Mandarins silent ahead of grilling over detainees debacle

Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster refuses Coalition information request ahead of grilling over the release of dangerous non-citizens and first onshore asylum-seeker boat arrival.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson during Question Time in the Senate last week. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire

Home Affairs department secretary Stephanie Foster has refused a Coalition information request ahead of a border security grilling at Senate estimates over the release of dangerous non-citizens and the first onshore asylum-seeker boat arrival.

Ahead of key department and Australian Border Force officials appearing at a Senate estimates hearing on Monday, The Australian can reveal Ms Foster rebuffed attempts by the Coalition to seek answers on last year’s bungled release of immigration detainees.

On February 2, opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson and opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash wrote to Ms Foster and Attorney-General’s department secretary Katherine Jones asking for the release of information ahead of this week’s hearings.

Ms Foster, writing on behalf of Ms Jones, responded to the Coalition frontbenchers on Friday saying they were “not in a position to provide this information in advance of Senate estimates” and “we look forward to assisting the committee with its inquiries”. Ms Foster replaced long-serving inaugural Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo on November 28 last year.

The two-page letter from Senator Paterson and Senator Cash requested timelines and figures from the department chiefs about the release of immigration detainees in the wake of the High Court’s NZYQ decision.

The High Court decision sparked a chaotic response from the government, which released 148 dangerous non-citizens into the community including some of whom were arrested for allegedly reoffending despite wearing ankle bracelets. The mass release sparked a significant redirection of police resources across the country.

Home Affairs department secretary Stephanie Foster Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The Albanese government fast-tracked legislation through the parliament in December to allow Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to apply to a court for Community Safety Detention Orders or Community Safety Supervision Orders.

Senator Paterson and Senator Cash told the department secretaries that if they could answer their questions ahead of the Senate hearing, it would assist in making “the most efficient use of limited time”.

They asked for timelines of key dates, including ministerial decisions and briefings, concerning the conduct of the High Court litigation, approaches made to other countries in relation to the plaintiff’s removal from Australia, the release and granting of visas to detainees and the arrest or re-detention of dangerous non-citizens.

The Coalition also sought a breakdown of individuals released from immigration detention, including their offences and convictions, where they are currently residing, how many are wearing ankle bracelets, how many had been re-detained and how many CSDO and CSSO applications had been made and granted.

“It would assist us if you could provide … a breakdown of all costs to date incurred by the Commonwealth government in managing this caseload, including law enforcement costs and government assistance provided to the released cohort,” Senator Paterson and Senator Cash wrote.

“We would also appreciate it if you could provide your responses to questions on notice lodged on 15 January 2024 related to the NZYQ High Court decision ahead of the hearing dates.”

Senator Paterson on Sunday said “it is absolutely routine for senators to request factual information ahead of Senate estimates and for departments to provide it”.

“It’s extraordinary that the Department of Home Affairs has failed to comply with this straightforward request, and hasn’t even bothered to explain why,” Senator Paterson told The Australian.

“The department should not implicate itself in the Albanese government’s cover up of its shocking mishandling of the High Court’s indefinite detention decision.

“The only reason ministers would have directed the department not to co-operate is they are embarrassed by the answers. So much for being the most transparent government ever.”

Coalition senators will also question ABF officials about the first asylum-seeker boat to illegally reach Australia in years. Twelve unauthorised maritime arrivals were apprehended on an isolated stretch of the Western Australia Kimberley coastline in November last year, before being transferred to Nauru within 41-hours.

The group was the second cohort to be sent to Nauru since September, after 11 asylum-seekers were intercepted at sea and transferred to the Pacific Island. Before that, Australia had not sent any asylum-seekers to Nauru for nine years.