March 27, 2024
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil was relentlessly grilled during Question Time on Wednesday as she was forced to face seven variations of the same question about claims the secretary of her department left her office in tears after a confrontation.
Sky News political reporter Olivia Caisley revealed on Wednesday, Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster left Clare O’Neil’s office in tears after a discussion about immigration detainee documents in February.
The Home Affairs Minister summoned the department’s secretary to her office over the release of a document that detailed the criminal records of the immigration detainees.
The document had been requested by the opposition and revealed previous convictions from the 149 detainees released following the landmark High Court ruling last year.
“I’m told there was an incredibly robust discussion and sources have confirmed Ms Foster left the office visibly upset after Clare O’Neil ‘tore a strip off her’,” Caisley said.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley asked Ms O’Neil about the reported incident on seven occasions in the House of Representatives, with the Home Affairs Minister appearing more frustrated with each answer.
“Can the minister now confirm that she verbally abused the secretary of her department, causing the secretary to leave her office in tears?” Ms Ley asked on the seventh variation of the question.
“Yeah…and I say again to the deputy leader, with respect, she has now asked me the same question about five times and I’m going to give you the same answer and the answer is that secretary Foster and I enjoyed a very warm and collaborative relationship,” Ms O’Neil answered.
“We have an enormous job to deal with because we are together, managing a department which was left in a catastrophic mess by the leader of the opposition.”
Ms O’Neil neither confirmed nor denied the claim however she continued to reaffirm her support for Ms Foster in the role as department secretary and the close working relationship they share.
The minister’s busy Question Time followed a chaotic press conference earlier in the afternoon where she and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles made a hasty exit, walking off while reporters were still attempting to get more answers on a rushed deportation bill.
One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson crucified both ministers on a broader scale for their entire handling of the detainee ruling after Labor attempted to rush its proposed amendments to the bill on Tuesday.
“They are the most useless, incompetent government, and I see that in O’Neil and I see that in Giles,” she told Sky News Australia host Chris Kenny.
“They should be thrown out of their portfolios. They don’t know what they’re doing. And I will not support something that’s rushed through this parliament.”
Federal parliament was thrown into chaos just before Question Time yesterday after the federal government moved to table new laws targeting immigration detainees who do not cooperate with efforts for them to be deported from Australia.
Through the legislation, the government is seeking to impose mandatory jail sentences on non-citizens who fail to comply with orders to have them removed once all visa pathways to legally remain in Australia have been exhausted.
Shadow Home Affairs minister James Paterson said the Coalition asked the Department of Home Affairs at a special Senate hearing last night why it was rushed however the question has still been left unanswered despite persistent queries over the urgency.
“They weren't able to explain what the rush was. And the minister today in her press conference said it was, bleedingly obvious,” he told Chris Kenny.
“But then when asked in a follow up question, well, what is it if it's so bleedingly obvious?
“She couldn't answer the question. I know journalists walked away from that press conference, none the wiser, as we are, as to why this is so urgent.”
After the department of Home Affairs failed to provide answers as to why the legislation was rushed, the deportation bill was subsequently blocked and referred to a longer Senate inquiry following a Greens motion which was supported by the Coalition and crossbench.
