James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The SA Police Commissioner has stated that five of the released detainees with a serious criminal history are expected to travel to South Australia. Why has the Albanese Labor government put the safety of South Australians at risk?

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

I thank the member for Sturt for his question. I say once more that the safety of communities across this country remains our priority. That is why, prior to the decision, senior ABF officials briefed all local, state and territory police counterparts on the possible implications of the case. Immediately following the High Court decision, which of course we are obliged to comply with, I say again, the AFP Commissioner briefed those police commissioners on the outcome, including the expected number of individuals required to be released. We went on to establish Operation AEGIS, which is managing the overall response of federal agencies and territory police.

As I've said on many occasions, we imposed the strictest possible visa conditions on those individuals, and today we introduced legislation which I hope the member for Sturt will support, in any form it comes back in, so that we can ensure community safety.