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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Direction 99 was created as a result of the Prime Minister's meeting with former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern in July 2022. Why did this weak and incompetent Prime Minister put his close and sycophantic relationship with Jacinda Ardern ahead of the safety of Australians?

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

Order, members on my right! Members on my right will cease interjecting. The Leader of the Opposition was heard in silence. It is highly disorderly to be interjecting before the Prime Minister speaks. If anyone on my right interjects, they will leave the chamber.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All the anger is there in just one question. The anger and the abuse is all there. He has moved on from abusing journalists. The Leader of the Opposition did a tweet yesterday—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

Order, members on my right!

The Minister for Home Affairs will cease interjecting. I want to hear from 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, it's on relevance. The Prime Minister was asked a question on a serious matter, where literally dozens of Australians have fallen victim to criminals—

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

Resume your seat. We are 28 seconds in. I am going 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

When there is a question that is so full of abuses against standing order 90 and reflections on members, it is completely unreasonable for the Leader of the Opposition to be so precious that he can't take any criticism in return.

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

The Prime Minister has been asked a question. The Leader of the Opposition is entitled to raise a point of order. I'll just remind all members—

Opposition members interjecting—

Alright. I was going to deal with the point of order, but instead I'll call the Prime Minister in continuation.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In that tweet, the Leader of the Opposition said on the cancelled visas:

The cancellation power was exercised within the limits of the Constitution.

He said the quiet bit out loud. The reality is that, on this bloke's watch, 1,300 hardcore criminals were released from immigration detention centres—not because of a decision of the High Court but on his watch. They were released with no curfews, no ankle bracelets, no monitoring and no regard for community safety. They included 102 sex offenders, 64 of whom are child sex offenders, 40 domestic violence offenders and four murderers, alleged murderers or individuals convicted of accessory to murder, including a British man who was convicted in 2016 of being an accessory to the stabbing of an associate in a drug operation. He helped another man carry the victim's body to the boot of a car and dump it in a makeshift grave. Another British man was convicted of being an accessory to murder when a drug associate shot another man in what was described as a gangland execution.

Section 501 has not changed. What we did change was the capacity of Kiwis to become Australian citizens, and I am pleased that 20,000 of them have taken it up. That is the difference that it's made. But on this bloke's watch, the AAT decided a 45-year-old New Zealand man convicted of three charges of an indecent act with a child under 16 should be allowed to stay—on this bloke's watch.

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

Prime Minister, we've already had a point of order on relevance. I don't want the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to take a point of order on relevance. She has the call.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek a ruling, Mr Speaker. Is it in order for the Prime Minister to talk about the opposition in his answer?

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

The time to do that would have been when the point of order was taken on relevance. As I explained to the House, 28 seconds in is not—in my judgement—the best time to take a point of order on relevance. Under the standing orders, one is allowed to be taken, so it's just a reminder to all members that if you want to take a point of order of relevance be careful when you pull that trigger. I remind the Prime Minister to be directly relevant to the question.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That, of course, was made in accordance with ministerial direction 79, which was issued when this guy was the senior minister and the member for Banks was the junior minister. There are many more, so if we want to go through we'll go through the whole lot one by one. (Time expired)