‘Anxiety’: Grandmother feels let down by government

Nearly a year after allegedly being attacked by one of the members of the NZYQ detainee cohort, Ninette Simons lives in fear one of her alleged assailants will return to her home.

Exclusive: The grandmother whose battered face became the symbol of the NZYQ detainee fiasco says she feels let down by the Commonwealth Government almost a year after the horrific alleged attack.

This masthead can further reveal that the number of former immigration detainees convicted of serious criminal offences such as murder and rape released into the community has risen to 300.

Ninette Simons, 74, had just undergone treatment for cancer when a masked gang allegedly broke into her home in Girrawheen in Perth’s north, brutally bashed her and stole $200,000 worth of possessions.

Ninette Simons want to know what the Albanese government is doing to remove about 300 former detainees convicted of criminal offences known as the NZYQ cohort from Australia. Picture: Tony McDonough

Mrs Simons has alleged one gang member ripped the jewellery she was wearing off her body as he held her down and brutalised her face.

“I still have the shakes [and] I get a lot of anxiety especially at night – I toss and turn,” she said.

“How did I survive this? [It was] so gruesome, it’s still fresh in my mind.”

Mrs Simons still cries herself to sleep most nights and fears one of her alleged assailants will return to her home.

“We do think the government has let us down in a way, releasing detainees who you know ended up in our lounge room,” she said.

“That never should have happened.”

Ninette with husband Philip Simons. Picture: Tony McDonough

The so-called NZYQ cohort were convicted of serious criminal offences but released into the community after the High Court ruled their indefinite detention was unlawful in 2023.

The landmark ruling released hundreds of detainees into the community after the court ruled in favour of a stateless Rohingya man who raped a 10-year-old in Australia.

One of the NZYQ cohort members, Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, has been charged over the brutal attack on Mr and Mrs Simons on April 16, 2024.

Mr Simons said the government should jail or deport the detainees, and he and his wife were still waiting for justice nearly a year after the alleged attack.

“These people came and [allegedly] bashed my wife, you know,” he said.

“They were supposed to have ankle bracelets and they just go about beating everyone up.”

Youth Minister Anne Aly, shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan and Liberal Senator Matt O’Sullivan have visited the Simonses at their home during publicised visits.

“Once they walked out of the house we never saw or heard from them again,” said Mr Simons.

“Anne Aly bought a bouquet of flowers, that was it.”

Ninette had just undergone treatment for cancer when a masked gang allegedly broke into her home in Girrawheen in Perth’s north, brutally bashed her and stole $200,000 worth of possessions. Picture: Supplied

It is understood Minister Aly, who is the local federal MP, wrote to then WA Attorney-General John Quigley on behalf of the Simonses last year after visiting their home.

Senator Sullivan and Mr Tehan connected the Simonses with a local church group that installed a steel fence at their home to improve safety.

In addition, Senator Sullivan wrote to then Immigration Minister Andrew Giles in July 2024 requesting assistance for the couple.

About a year later, the Home Affairs department responded to Senator Sullivan’s letter stating it would be inappropriate to comment as the matter was before the courts. The letter misspells Mrs Simons’ first name as “Ninnette”.

The number of NZYQ cohort members in the community has increased to 300 since the original High Court decision as more detainees finish jail sentences and are released into the community.

In February, the Albanese government struck a deal with the Nauru government to resettle three NZYQ cohort members, including a convicted murderer, for an undisclosed sum. The deal was the first use of new laws passed in November that allow Australia to pay other countries to accept unlawful non-citizens.

The deportation has been delayed after the Human Rights Law Centre filed a challenge in the High Court arguing the decision to cancel a former detainee’s protection visa was made unlawfully.

A spokesperson for Tony Burke said the Albanese government didn’t want the NZYQ cohort in the community or in immigration detention in Australia.

“Violent offenders belong in jail,” he said.

“Whenever this individual is released, the government’s preference is for him to leave the country altogether.

“It wasn’t our decision to release the NZYQ cohort, but Peter Dutton has yet to explain why in 2020 - before the High Court’s decision - he chose to release a man from detention, who was one of the three men to (allegedly) assault Ninette Simons.”

Originally published as ‘Anxiety’: Grandmother feels let down by government