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. The Albanese Labor government has released 80 hardcore criminals from detention into the community. This includes a paedophile who raped a 10-year-old—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

The member for Wannon will pause for a moment. Members on my right! The member for Wills is warned. I will say this one more time: when questions are being asked, they will be heard in silence. That means no noise. The member for Wannon will begin his question again.

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. The Albanese Labor government has released 80 hardcore criminals from detention into the community. This includes a paedophile who raped a 10-year-old boy. What accommodation and other financial support is the government now providing to this convicted paedophile and the other hardcore criminals to live in the community?

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

I will hear from the Leader of the House on a point of order.

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

Mr Speaker, the question is dealing with a decision of the High Court of Australia and it is describing it as though it is something other than that.

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! We will deal with this in an orderly way. I want to 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

The question is dealing with a decision that is a decision of the High Court of Australia. It is framing it as though it is not a decision of the High Court of Australia but a decision of the Albanese government when the government in fact argued against that outcome in the High Court.

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

The question is in order. I am just going to ask the shadow minister to rephrase the question to make sure it is within the standing orders just so we can get on with this.

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

The minister in his previous answer made reference to his decision to release one of these people. An additional 80 to 81 hardcore criminals now have been released. It is a decision of the minister to release people, and the question as it's framed is perfectly in order.

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

Let me just hear the question again to make sure that it is within the standing orders. Perhaps a reframing would assist the House.

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. The Albanese Labor government, following a High Court decision, has released 80 hardcore criminals from detention into the community. This includes a paedophile who raped a 10-year-old boy. What accommodation and other financial support is the government now providing to this convicted paedophile and the other hardcore criminals to live in the community?

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

I say again as my friend the Minister for Home Affairs and I have said repeatedly that on Wednesday the High Court handed down a decision which required the release of one citizen—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Members opposite say they know that, but clearly they do not. As the respondent to this, I opposed that application. Let me be very clear about that. I opposed that application for reasons which I think unite pretty much everyone in this place. We believe that noncitizens who have committed very serious criminal offences, including sexual offences like the offences that the shadow minister just referred to, should not continue to remain in Australia. The circumstances here are that we have not been able to remove them. When I say 'we', I say again that none of these people have arrived in Australia since the election of the Albanese government. The members opposite should perhaps bear that in mind as well as our shared concern, rejection of and revulsion at the behaviour of—

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

The minister will pause. The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order?

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

Mr Speaker, the question read as follows, in part: what accommodation and other financial support is the government now providing to this convicted paedophile and the other hardcore criminals to live in the community?

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

The minister is halfway through his answer—

Order, Leader of the Opposition! I am trying to deal with your point of order. There were a number of parts to the question. He is being relevant at this stage. I am just going to ask him to return to the question to make sure he is addressing all parts of the question.

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

I'll just say again that our concern is always to retain community safety. We fought to resist the decision that ultimately the High Court handed down. Again I say that this was for reasons that, I think, unite us in this place.

In terms of the question directly put at the end of the shadow minister's question, I have to say two things. Firstly, as he and the Leader of the Opposition would well know, I can't comment on individual cases. I can say that the requirements of state and territory orders for a person in the circumstances he described as well as the stringent visa conditions require us to be certain about where such a person is located—I think he would understand that—so that we can ensure community safety.

I spoke yesterday about the measures we put in place before the decision was handed down to ensure coordination with state and territory law enforcement authorities prior to the decision being handed down in the event that any releases were required. This requires us to take steps, including the steps that ordinarily apply for someone who is released from a form of detention with the Status Resolution Support Services. It is absolutely critical that we enable us to have certainty as to where someone is, particularly a person who is guilty of the sorts of offences that you described and is subject to state obligations—perhaps somebody on the child sex offenders register, which obviously restricts the places in which they can reside—

An honourable member interjecting—

A paedophile, yes. They should be restricted in where they can live. That requires us to work towards that. (Time expired)