Labor accuses Dutton of jumping the gun on new super ministry

Labor has cautioned the government over any move to appoint Peter Dutton to the new super-portfolio of home affairs.

Peter Dutton at the global terrorism conference in Melbourne. Picture: AAP

Labor has cautioned the government over any move to appoint Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to the new super-portfolio of home affairs before it passes legislation giving effect to the overhaul.

Mr Dutton yesterday fuelled speculation that Malcolm Turnbull could seize the initiative on national security by moving him into the new ministry as soon as next week after he talked up the need for a new approach at a key counter-terrorism conference.

The enabling legislation — introduced by the Prime Minister on Thursday — will ensure the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation can be moved into the new home affairs portfolio, due to begin by mid next year.

Speaking in Melbourne, Mr Dutton said the move to bring the nation’s security, law enforcement, criminal, intelligence and emergency management functions under the oversight of a ­single minister would “place Australia on the strongest possible footing amid an incredibly challenging threat environment”.

He said the establishment of the new portfolio, modelled on sec­urity arrangements in Britain and the US, represented the “most significant reforms to Australia’s domestic security in decades”.

The move will align the Australian Border Force, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre within the same portfolio.

While the decision to appoint Mr Dutton to the new ministry is a function of executive government, Labor’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus noted that the enabling legislation dealing with the allocation of ministerial powers under the bureaucratic shake-up had not passed the parliament.

While Labor remains sceptical of the rationale behind the changes, it has stopped short of saying it would oppose the ­legislation. However, Mr Dreyfus yesterday launched a pre-emptive ­assault on any move to shift Mr Dutton into the new role ­before the legislation had been ­endorsed by both houses of ­parliament.

“Turnbull needs to explain why Dutton will be sworn in as home affairs minister before enabling legislation is passed,” he said.

“This legislation could have been introduced earlier, had Mr Turnbull not cancelled a week of parliament for his own survival.”

Addressing counter-terrorism experts from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and Britain, Mr Dutton said he had cancelled 1300 visas in 2016-17.

“They are record figures,” he said. “And it includes 249 visas for armed robbers, 213 for theft robbery and break and enter, 649 for assault, 57 for murder, 23 for manslaughter, 129 for rape and other sexual offences and 247 for child pornography and child sex offences ... I’ve also been able to cancel the visas of 160 outlaw motorcycle gang members.”

It is widely expected the Prime Minister will move to reshuffle his frontbench following the weekend by-election in Bennelong, with the case for change being strengthened by the election of Victorian senator Bridget McKenzie to the deputy leadership of the Nationals — a position that commands a seat in the engine room of government.