Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The safety of the community remains the utmost priority for our government, as it should be for any government. It is my priority too. Yet, what we've just had disclosed by the shadow minister for home affairs was that, when the opposition leader was the Minister for Home Affairs, he apparently received advice in 2021 in relation to these issues that they thought should have been undertaken then and they failed to implement when they were in government. So we get a lot of fluff and cluck and bluster from the shadow minister for home affairs and the opposition leader about things that we are doing in the first week that parliament is sitting immediately after a High Court decision, yet they took no action when apparently they had advice when they were in government.

Over the weekend, 32 detainees were released from the WA immigration centres in Yongah Hill and Perth. This was a result of a High Court ruling that declared that the detention of a plaintiff in immigration detention was unlawful. Following that ruling, that individual was released immediately, and I stress, while our government argued against this in the court, we were prepared for the outcome due to the case's significance. Complying with an order of the High Court is not optional. Governments are required to act in accordance with the law. That is what the fundamental principle of the rule of law is all about, and that is what we have done and will continue to do.

Since that ruling, 84 people have been released who are owed Australia's protection. They're stateless, or their removal from Australia is intractable for some reason. They are of varying backgrounds. Those that have committed crimes have all served their sentences before going into immigration detention. These individuals have been placed on bridging removal pending visas with conditions. In this way, they are similar to Australian criminals that have been convicted, finished their jail terms and faced similar restrictions to other people that have gone through the Australian legal systems.

Border protection and law enforcement agencies have been working together to make sure that the strictest possible conditions are placed on these individuals. Each individual offender is being case managed. They have been and continue to be the subject of a range of strict mandatory visa conditions. These conditions include restricting types of employment, requiring regular reporting to authorities and requiring released detainees to report their personal details, including their social media profiles, which are being actively monitored. Additionally, the government has imposed daily reporting requirements for those with the most serious criminal histories. We continue to work around the clock with agencies and law enforcement to uphold the safety of our community.

The bill before this House today strengthens those regimes even further, and the government will continue to consider what further it may do once we actually finally receive the reasons for decision from the High Court. That has not yet been provided to government.

This law creates a number of new and amended mandatory conditions to be imposed on these individuals' release and any further people required to be released on these visas. These conditions include reporting household, work, finances, memberships, associations and travel to appropriate authorities. The law will also allow for the imposition of curfews and the use of electronic monitoring.

To support the enforcement of these visa conditions, the bill creates several criminal offences for breaching conditions, including for a failure to wear electronic monitoring devices, for a failure to follow an authorised officer to maintain their monitoring device or to make sure that it can be maintained. It will be a criminal offence to fail to comply with a curfew and fail to comply with reporting requirements.

I know many people in my community are concerned about this situation. West Australian police and federal authorities are monitoring this very closely. The Albanese government is committed to the rule of law. We are committed to maintaining the integrity of our migration system and keeping the Australian community safe. I am committed to this for my community. This bill delivers on that, and I commend the bill to the House.

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