November 14, 2023
The Government is considering how to deal with the immigration detainees who have had to be released after a High Court decision but it won’t reveal whether new laws might include the type of restrictions laid on convicted terrorists.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles revealed on Monday that 80 people have been released from long-term detention after the High Court last week overturned a 20-year precedent allowing it.
The Opposition has attacked the Government for not being prepared for a loss in the court, which unusually made its decision immediately at the end of the hearing last week.
It ruled it was unlawful to keep people in immigration detention indefinitely — paving the way for at least 92 detainees to be freed, with a larger cohort of 340 possibly also affected.
The West Australian reported on Saturday that up to 27 detainees held in WA were released from Yongah Hill Detention Centre, only to be dumped at a suburban motel on the outskirts of Perth.
Mr Giles confirmed 80 people had already been released on “appropriate visa conditions”, despite concerns the High Court decision could put the public at risk.
“We have been required to release people almost immediately in order to abide by the decision the High Court has required us to make, as any Government would,” Mr Giles told ABC radio on Monday.
“While the Commonwealth argued against this, we were prepared for this outcome.”
He later told Parliament that Border Force officials had been working with State and Territory authorities before the court’s decision was handed down, in recognition how serious an adverse decision would be.
“We took those steps in advance of it,” he said.
Of the 92 people in line for release, 83 had had their visas cancelled on character grounds.
The Coalition scoffed at the Government’s insistence community safety was its top priority.
“Under the Albanese Labor government the decision to release 80 hard-core criminals will result in more violent crimes against Australians,” shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan told Parliament.
“Why hasn’t this government drafted any legislation to keep Australians safe from these criminals?”
Shadow Home Affairs minister James Paterson said the Government should consider extending the existing terrorism framework to people with cancelled visas who cannot be deported. This could include control orders, continuing detention orders or extended supervision orders.
“I’m not convinced that only issuing visas with conditions attached to them is sufficient, given that the High Court has already found that these people cannot be detained pending deportation, which is what normally happens when someone breaches a condition on their visas,” he said.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government was considering its options.
“Of course, we are considering – and I’d make the point that the former government did absolutely nothing to prepare for the eventuality which has occurred because of the High Court’s decision,” he said.
However, he would not be drawn on specific measures, saying only that, “We will act in accordance with the law.”
The court is yet to publish its reasons for the decision, which would help the Government shape any legislative response.
Mr Giles and Mr Dreyfus both said community protection was the Federal Government’s top priority.
Conditions placed on those released include requirements to regularly report and engage with the Australian Federal Police, Border Force, and State and Territory authorities.
Mr Dreyfus said every person freed had already had “interactions with the State and Territory criminal justice agencies”.
The High Court decision was delivered after a Rohingya man from Myanmar brought the case to the High Court.
He faced the prospect of detention for life because no country would resettle him due to a criminal conviction for raping a 10-year-old.
It has also been reported that a former Malaysian bodyguard who was sentenced to death over the death of a pregnant woman walked free from detention in Sydney after being held for almost nine years.
