Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has issued a stern warning to detainees who have been released into the community after a recent high court decision—that the Australian government will set them up with the “strictest possible conditions.”
“If you do not follow them, you will end up back in jail,” the Home Affairs minister warned.
Among the conditions set to be imposed on the released detainees will be ankle monitoring bracelets and tough curfews; criminal sanctions also apply to those who breach the rules.
The new emergency laws are being introduced on Nov. 16 as the opposition pushes the government on the potential threat posed by the detainees, who include murderers, sex offenders, and people smugglers.
“Some of these people have committed deplorable, disgusting crimes,” Ms. O’Neil said.
“That is why our government is managing the mandatory impact of this law and doing everything that we can to keep the community safe.”
However, opposition leader Peter Dutton has criticised the Albanese government for not having planned legislative changes in place prior to the Nov. 8 High Court ruling.
This ruling forced the government to release 83 detainees.
“They’ve got a whole department of KCs and lawyers to deal with these issues, the legislation should have been in draft form before the finding of the High Court,” Mr. Dutton said.
“This is not the first time that the High Court has handed down a decision and there will have been arguments, there will have been understandings by the government solicitors in relation to the matters and the facts of the case.”
However, in a joint statement with immigration minister Andrew Giles, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the detainees released have been subject to “strict, mandatory visa conditions,” which include regular reporting to authorities, and reporting on personal details such as their social media profiles.
“The implication of this decision is that the Commonwealth must immediately release affected individuals from immigration detention.”
Legislation Will Criminalise Those Who Breach Bridging Visas
On Nov. 16, the government will introduce the Migration Amendment (Bridging Visa Conditions) Bill and the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 2) bill.The bill will criminalise the breaching of bridging visas in category R, on which the case on NZYQ was released.
“Today our government will introduce tough new laws into our parliament that will give the commonwealth power to put in place very strict visa conditions, new visa conditions, to ensure the community is kept safe,” Ms. O’Neil said on Nov. 16.
Leader of the house, Tony Burke, said the conditions would also include “to be able to have control over where these individuals live, where they work, [and] who they associate with.”
Meanwhile, Sanmati Verma, Acting Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre accused the government of “substituting one form of punishment for another” by attempting to introduce additional restrictions and criminal penalties on detainees.
“Why does this government think that migrants and refugees in the same position pose a different or greater risk?”
Prior to Ms. O'Neil’s announcement, the Coalition had indicated it would support the government’s planned legislative response but had not yet received a draft form of the bill.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told Parliament on Nov. 15 that he would be willing to keep Coalition MPs in Canberra for as long as necessary to pass the laws.
