Andrew Giles under fire as PM rips up deportation rule book

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is under pressure to fix the detainee crisis and save his job as he scrambles to rewrite the rule used to allow violent criminals to stay in Australia, including serial rapists and paedophiles the government was fighting to deport.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to back his embattled minister in a fiery question time following growing opposition calls for Giles to be sacked.

“The new directive will ensure that the protection of the community outweighs any other consideration,” Albanese told federal parliament on Wednesday amid growing government criticism of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s decisions.

This followed revelations Giles’ departmental secretary kept him in the dark about a slew of cases reinstating the visas of serial rapists under “direction 99”, which was issued by the minister last year.

Direction 99 states: “Australia will generally afford a higher level of tolerance” based on the length of time a non-citizen has spent in the Australian community, particularly in formative years.

Adding to Giles’ woes, Home Affairs officials admitted in Senate estimates that ankle monitors were not issued to at least three murderers, 26 sex offenders and seven domestic violence perpetrators released after the High Court’s November decision overturning indefinite detention.

Fiery question time: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

There is growing disquiet among some Labor MPs, including members of the ministry, about Giles’ performance as immigration minister, as the future of his portfolio is discussed in caucus.

Though he is a factional close ally of Albanese, who puts a premium on loyalty, some MPs – who asked not to be named so they could discuss the situation freely – said Giles was approaching the point where his position in the portfolio was untenable.

Giles told the ABC he would stay put as minister.

“I owe the Australian community to work day and night to keep the community safe, to do everything I can do with strong laws and resources,” he said. “I owe my colleagues my absolute focus on continuing doing my job.”

He said the government would deliver a revised ruling that would put a premium on community safety “but also deals specifically with some additional concerns that we see around victims and their families being heard”.

Giles said the New Zealand government would be consulted on the changes. The 2023 ruling that made ties to Australia a primary concern was introduced after then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern lobbied against the deportation of New Zealanders who had lived in Australia for a long time.

Albanese and Giles hit back at the opposition in question time by producing departmental figures that showed 102 sex offenders and 40 domestic violence perpetrators had been released from immigration detention by the Coalition government between 2014 and 2021.

Albanese said Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was “wallowing in his hypocrisy” because he was attacking Labor after similar migration cases had been decided under the Coalition.

“I cancelled more than 6300 visas – more than any minister since federation,” Dutton said in his defence.

“The cancellation power was exercised within the limits of the Constitution. Mr Albanese watered down the law under direction 99 and that’s why you are seeing the complete failure by this government and the hapless Andrew Giles.”

This masthead also revealed two men convicted of accessory to murder were released from federal detention when Dutton was the minister in charge of immigration and home affairs.

Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson in Senate estimates accused the government of using public resources to launch a political attack before government minister Murray Watt replied Labor was holding the Coalition to the same standards.

The beleaguered Home Affairs Department also came under sustained attack as hours of parliamentary hearings exposed multiple failings in immigration detention.

Under pressure: Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil would not say if departmental secretary Stephanie Foster should keep her job when asked on Seven’s Sunrise on Wednesday morning, while Foster attributed her failure to warn Giles about high-stakes deportation cases to staff and budget shortages.

It is the second political controversy for Foster this year after she blindsided Giles and O’Neil by releasing a document to the Senate on February 12 detailing the number of murderers, rapists and violent offenders freed from immigration detention since November.

During the same hearing, Australian Border Force officials revealed just a third of 39 sex offenders released from immigration detention following November’s High Court ruling were required to wear ankle monitors. The officials also said three out of seven murderers, and seven out of 16 domestic violence offenders were not required to wear ankle monitors.

Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson asked why so many people had been released without close supervision. “This cannot meet any public interest test,” he said.

Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram replied the emergency laws passed after the High Court decision were not infallible. “Even if you electronically monitored and [applied curfews to] all these people, they may well still be reoffending,” he said.

This masthead reported on Tuesday that 29 – almost a fifth of the 153 former detainees – had been charged with fresh offences since they were released. This included three people not required to wear ankle monitors and four not subject to curfews ahead of allegedly committing crimes including robbery, kidnapping and impersonating a police officer.

The fresh changes have also compounded pressure on the government to lock up high-risk offenders, with Giles revealing on Wednesday afternoon that six applications for preventative detention were being reviewed by experts, and another 26 were in preparation.

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