First monitors removed from freed immigration detainees as new law could result in deportations

The government is looking at paying other countries to accept the immigration detainees who were freed by the High Court earlier this year. It comes as the court made a second ruling decreeing detainees should not be subjected to ankle monitors or curfews.

Detainees released from immigration centres will remain in the community without ankle monitors or curfews until each is individually assessed under Labor’s new plan to counter a High Court ruling against the original measures.

The new regulation, signed into effect by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Thursday morning, empowers him to reinstate monitoring measures on former detainees deemed likely to commit a serious offence carrying a minimum sentence of five years.

Mr Burke is also pursuing laws that would allow the federal government to pay third party countries to accept the non-citizens, and pave the way for those individuals to be re-detained in immigration detention if they refuse the option to be deported to the willing nation.

Curfews and ankle bracelets were imposed on the detainees released following a High Court decision last year, which ruled against their indefinite detention.

Among the cohort of 215 released by the High Court since the original NZYQ ruling, 65 have reoffended, of whom 45 are not in custody.

Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke is set to introduce new legislation on Thursday to combat the High Court decision. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Those given curfews and orders to wear ankle bracelets were informed they were no longer required to comply with the measures on Wednesday morning after another High Court case ruled the monitoring was unconstitutional.

It’s understood the individual known as YBFZ, the 36-year-old stateless refugee who brought the case to court, had his monitor removed on Wednesday following the ruling.

Further appointments were being made on Thursday for other former detainees to have their ankle bracelets removed.

Mr Burke’s regulation enables him to work around the High Court ruling, while legislation he introduced to parliament on Thursday will give him further ability to either send unlawful non-citizens overseas, or back into detention.

“This government’s first priority is community safety … The first priority is not ankle bracelets or detention for these people, our first priority is we don’t want them in Australia at all, and that is why we introduce powers today in the legislation to improve the government’s capacity to remove people from this country in that situation,” Mr Burke said in Question Time.

In a joint statement, Coalition MPs James Paterson, Dan Tehan and Michaelia Cash slammed the government, saying the High Court loss meant former detainees who had previously committed crimes would be at large in the community without any monitoring.

“The Minister for Home Affairs confirmed in Question Time today that all 215 of the dangerous non- citizen offenders released on the Albanese Labor government’s watch are now free in the Australian community without any monitoring or curfews after their embarrassing loss in the High Court,” they said.

“This cohort includes 12 murderers, 66 sex offenders, 97 people convicted of assault, 15 domestic violence perpetrators and others who will be free in the community without any monitoring or curfews.”

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