Labor’s law rush stalls
Minister slams Coalition over ‘important’ detainee bill delay
Clare O’Neil has slammed the opposition for playing politics after it teamed up with the Greens to thwart contentious changes to migration laws.
In a heated press conference after the proposal had been delayed to facilitate a full parliamentary inquiry, a furious Home Affairs Minister repeatedly refused to answer questions about why the laws were so urgently needed.
“We have a government here trying to do something in the national interest and an opposition that chooses politics every day of the week … it is destructive and it needs to stop,” she said on Wednesday at Parliament House.
The government had hoped the laws, which would see asylum seekers who had exhausted all legal avenues face a jail sentence of up to five years if they did not co-operate with an attempt to deport them, would pass by the time parliament rose for the six-week Easter break.
The proposed laws would also grant the minister the power to block visa applications from countries that do not accept their citizens being involuntarily returned.
Up to five countries are reportedly being targeted by the federal government – Iraq, Iran, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Russia.
The bill was introduced just weeks before the High Court is due to hear a case involving an Iranian man, known as ASF17, who is refusing to return to Iran where he fears persecution because of his sexuality.
Ms O’Neil refused to comment on the link between the case and the powers.
But she conceded the ASF17 case showed “it is important that we have these powers”.
“It’s not the only reason why we’re doing this,” the minister added.
In a press conference earlier in the day, Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the government and officials had failed to demonstrate why the legislation was so urgent during a snap inquiry on Tuesday evening.
“They couldn’t explain how many people this would affect,” Senator Paterson said. “They couldn’t explain what the consequences of this would be for any upcoming High Court cases.
“They couldn’t explain how or when they would use this legislation or who would apply it to.”
While the Greens wanted an inquiry to report back in June, the Coalition amended the motion for a reporting date of May 7, a week before the budget.
Greens senator David Shoebridge described the laws as a “pure political play”.