Scott Morrison tries to pass bill to deport violent criminals

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will attempt to pass another long-promised bill this week, this time designed to have violent criminals deported.

Scott Morrison will make a last-ditch effort this week to jam through laws that would make it easier to deport foreign wife bashers, date rapists and other violent criminals from Australia.

One week after suffering a crushing defeat on the Religious Discrimination Bill, the Prime Minister on Wednesday will use another piece of legislation first proposed more than three years ago to spark a new brawl with Labor before the May election.

The opposition has rejected the federal government’s previous efforts to pass the Bill, which would expand powers to deport foreign criminals who receive jail terms of less than 12 months.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has moved to deport violent criminals. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

In 2019, Labor leader Anthony Albanese told a radio station it was a “good idea” to deport criminals, but his party voted against the legislation.

Mr Morrison told The Advertiser: “You can’t have an each-way bet on whether you support kicking criminals out of Australia. Any suggestions that the sorts of crimes being committed are ‘trivial’ are ridiculous – these are very serious crimes committed by foreign criminals who do not belong in Australia.”

The government argues the laws are necessary to limit judges factoring visa cancellation provisions into sentencing decisions.

At present, visa holders are deported if they are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of at least 12 months.

Among the criminals targeted in Mr Morrison’s Bill are wife bashers, cop bashers, date rapists, stalkers and people caught possessing weapons illegally.

In August 2016, Chinese student Hongtao Zhang was sentenced to four years and eight months behind bars for illegally importing almost 700,000 cigarettes into South Australia, dodging more than $460,000 in tax.

Shadow home affairs spokesperson Kristina Keneally says the government reneged on a deal. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

While his sentence was upheld in SA’s Court of Criminal Appeal, a judge agreed it was appropriate to consider hardship caused by the prospect of deportation when sentencing a criminal, setting a precedent in the state.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said: “It should not be easier to deport an international sports star than a convicted criminal.”

Speaking after the Bill was last voted down in October, opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said she and Mr Hawke had tried to reach an agreement so the laws would better target domestic violence offenders.

But she said the minister “sheepishly pulled the deal” and accused Mr Morrison of “playing politics with women and children’s lives”.

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