Opposition Leader Peter Dutton launches tirade against Albanese government over visa bungle

Labor’s political headache over a landmark High Court ruling is not going away after it admitted to a major visa bungle.

The Coalition has ramped up its attack on the Albanese government’s handling of the High Court detainees issue, saying it had made “catastrophic errors”.

The government was forced to reveal on Wednesday that there had been a “technical” fault with the visas issued to the 149 individuals after they were freed under last year’s NZYQ ruling.

The have now been issued the correct visas.

The latest visa bungle was not discovered till last Sunday night and means any of the 10 detainees who have breached their orders since being released last may not face charges.

In a fiery tirade on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton again called for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sack Immigration Minister Andrew Giles over the mistake.

“This is a government that goes from train wreck to train wreck when it comes to keeping our country safe,” Mr Dutton said.

“I don’t believe that this Prime Minister has a level of competence.

“He just doesn’t have the strength to lead our country, he doesn’t have the ability to stand up against the unions or criminal networks, he doesn’t have the ability to say to his minister, ‘shape up or ship out’.

Mr Albanese, with Education Minister Jason Clare (right), said his government was not above the law. NCA NewsWire / Lukas Coch

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has renewed his attack on the government over the visa issue. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Australia’s High Court unanimously ruled in November that immigration detention is unlawful where there is “no real prospect” of it becoming practical to deport the person “in the reasonably foreseeable future”.

The decision led to months of political pain for the Albanese government, which scrambled to legislate new laws to tighten visa conditions and enact preventive detention laws to re-detain non-citizens in the wake of the ruling.

According to Senate documents released in January, among the 149 people released into the community since the ruling are seven murderers, 37 sex offenders and 72 violent criminals.

Mr Albanese said he did not agree that his government had mishandled the issue when asked by reporters while in the Northern Territory on Wednesday.

“Let’s be clear – the High Court made a decision, not my government, and as the Opposition has said in moments of candour in between their moments of trying to spread fear, they have acknowledged that no government is above the law,” he said.

In a bid to dampen criticisms earlier, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said strict visa conditions, including ankle bracelets and curfews, had been reapplied to the cohort.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the glitch in the 2013 legislation has been rectified. . Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says the government acted quickly when the issue became known. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“This was a problem in the original legislation that the parliament passed in 2013,” Ms O’Neil said on Wednesday.

“Lawyers have identified a problem, and we’ve moved quickly to address it. The Australian government has now reissued all of those visas with tough conditions.

“The important thing is that community safety has been an absolute priority in everything that we have dealt with on this issue.”

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said the government had acted “very quickly” when it found out about the issue on Sunday night.

Mr Dutton lashed the government for inferring the visa technicality was the result of legislation from the Abbott government, when it was done by the Rudd government.

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said Mr Albanese should sack Mr Giles over the mistake which she said was made known “months ago.”

The Coalition is refiring its attacks. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“If it can be fixed for ministerial regulation quickly, there wouldn’t necessarily be a problem with the original visa legislation. This wasn’t a problem under our government at all,” Senator Hume said.

“This is a story of incompetence from go to woe. I can sense Clare’s frustration here with her junior minister, Andrew Giles.

“The fact that Anthony Albanese has kept him in his position demonstrates that this is a government that’s weak on border security and weak on community safety.”

Mr Giles said there had been no lapse in the constant monitoring of the cohort as a result of the recent technical failure.

He also denied claims that the federal government was made aware of the problem in the visa legislation back in December.

“There have been no changes to the monitoring arrangements, as I’ve said consistently, and indeed, as senior officials of the federal police said in Senate estimates only weeks ago, these are people who are being constantly monitored. We know where they are,” he told ABC.

Originally published as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton launches tirade against Albanese government over visa bungle