Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

It is good when oppositions and governments can work together to put bills through the parliament. And it's very good when governments admit that, when they were in opposition, they got it completely wrong and, once they get into government, they understand that they need to make amends. That's what this bill is—the Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2024. For those who've been around a little while, they'll remember that twice when we were in government we tried to put through legislation which would have given our Border Force more powers when it comes to detention centres. Unfortunately, those opposite, who are now in government, when they were in opposition, wouldn't support those bills. Now they're in government, they've realised that they do have to take responsible action.

This is especially the case at the moment. In July this year, Australians were shocked by media reports that the New South Wales police had charged a detainee for allegedly running a sophisticated drug operation from inside the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. An Australian Border Force commander, Budhy Tanddo, at the time said, 'The ABF's limited powers place additional pressure on already stretched police resources.' In a separate report in September, ABF Assistant Commissioner Sarah Nicolson, when discussing organised crime operating within the immigration detention centre, said: 'Detainees have access to telecommunications devices and computers while in detention. Under existing arrangements, there is no ability for the ABF to restrict access to these items, including dedicated encrypted telecommunications devices.'

When we were in government, we sought to address these issues through the Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2017 and the Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2020. It was a shame that the then opposition didn't back those bills, because we wouldn't be here now if that had been the case, and what happened this year might not have happened, with organised crime running a drug racket out of Villawood detention centre. So I'm hopeful that the government will admit the error of their ways and will say, when they're talking on this bill: 'Mea culpa. We got it wrong. We got it wrong on two occasions and we've got to apologise to the Australian people for that and at least we've come to our senses now.' I doubt whether that is going to happen.

It will be interesting to see who speaks on this bill, because my old sparring mate—he has now moved on—Andrew Giles said, when speaking on this bill in 2020:

This bill, fundamentally, is a solution in search of a problem … But the fact is this: the government already has the powers it needs. The government already has the powers to remove prohibited items from people in immigration detention facilities. So Labor believes that if this bill were to be passed in its current form then it would result in serious, adverse and unwarranted consequences in respect of individuals in those facilities and more broadly.

You can just see from that why the former immigration minister was such a disaster, because he couldn't even recognise there was a problem. But I look forward to him coming in and now voting for the bill. Maybe we will get a mea culpa.

Peter Khalil told the House in the second reading debate on the 2020 bill:

Labor and I oppose this bill, in summary, for a couple of reasons: there is no justification for this bill and its sweeping powers, and it is also a bill which has clear impingements upon the human rights of detainees.

Well, I'm sure that Peter Khalil—

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