Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I concur with my colleague from Curtin. The first priority of this government should be the defence of its citizenry. All Australians deserve to feel safe in their communities. The debate around this unfortunate situation in the last two or three weeks has engendered many feelings of insecurity and concern in Australians in a way which is I think probably unnecessary but also extremely unfortunate.

The recent decision that the indefinite detention of the immigrants under discussion today is illegal is a decision of the High Court. The government initially prevaricated in the face of that decision. It appears to have been caught flat-footed and then to have reacted in a knee-jerk fashion in response to sustained pressure from the opposition which appears to be more political than legal in its basis. It then presented us, at the end of the last sitting week, with a hastily concocted piece of legislation which challenged the rule of law and the separation of powers in this country. After it went to the Senate, it came back with draconian amendments which meant that we in this place would be legislating criminal penalties for individuals who, for whatever reason, failed to comply with that legislation. It is the job of the courts in this country to criminalise offences, not the job of this parliament.

We're now in a situation where that poorly concocted legislation has come back to us like a speeding bullet. We were presented with this additional legislation less than eight hours ago. We've been given no opportunity to consult our communities about it, to consult our constituents about it or to consult legal experts. We've now been given one hour to debate a piece of legislation which potentially changes the relationship between the High Court and the parliament of this country.

This is an appalling situation. This place should operate with consideration, with respect, with consultation and with thought. We shouldn't be reacting in the way that we are in response to the political pressure placed on the government by the opposition. We need our government to be better than that. We need it to set a standard that we can feel comfortable with. We need it to make us feel not only safe but also secure. I think I speak for many of my constituents in saying that it is with great disappointment that we see this piece of legislation presented to the parliament today.

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