Immigration Minister again under pressure over how former detainees were able commit crimes
Labor has again come under pressure to explain how former detainees were able to go out and commit crimes if they were being “closely monitored”.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for the sacking of Immigration Minister Andrew Giles over his “failures” to monitor former detainees convicted of crimes.
Mr Dutton erupted during Question Time after the Coalition led a wave of questions targeted at Mr Giles, which accused the minister of failing to protect the community from “hardcore criminals.”
He said the government’s failure to redetain any of the released criminals, which include seven individuals convicted of murder, warranted Mr Giles’s immediate dismissal.
A total of 27 former immigration detainees released after the NZYQ High Court ruling last year have been accused of committing serious crimes in the past three months.
“I move a motion that calls upon the Prime Minister to dismiss this incompetent minister who has proven entirely inadequate in keeping Australians safe,” Mr Dutton said.
“Mr Speaker, this Minister has to go! This weak Prime Minister needs to show leadership!”
Following a wave of opposing shouts from the government, Speaker Milton Dick quickly urged the House to settle down.
“It’s not a free-for-all all,” Mr Dick said.
In earlier questioning, Opposition Immigration spokesman Dan Tehan demanded Labor explain how former detainees were able to go out and commit crimes if they were being “closely monitored” by the government.
Following the High Court ruling, the government rushed to legislate new laws to tighten visa conditions and enact preventive detention laws to re-detain non-citizens
Mr Giles argued strict visa conditions had been put in place for every individual, including ankle monitors, stressing that the government knew where they were.
During Wednesday’s Question Time Mr Tehan asked: “How could the Minister claim they have been continuously monitored if they’ve been left to their own devices to commit crimes?”
Mr Giles replied: “The location of every individual in this cohort is known. Every individual’s location is known.”
Leaders ‘encourage’ Barnaby to take a break
David Littleproud has confirmed he and Peter Dutton have “strongly encouraged” Barnaby Joyce to take personal leave after the federal MP was caught lying on a public footpath.
The Nationals MP was captured on a video lying on a street in the Canberra suburb of Braddon after a late night parliamentary sitting about 11.30pm February 7.
Speaking out on Wednesday, the Nationals leader said the incident was not a display of normal behaviour and said Mr Joyce was embarrassed for himself and his family.
“His behaviour was not acceptable but there were circumstances that drove that and that my job is to create the environment for him to be able to address that,” Mr Littleproud told Sunrise.
“I’ve strongly encouraged him to take that leave to be able to address it.”
On Monday, the former deputy prime minister explained he is on prescription medication and was told “certain things may happen” if he mixed alcohol with it.
He said had fallen off a planter box after walking home from a late night function while speaking on the phone with his wife Vikki Campion.
Flagging further conversations with the MP over the coming days, Mr Littleproud said Mr Joyce was also experiencing “distressing” issues in his personal life and said he would be welcomed back once he got his affairs in order.
He said Mr Joyce welcomed the leave offer and was considering it ahead of conversations with his family.
“There are some other personal circumstances around his family, and some unfortunate circumstances that have prevailed with other family members – that are distressing to Barnaby … and he needs to address those,” he said.
“I don’t intend to talk about those publicly.
“That is up to Barnaby. But he wants those things to be kept private. If he does, that is up to him, if he wants to express that it’s up to him. But I don’t intend to breach his confidence.”
Gov’s big spend to spruik tax cuts
The government will spend up to $40m on an advertising campaign spruiking their tax cuts.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher revealed the figure during Senate estimates on Wednesday, defending the campaign as “pretty routine” amid criticism of the high figure.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that there is accurate information about the changes that will come into effect on the first of July,” Senator Gallagher said.
She confirmed the campaign would not start until after the Dunkley by-election on March 2, with the funding allocated across the next two financial years.
The legislation is expected to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday, paving the way for every Australian taxpayer to receive a tax cut from July 1.
Treasury officials had earlier come under intense scrutiny over the tax cuts by the Coalition, who support giving low- and middle-income taxpayers a tax cut but are highly critical of the government for “breaking a promise” on the pre-legislated stage 3 tax cuts.
PM amps up over tax cuts
Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took aim at the Nationals Party after Barnaby Joyce took a series of digs at Labor’s tax changes during a debate over amendments to the stage 3 income tax cuts.
Speaking to the Lower House, Mr Albanese said “overwhelmingly” people living in rural and regional areas supported the government’s revised income tax policy.
The overhaul, set to come into effect on July 1, will see tax cuts almost halved for higher income earners while delivering relief to those Aussies on lower to middle incomes.
Referring directly to Mr Joyce, who he said came in “not once, but twice” to speak about how tough people were doing it in regional Australia, Mr Albanese said his government was standing up for people the minor party represented.
“Well, how about they [regional Australian’s] have a political party that stood up for them?,” Mr Albanese said.
“Our tax cuts are aimed squarely at regional Australia and our tax cuts are aimed squarely at Middle Australia.”
According to recent survey data released by Redbridge, about 60 per cent of those polled either supported or strongly supported the incoming tax cut changes.
Speaking earlier, Mr Joyce said Labor had no reasons to break its election promise to not alter its position on income taxes.
“Ultimately, all that people remember is they never thank you for the tax cut, but I remember that you broke your promise,” he told the chamber.
“And that’s precisely what’s happened here.”
Ley: PM should ‘sack’ Giles over detainees
Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley has called for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to be sacked over delays in applications for community safety orders in the wake of the NZYQ ruling.
The revelation that there were seven murderers and 37 sex offenders among the 149 detainees released by the High Court last year has reignited a wave of backlash towards the Albanese government this week.
After it was revealed that ministers hadn’t applied to re-detain any of the 18 former detainees charged of crimes after their release, Ms Ley called on the prime minister to intervene on Wednesday.
“If he doesn’t sack him, this is on the prime minister because it is shameful that not one single preventative detention order was applied for,” she told Sky News.
Mr Giles told Question Time on Tuesday that the government was preparing applications and emphasised there was a “very high” legal threshold that needed to be met to lodge a successful order.
“There is a serious amount of work to be done and that is why we are taking it seriously to ensure that applications are made properly,” he said.
New details in ‘mushroom’ murder house raid
Police discovered thousands of dollars worth of electrical goods including five ipads and a trail camera after raiding the home of accused mushroom murder Erin Patterson last year, a Senate hearing has been told.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday that several hidden items were found in Ms Patterson’s home during six-hour police raids.
Intense searches came after Ms Patterson, 49, was arrested and charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder after allegedly serving poisonous mushrooms in a meal at her house on July 29.
“Technology Detector Dog Georgia found one USB, a micro secure digital card and a SIM card,” Mr Kershaw told Senators.
“Technology Detector Dog Alma found a mobile phone, five iPads, a trail camera, and secure digital card and a smartwatch.
“These were not found during initial searches undertaken by officers.”
It is understood that Ms Patterson will be held behind bars until her next court appearance in May.
‘Wait and see’: Albo’s big election threat
The Prime Minister has refused to rule out a double dissolution of parliament as he faces fierce opposition to his signature housing legislation.
‘Backwards’: Albo blasted over economy fears
Australia is at risk of taking “noticeable” steps backwards, with one business leader saying prominent CEOs are fearing the country is “losing” its way.
Joyce’s wild nuclear claim after earthquake
A wild claim from Barnaby Joyce about the future of a nuclear plant in the area where a 4.7 magnitude quake struck has led to a fiery exchange with a fellow panellist.