled visas compound Labor woes over NZYQ rule
The Coalition has ramped up its attack on the Albanese Government’s handling of the High Court detainees issue, saying it has made “catastrophic errors”.
The Government was forced to reveal on Wednesday that there had been a “technical” fault with the visas issued to the 149 individuals after they were freed under last year’s NZYQ ruling.
The have now been issued the correct visas.
The latest visa bungle was not discovered until last Sunday night and means any of the 10 detainees who have breached orders since being released may not face charges.
In a fiery tirade on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton again called for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sack Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.
“This is a government that goes from train wreck to train wreck when it comes to keeping our country safe,” Mr Dutton said. “I don’t believe that this Prime Minister has a level of competence.
“He just doesn’t have the strength to lead our country, he doesn’t have the ability to stand up against the unions or criminal networks, he doesn’t have the ability to say to his minister, ‘shape up or ship out’.”
Australia’s High Court unanimously ruled in November that immigration detention is unlawful where there is “no real prospect” of it becoming practical to deport the person “in the reasonably foreseeable future”.
The decision led to months of political pain for the Albanese Government, which scrambled to legislate new laws to tighten visa conditions and enact preventive detention laws to re-detain non-citizens.
Senate documents released in January show there are seven murderers, 37 sex offenders and 72 violent criminals among the 149 people released since the ruling.
Speaking in the Northern Territory on Wednesday, Mr Albanese said he did not agree that his government had mishandled the issue.
“Let’s be clear – the High Court made a decision, not my government, and as the Opposition has said in moments of candour in between their moments of trying to spread fear, they have acknowledged that no government is above the law,” he said.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil earlier said strict visa conditions, including ankle bracelets and curfews, had been applied to the cohort.
Mr Giles said the government had acted “very quickly” when it found out about the issue on Sunday night.
Mr Dutton also criticised the government for inferring the visa technicality was the result of legislation from the Abbott government, when it was done by the Rudd government. Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume meanwhile said Mr Albanese should sack Mr Giles over the mistake.