Rita Panahi: Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil are not up to the job

The bruised and battered face of 73-year-old Ninette Simons should shame the Albanese government and prompt the immediate demotion of Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil.

They’re not up to it, Albo. It’s that simple.

The sooner the Prime Minister demotes the Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil the better.

The bruised and battered face of 73-year-old Ninette Simons should shame the Albanese government.

The Perth grandmother, a recent cancer survivor, and her husband Philip, were the victims of a brutal home invasion and bashing allegedly committed by three men including Kuwaiti-born Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, one of the detainees released after a High Court ruling that overturned a 20-year precedent on indefinite immigration detention late last year.

Ninette Simons was the victim of a brutal home invasion and bashing allegedly committed by three men, including one of the detainees released by the High Court late last year.

Doukoshkan was released on bail after allegedly repeatedly breaching curfew orders.

Thus far the Albanese government has been unable or unwilling to enforce measures to mitigate the risks associated with dozens of hardened criminals being released into the community including murderers, rapists and child sex offenders.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Australians were paying the price for federal Labor’s incompetence.

“I don’t for the life of me understand why these people were still out on the street – they were meant to be with ankle monitors and bracelets,” Dutton said.

Minister For Immigration Andrew Giles and Minister For Home Affairs Clare O'Neil. Picture: Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese hasn’t shown a great penchant for tough calls during his prime ministership but he must act, and decisively, to address this crisis. The chaotic and incoherent response of his senior ministers can no longer be tolerated.

Giles, in particular, has been thoroughly inept, from missing three meetings about the NZYQ High Court case in the lead-up to the November ruling to his failure to contact victims.

Labor talks a good game on law and order and border protection but it’s just not in their DNA.

After all, the immigration minister was inspired to enter politics after representing the 433 Tampa asylum seekers.

“In 2001, I was a small part of the legal team that acted on behalf of the asylum seekers on the Tampa. This involvement, more than anything else, led me towards seeking election to this place,” he explained back in 2014.

“We shouldn’t forget the story of the Tampa, in all its dimensions. It changed me as a young lawyer acting on behalf of refugees.”

It’s time Giles and O’Neil were moved to portfolios better suited to their strengths, whatever they may be.