By Cam Lucadou-Wells
South-East based federal ministers Mark Dreyfus and Clare O’Neil fronted a tense media conference in response to the arrest of non-citizen criminals recently released after an Australian High Court ruling.
On Wednesday 6 December, the Federal Government declared that new “preventative detention” laws had passed Parliament.
The beefed-up laws included preventative detention, community safety supervision orders, electronic monitoring devices and curfews, and stringent visa conditions.
They were to be “tailored to the individual”.
A month earlier, the High Court ruled the indefinite detention of 148 convicted detainees’ was unconstitutional.
It comes as at least four have been arrested and charged across Australia, including 31-year-old registered sex offender Esman Dad from Dandenong.
Attorney-General Dreyfus, also the MP for Isaacs, told reporters that the new laws had the “best prospects of withstanding any constitutional challenge”.
He attacked a reporter’s “absurd” question that the Government should apologise for releasing criminals into the community.
“I will not be apologising for pursuing the rule of law. And I will not be apologising for acting – do not interrupt – I will not be apologising for acting in accordance with a High Court decision.
“Your question is an absurd one.”
Home Affairs Minister and Hotham MP Clare O’Neil said community safety concerns were “well founded” given the arrests in previous days.
“That is why every single moment of every single day since this High Court decision, and indeed before it, the Government has been trying to find solutions to keep the community safe.”
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre principal solicitor Hannah Dickinson said the “ill-conceived, unjustified and discriminatory” laws harmed people and “threaten the multicultural fabric of Australian society”.
She said they applied also to people living “without issue” in community detention.
They were now being moved from their homes “without adequate support and subject to punitive conditions that are depriving them of a fair go”.
“Following the High Court decision recognising a longstanding government practice of unlawful detention, this government had an opportunity to restore humanity to a system in crisis.
“There’s yet to be any explanation of why our government thinks people pose different risks based solely on where they were born, or why existing systems that protect community safety are inadequate.
“These suggestions are not only blatantly untrue, they are divisive and dangerous. We should all be equal before the law.“
