Commentary
If the letters NZYQ do not make any sense to you, be assured you are not alone.
Those letters, however, are now enshrined forever in Australia’s jurisprudence courtesy of the High Court’s decision by that name—NZYQ—delivered on Nov. 8, 2023.
This landmark decision saw the release of over a hundred detainees from immigration detention. They were there awaiting removal from Australia because of antecedents leading to the refusal of a visa or its cancellation.
However, their removal was not feasible due to a variety of reasons.
The Court in its determination saw indefinite detention as punitive—a matter for the Courts, and not the Executive or Parliament to decide.
The legislation under which the detainees were held was deemed to be beyond the legislative power of the Commonwealth Parliament.
In doing so, it overruled a previous decision of the High Court delivered some 20 years earlier.
While lawyers, academics, and commentators will pontificate on the rationale of their Honours’ decision, NZYQ has had far-reaching practical consequences.
It has seen a faltering government with ministers displaying their ineptness while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton strode onto the national stage with an engaging powerful double act—highlighting the many missteps of Labor ministers and providing a practical solution to this sorry public policy debacle.
Mr. Dutton’s masterful seizing of the issue with gravitas and aplomb has left ministers Clare O’Neil and Andrew Giles and the absentee prime minister in his wake.
The need for urgent immediate action as called for by Mr. Dutton is now on full display as news bulletins and newspapers regale their audiences with stories of released detainees allegedly conducting themselves in ugly, anti-social, and violent behaviour.
Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaks to the media during a press conference at Brisbane Airport in Brisbane, Australia on Aug. 30, 2023. AAP Image/Darren England
From a child sex offender to a known sex offender, there has been a wholesale release from custody of a body of unsavoury individuals.
Not only have they been released, but a number have used that newfound freedom to engage in their old activities.
A Chronic Migraine for the Government
It is unthinkable that a government whose duty is to keep the public safe was so inept and ill-prepared as not to forestall the consequences flowing from this High Court decision.Three new charges have been laid against a child sex offender allegedly perpetrated just days after his release.
Similarly, a freed detainee once described by a Supreme Court judge as a danger to the Australian community, has been denied bail after being arrested and accused of an attack against a woman.
If the cost of living crisis and soaring energy prices along with rising interest rates was not enough of a headache for the Labor government of Anthony Albanese, the failure of maintaining strong borders and keeping unsavoury people out of Australian society is the chronic migraine with which no government wishes to be afflicted.
But afflicted it is as the government sets its sights on its re-election strategy.
NZYQ may be a cause for celebration amongst those who put human rights theory before community safety.
But for a government already struggling with a multitude of issues and a prime minister who appears to only make fleeting visits to Australia, a quick and lasting solution to the debacle is vital.
That the issue is still not thoroughly resolved one month after the initial High Court ruling indicates a government relying solely on departmental advice and not capable of driving the agenda itself.
The proposed legislative fix winding its way through the Parliament needs to be more than just a band-aid.
To enter the new year, speculated to be an election year, without a strong, firm, and decisive response this matter could potentially consign the Albanese government to just one term.
The legislative response should have been in place by now with a reassured community that they are protected from people who were correctly deemed unfit for society.
NZYQ might just become the political abbreviation for: just when you thought nothing else could go wrong, up pops an NZYQ.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
