Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This bill and what's going on here today is one of the lower points that we've seen in parliament, because what we've seen is a total fear campaign driven by an opposition bereft of policy, bereft of intelligence and bereft of an ability to actually think about the Australian community. They come in here with their bravado and their tough talk about how they're the tough cop on the beat, but what we've seen is the total opposite. All we've seen is a bunch of spineless people sitting there, striking fear into the hearts of Australians. For nine years in government, they did nothing. They sat on this and didn't do a thing, but they attack the government for trying to clean up another of their bits of mess.

Of course you shouldn't have people locked up in detention permanently if there were no crimes committed. But, if there are people who do commit crimes and people who are doing the wrong thing, then we need to make sure they're not on the streets. But what you see is hypocrisy from those opposite in the Liberal and National parties. I'm making sure I don't mention the orange collective over there—because it's a totally different kettle of fish—or the Greens. But we have seen the 'all talk, no action' of those opposite.

Let's have a look at what we've got today. We have a member of the opposition leadership team writing letters arguing for the release of a detainee—a child sex offender, no less.

While the government were arguing in court to keep people detained—the Labor Party were out there, standing up and saying, 'We don't want to release people onto the street'—the Liberal Party were actively going out and saying that we should release people onto the street. They actually supported this.

We have a letter from Senator Dean Smith, who wrote to plead the case for the child sex offender in immigration detention awaiting deportation. This individual had failed the character test and had had his refugee visa cancelled, yet we had a senior Liberal Party frontbencher arguing to have this person released into the community. This is the point we've been raising about this whole situation: it is not of our making but it's something that, as a hangover from the previous government, we've got to clean up.

While the Labor side of the House were in court arguing to keep criminals locked up, those opposite in the Liberal Party did nothing, and now we find they're actively supporting the release of people like this into our community. On 22 September this year, a senior Liberal frontbencher wrote: 'After developing a relationship with the younger girl, he was convicted in 2015 for sexual penetration of a girl over the age of 13 and under the age of 16, including on a consensual and non-consensual basis.' The letter acknowledged that the crime had had a lasting effect on the victim, yet the opposition Liberal frontbencher actively supported the release. And not just once, because that letter wasn't enough—in February 2023 he again pleaded the case to support this individual being released; in fact, he said he'd make himself available.

We hear a lot of talk from the Leader of the Opposition. The member for Dickson, Peter Dutton, the Leader of the Opposition, likes to stand up, talk tough and pretend he's the big cop on the beat, but this is the real test. When it comes to keeping criminals off our streets, the other side of the House, the Liberal Party side, are out there advocating for their release, and it is this side of the House, the government side, that wants to keep them off the streets.

Imagine if it had been a Labor MP who had written a letter like that. He'd be suspending standing orders. He'd be shutting down question time. The absolute faux outrage would be all over the place.

And you're a former copper too. You're another one. Two former coppers did nothing. You actually wanted to get people out on the street. So I say to the member for La Trobe: why would you do that? You'd do that because this is not about anything other than trying to make a political point in a political game for a leader of the opposition who, without a shadow of a doubt, fails every character test on leadership and statesmanship.

This was the opposition leader's big moment to make his tough-guy fantasy come true. But what has it done? It has blown up in his face, because publicly, while he's standing here with his faux outrage, pretending he's the tough cop on the beat, senior Liberal frontbenchers are quietly out there supporting these people to be out on the street.

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