A government spokesperson said the new bill would “further strengthen our immigration detention network by providing extra tools to deport individuals from Australia”.
Tehan said Immigration Minister Andrew Giles should have been the one fronting the press on Wednesday morning to explain the government’s intentions.
“What I’m saying to you is, I hope that the courts can do the job, because I can tell you, the government can’t seem to be able to do this.”
Coalition spokesman for home affairs James Paterson joined Tehan’s criticism of the legislation, saying the new laws could spark more boat arrivals.“We’re very concerned that this legislation, like other decisions that the government has made, will cause people to get back on boats again,” he said.
The Coalition is calling for a late Senate sitting, adding the Coalition wanted to “do everything we can to support the government in doing the job that it is failing to do in keeping Australians safe”.
Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan has criticised the lack of time given to scrutinise new detention legislation.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The High Court ruled indefinite immigration detention was unlawful in a landmark decision last year, prompting the release of 152 people into the community, many with serious criminal records that include convictions for murder, rape and people smuggling.
The government is bracing for years of legal upheaval created by the precedent in that case, which carries the pseudonym NZYQ.
The latest bill will be introduced weeks ahead of another crucial High Court challenge launched by a bisexual Iranian man given the pseudonym ASF17, which will determine pn April 17 whether the government is allowed to continue to detain foreigners who do not cooperate with efforts to remove them to their country of origin.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will introduce new legislation to allow the government to more easily deport people.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Iranian man Ned Kelly Emeralds has now sought to intervene in that case following his own release from immigration detention last year, fearing that if the High Court decides in favour of the government he could be thrown back behind bars.
Federal Court judge Geoffrey Kennett ordered Emeralds be released in November after a decade in detention as there was no real prospect of deportation, despite the Commonwealth arguing he had frustrated efforts to remove him.
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Lawyers for Emeralds filed documents in the High Court last week arguing people in detention had no duty to cooperate with their own removal, and there was no reason why fear of persecution in their country of citizenship didn’t constitute a “good reason” for refusing to consent.
They said that if the appeal failed, “the Commonwealth may conclude that there is a real prospect of AZC20’s removal becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future and, as a consequence, that AZC20 is ineligible for his present visa (a Bridging Visa R) and must be re-detained.”
More to come.
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Source Agencies
