January 17, 2024
The Federal Government is refusing to say when applications will be submitted to the Supreme Court to lock up the worst offenders freed from immigration detention.
A community protection board was set up by the Albanese Government in December to oversee managing people released from immigration detention after the High Court ruled it unlawful to keep them there indefinitely.
The board is also responsible for preparing applications to lock up the most dangerous non-citizens, who include convicted child sex offenders and murderers.
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson has accused Labor of being secretive in releasing information about released former detainees with the latest issue being the status of the applications.
"The Government's refusal to reveal whether they have applied to the court to preventively detain any dangerous non-citizens means they probably haven't made any applications," Senator Paterson told The West Australian.
"It's time they got back to the office from their long summer breaks and took action to protect the community. The preventive detention regime was rushed through Parliament before Christmas to be used, not just to sit on the shelf." When The West put questions to ABF about how many times the board has met since its first meeting on December 11 and the number of applications being prepared for the courts, it refused to comment.
The West understands the board which consists of security and government officials from Border Force and the Home Affairs Department, as well as former police officers needs to piece together its arguments for each application.
It is required to source detailed information from the States, including about the individual's previous convictions.
It would then advise ABF Commissioner Michael Outram and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles on each individual.
It comes a week after it was revealed the community will now only receive updates on the number of people released from immigration detention in a monthly report.
The last number given was 149 former detainees released into the community as of December 4.
At least 10 of the released detainees have been charged since the High Court ruling the latest a Sudanese man, 37, who failed to comply with his residential curfew in Melbourne on January 12.
