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

My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Under the Albanese Labor government, the decision to release 80 hardcore criminals will result in more violent crimes against Australians. Why hasn't this government drafted any legislation to keep Australians safe from these criminals?

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the shadow minister for the question. Perhaps I can begin by reminding him and all members that last Wednesday afternoon the High Court handed down a decision which required the release of individuals from immigration detention. The High Court handed down a decision which we, of course, are complying with. I would say that, as we heard earlier, not every Australian government has complied with the requirements of the law nor respected separation of powers. Can I say this too? The Commonwealth argued against the decision that ultimately the High Court maintained. But, of course, we were prepared, as I think the shadow minister's question suggests, for this outcome because of the significance of this case. Members would appreciate that the case has overturned a precedent of nearly two decades.

Throughout this, community safety has been our No. 1 concern, and I say to the Australian community that it will continue to be our No. 1 concern. I hope that that is the concern that is echoed across this chamber and in the other place. To that end, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Border Force have been working closely with our state and territory authorities. I'll make very clear that that cooperation through the ABF commenced prior to the decision being handed down. In recognition of our apprehension of the seriousness of an adverse decision to the Commonwealth, we took those steps in advance of it. We also established a joint operation with state and federal—

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

Mr Speaker, on a point of order on relevance, the question was: why hasn't the government—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat. The minister has the call and will be relevant to the question.

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is not serious, and this is a serious issue. We moved quickly to ensure that we issued visas to impacted individuals with appropriate conditions to ensure that community safety can be upheld, including requirements to report readily to the department to inform the minister of any changes of personal details such as address, social media profiles, restrictions of industries on employment and a range of other conditions. This is in addition to state and territory requirements, which go to the issues that you were talking about, Shadow Minister.

We have been required to release people almost instantly. That is the decision of the court. But we continue to consider all measures that may be available to strengthen our protection of the community. I note, of course, that we are yet to have the reasons for the court's decision. We have been approaching this issue in anticipation of a decision, because we regard community safety seriously. We continue to do so, unlike members opposite, whose record in this area is an unmitigated disaster. (Time expired)