Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. I refer to the Albanese government's release of hardcore criminals from detention into the community. The government stated in the High Court that 92 individuals were to be impacted by the decision, yet the minister has stated that only 80 offenders have been released into the community. On what basis did the minister release these 80 criminals but continue to hold the remaining 12?

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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question on this very serious matter. It is the case that, on Wednesday of last week, the High Court handed down a decision which required the release of noncitizens—noncitizens who, as the Leader of the Opposition and others have said, include people who have committed very, very serious crimes—from immigration detention, where I had maintained them. The High Court required their release. We put before the court the details of those potentially affected. The High Court's decision required a consideration of those held in immigration detention against the test the High Court had set out, being people with no real prospect of removal from Australia becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future.

On that basis, in accordance with the decision of the court, the relevant officers in the department—and the Leader of the Opposition would be familiar with the process—with powers under the Migration Act made those considerations as soon as possible. I can inform the House: I said yesterday that 80 such people were required to be released; a further person was released yesterday, and I have imposed similarly strict visa conditions on that person.

Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. How is the Albanese Labor government prioritising community safety in implementing the recent High Court decision?

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order. Order! No, the minister will resume her seat. There were far too many interjections during that question. We'll hear that question again, because I need to hear the question. So no interjections during the question—and hopefully none after, either.

Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. How is the Albanese Labor government prioritising community safety in implementing the recent High Court decision?

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. As the minister for immigration has just outlined to the parliament, last Wednesday the High Court handed down a decision which overturned a 20-year precedent which has governed how the Commonwealth deals with detaining certain noncitizens. The implication of this decision is that the Commonwealth must immediately release a set of affected individuals from immigration detention. I just want to be absolutely clear with the parliament. The Commonwealth argued against the release of these people. Some of these people have committed disgusting crimes. Some of them have hurt people who are still here in our country, and it is those victims that we care about. I can tell the parliament that there is one single focus and one single priority that we are using to manage the implications of the High Court's decision, and that is the community safety of the Australian citizens who elect us to this parliament.

To ensure that we are able to do this, we have set up a police response across the states and territories. Following the High Court's decision, the AFP commissioner briefed, in person, the police commissioner of every state and territory around the Commonwealth. On 10 November, operation AGIS, which is a joint AFP and ABF led operation, was established, which is managing the overall response, working with state and territory police. This is ensuring that, as people are released from immigration detention, they are able to be incorporated into state and territory postoffender management programs.

The parliament should know that the purpose of operation AGIS is to individually case manage every single one of these people as they are released from detention. I want to thank law enforcement and police around the country who are working with the Commonwealth government to protect community safety at this time.

The parliament has heard about the stringent visa conditions that we have put on these people—the strictest possible that are available under Australian law. What this means is that these people are restricted to certain types of employment. They must report in person to authorities—in some instances, daily. We will require continuous reporting on a range of different issues.

There is more to say about this matter, and hopefully I'll have the opportunity during question time, but I want to finish by saying that we are not going to get a lecture on managing the integrity of the migration system by the Leader of the Opposition.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order!

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have—

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

The minister will pause. Order!

Government members interjecting—

Members on my right! I want to hear from the Manager of Opposition Business.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is absolutely no basis for this minister to be going to the record of the previous government. The question was very specific: how is the Albanese Labor government prioritising community safety in implementing the High Court's decision?

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

I'll hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's completely relevant to the question, because the way these individuals made it into Australia in the first place was through the now Leader of the Opposition.

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! Members on my left will cease interjecting immediately. The leader of the Nationals and the Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting. The minister needs to be relevant to the question. It is not an excuse to just go into any attacks on the opposition. I want her to remain relevant to the question. The Leader of the House is correct in terms of the context. I'm giving her some leeway, but this is not a reason just to compare and contrast. That was not in the question.

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have a number of independent reports now that show us that the Leader of the Opposition broke Australia's migration system. What I'd like to hear from the Leader of the Opposition, instead of free and fair advice—

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

Order! The minister will return to the question.

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we'd like to hear from the Leader of the Opposition is not advice to the government about something that he could have managed but perhaps a little bit of contrition for the role that he played in all of this!

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order, members on my left! Has the minister concluded her answer? We will move to the next question.