Dutton’s department released two men convicted of aiding killers

Two men convicted of accessory to murder were released from federal detention when Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was the minister in charge of immigration and home affairs, according to government details that escalate a political blame game over migration and crime.

The convicted criminals were released into the community instead of being deported when the Coalition government was responsible for border protection, in decisions made by officials who reported to the minister.

Government documents also show that 102 convicted sex offenders were released into the community during the six years when Dutton held the portfolio.

The details of detainees released under the Coalition emerged as federal officials admitted they failed to keep Immigration Minister Andrew Giles informed about the release of immigration detainees in recent months, raising questions about control of the visa system.

With department officials under scrutiny in Senate estimates, the government says the 102 sex offenders released from immigration detention during Dutton’s time as minister included 64 child sex offenders.

One of the men, born in the United Kingdom in 1947, was convicted in 2016 of being an accessory to the stabbing of an associate in a cannabis operation. He helped another man carry the victim’s body to the boot of a car and dump it in a makeshift grave.

The man was transferred to immigration detention after serving time but department officials chose to reinstate his visa and release him into the community in April 2017.

Another man, born in the UK in 1945, was convicted in 1986 of being an accessory to murder when a drug associate shot another man in what was described as a gangland execution.

The man was transferred to immigration detention, but the federal department chose to restore his visa in July 2015, sparing him deportation to the UK.

Dutton defended his time in the portfolio and the number of visas he cancelled as minister.

Peter Dutton when he was the minister for home affairs in 2020. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I cancelled more than 6300 visas – more than any minister since federation,” he said. “The cancellation power was exercised within the limits of the Constitution.

“Mr [Anthony] Albanese watered down the law under direction 99 and that’s why you are seeing the complete failure by this government and the hapless Andrew Giles.”

The exposure of the Coalition government’s record heightens the political fight about who takes responsibility for detainees who are freed despite their criminal convictions.

Officials from the Department of Home Affairs confirmed the release of the 102 sex offenders and the men found guilty of accessory to murder, speaking in Senate estimates in response to questions from Labor senators.

The revelations drew sharp criticism from Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson, who accused the government of gathering the data for an attack on Dutton.

Cabinet minister Murray Watt, who represented the government at the Senate estimates hearing, said the debate was about holding Dutton to the same standard he sought to apply to the government.

“You have spent, how many months, engaging in political hit jobs, and, again, you don’t want to be held to the same standard,” Watt said.

“You think that Mr Dutton and yourself can run around out there, making all sorts of accusations against government ministers, and not be held to the same standards?”

Paterson said the difference was that the Coalition did not use public resources to dig up dirt.

Dutton has slammed the government over the release of convicted rapists and sex offenders in recent months, holding Giles responsible for decisions made in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to free the men from immigration detention.

The tribunal decisions were made after Giles set new guidelines for visa decisions under rules known as direction 99, which took force in March 2023 and set out the reasons for cancelling visas.

In one case, a man known as CHCY was released in a decision by tribunal member Anna Burke in March this year. The man had been convicted of two counts of rape and nine counts of indecent treatment of his stepdaughter, a child under 16. The government detained him to seek his deportation to New Zealand, but he appealed to the tribunal and represented himself at a hearing in February. The government hired a solicitor from Clayton Utz to argue against his release, but Burke cited the need for “tolerance” in direction 99.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a new directive to ensure that protection outweighs any other decision by the tribunal.

“The only effective way of ensuring the tribunal members are making better decisions is to issue a new revised direction, which the minister will be doing,” he said. “The new directive will ensure that the protection of the community outweighs any other consideration.”

Department of Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster during Senate estimates on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In estimates on Tuesday night, Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster conceded that about 30 cases where deportation on character grounds was successfully appealed were not brought to Giles’ attention, including those of serial rapists and paedophiles.

Unlike those cases, the decisions to release the two men convicted of being accessories to murder were made by government officials in the Department of Home Affairs, not the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or a court.

Both men were released when the Coalition government was responsible for the portfolio.

Dutton was the minister for immigration and border protection from December 2014 to August 2018 and added the new portfolio of home affairs from December 2017.

He stepped down to challenge then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for the Liberal Party leadership in August 2018 but returned to the portfolio after Scott Morrison became leader that month. Dutton was minister for home affairs, with cabinet responsibility for immigration, until March 2021.

Other Liberal frontbenchers held the immigration portfolio as junior ministers outside cabinet at the same time. David Coleman was immigration minister from August 2018 to December 2020, but took personal leave for his final year in the post. Alan Tudge was acting minister from December 2019 to December 2020. Alex Hawke was immigration minister from December 2020 until the election in May 2022. Karen Andrews was minister for home affairs from March 2021 to May 2022.

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