November 6, 2024
Today’s High Court decision in YBFZ is an embarrassing loss for the Albanese government – The Albanese Labor Government must explain what they will do to keep the Australian people safe.
The effect of this decision will be that 215 dangerous non-citizen offenders including 12 murderers, 66 sex offenders, 97 people convicted of assault, 15 domestic violence perpetrators and others will be free in the community without any monitoring or curfews. 65 of these former detainees have been charged with new offences at the state and territory level since their release, 45 of which remain free in the community.
This loss compounds the failure of the Albanese government to use the preventative detention powers the parliament rushed through almost 12 months ago to re-detain any high-risk offenders.
The government repeatedly assured us that the amendments they drafted were constitutionally sound, and as recently as Monday in Senate estimates promised they had comprehensive contingency plans in place if they were unsuccessful in this case.
Tony Burke must immediately reveal what urgent action the government will take in response to this loss to protect Australians from the dangerous criminal non-citizens it has released into the community since the NZYQ decision last year.
The government should be ready to introduce legislation into the House of Representatives today in response to this ruling. The Coalition again stands ready to facilitate the swift passage of any legislation required to fix the government’s mess and keep Australians safe.
ENDS
