Labor asked to reveal how many criminals re-detained

The Coalition is urging the Albanese government to reveal how many criminals will be caught up in new preventative detention laws.

The Coalition is urging the Albanese government to reveal how many criminals will be caught up in new preventative detention laws as it ramps up attacks over whether Labor needed to release as many detainees as it did following the High Court’s landmark decision.

The Coalition is urging the Albanese government to reveal how many criminals will be caught up in new preventative detention laws as it ramps up attacks over whether Labor needed to release as many detainees as it did following the High Court’s landmark decision.

The calls come after a tumultuous week in parliament dominated by Labor’s handling of the High Court’s NZYQ ruling after 149 non-citizens – including pedophiles, child sex offenders and rapists – were released into the community.

William Yekrop, a stateless 39-year-old man with a history of violent and drink-driving offences, was the fifth former detainee to be arrested after he was picked up by Queensland police at 9am on Thursday.

The arrest followed that of 45-year-old Sudanese-born Abdelmoez Mohamed Elawad who was charged with a failure to comply with his curfew and one count of theft for attempting to steal luggage from a sleeping traveller at Melbourne Airport.

Emran Dan, 33, a pedophile, was arrested for allegedly making contact with a juvenile in southeast Melbourne and sex offender Aliyawar Yawari, 65, arrested for allegedly indecently assaulting a woman in a motel in Adelaide.

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan on Friday urged the government to be upfront with the Australian people.

“It’s time for Labor to stop ducking accountability over its failure to keep Australians safe and respond adequately to the criminals released from immigration detention,” he said.

“Now the legislation has been passed, it is incumbent on the government and minister Giles to tell the Australian people how many applications they have lodged as part of the preventative detention regime. Labor also needs to be transparent and say how many criminals were unnecessarily released from immigration detention when they had outstanding warrants.”

The attacks come after the government’s preventative detention laws passed parliament this week, allowing a court to detain the worst of the released detainees upon receiving an application from the Immigration Minister.

The government has been unable to say how many detainees it would make applications for or whether it was likely many individuals would be re-detained.

The passage of the bill was marred by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus claiming it was “absurd” for the government to be asked to apologise to Australians harmed by dangerous criminals released into the community.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles on Friday acknowledged growing community anxiety following the release of the 149 non-citizens, but reiterated the government did not want them freed in the first place.

Mr Marles said Labor had argued against their release but was now putting in strict measures to keep the community safe.

“So we’ve been working with the opposition to put in place the most stringent conditions, including preventive detention, to keep the community safe,” he said.

“And community safety is front and centre in terms of … responding to the High Court decision, around putting in layers of measures and protections.”

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said he would rather the High Court never made its decision, and backed Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles for “working night and day … to reinforce the integrity of our detention system”.