Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

This legislation—the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024—and this debate today just demonstrate once again how this Labor government cannot be trusted when it comes to keeping Australians safe and cannot be trusted to maintain the security of our borders. As the shadow minister said, it's an ultramarathon of incompetence. It's a complete and utter mess.

Here we have yet another stopgap measure, another rushed piece of legislation to clean up after the High Court's ruling last year. I can't even remember how many times we've been put in this position since then. It feels like it's been every other sitting week. We were even called back to this place after last year was done and dusted for an unscheduled sitting to deal with the issue. The Albanese Labor government released dangerous criminals—convicted paedophiles, rapists and violent offenders—out of detention and into the community. They knew the High Court case was coming and they knew they might lose it, yet they didn't do anything to address the potential unintended outcomes.

Here we are today with more emergency measures to clean up after their bungled mess in addressing this issue. What's worse about the situation here today is that the government has sat on the bill for days. The bill is dated Friday. The opposition only had it dropped off to us at 7.30 this morning. The shadow ministers were only given a short briefing—half an hour. It's just not good enough. This is the safety and security of the Australian people we're talking about. I've said it before, and the reasons for saying it again keep growing by the day: this minister is out of his depth. Those opposite don't know what they are doing. They're not keeping the community safe. They're using the parliament as their plaything to save face before the Australian public, hopefully before they notice anything. It's not good enough, and this government must do better.

It is the first priority of any government to keep the Australian people safe, and we in the opposition will continue to support the government in doing anything that keeps Australians safe. Of course we'll support reasonable measures that will see people who have no right to be in Australia removed from our country, but we have to keep making sure we're aware of the unintended consequences. You can't address unintended consequences without the proper time for examination, which is exactly what we're seeing here today. What happens when you do this with such important legislation? It ends up facing challenges in the court.

We've seen this played out with similar legislation that we've been forced to rush through this place over the last few months. Here is what the Australian reported last week:

Strict monitoring and curfew conditions placed on detainees released from indefinite detention are "vulnerable" to constitutional challenge …

Lawyers for YBFZ, a … man charged with breaching his curfew and failing to recharge his electronic ankle bracelet, have launched a High Court challenge to conditions imposed on him following his release from detention in November.

The report goes on to say in general about these cases:

A number of legal challenges to the monitoring and curfew conditions have not proceeded, with the government in each instance changing visa conditions rather than risk another High Court defeat.

I could not have summarised the chaotic nature of this government's approach better.

We remain extremely concerned about the rushed process and this government's shabby approach to an issue as important as border protection and national security. The stakes do not get much higher than this. This is why we need more time to scrutinise this bill, to identify the potential unintended consequences. That's why we need an inquiry and why the government should support the upcoming amendment. This government is failing to keep its people safe. Rushed-through legislation that doesn't have proper scrutiny could end up in catastrophic failures. We have seen convicted criminals lost by this government. We've seen a hapless minister not talk to the media or the Australian people and barely answer any questions in question time. It is simply not good enough. The Australian people deserve better. The Australian people deserve answers from this weak Labor government. I believe the minister has not addressed any of these concerns and should resign.

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