The Coalition has renewed calls for the Immigration and Home Affairs Ministers to resign after it emerged that two people released as a result of the NZYQ High Court ruling had allegedly re-offended over the weekend.
The Australian Border Force said in a statement that two non-citizens – one in New South Wales and one in South Australia – had been charged after being released as a result of the recent High Court decision. This was confirmed on Monday by the Labor leader in the Senate, Penny Wong.
The revelation comes as Labor seeks support for a preventative detention scheme to allow the Immigration Minister to apply to the courts to re-detain non-citizens convicted of serious sexual or violent offences who have been released from immigration detention.
In November, the High Court ruled that indefinite detention was unlawful, resulting in the release of NZYQ and 147 others who could not be deported.
A 65-year-old man released from immigration detention after the NZYQ decision appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday charged with indecent assault.
In a statement released on Sunday, South Australian Police said they had responded to a report that a woman had been indecently assaulted at a hotel on Saturday night.
The alleged assailant was a person staying at the hotel at the time. Police arrested the 65-year-old man following an investigation. He was denied bail and charged with two counts of indecent assault. He will appear in court on Monday morning.
New South Wales Police said officers stopped a 45-year-old man in Merrylands in Sydney’s west at 3pm on Saturday.
“Police will allege in court that the man threw a number of resealable bags on the ground containing a substance believed to be cannabis,” NSW Police said in a statement. The man was arrested, taken to Granville police station and charged with drug possession.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the man appeared in the Parramatta Local Court on Sunday and was granted bail to appear again on Monday.
Wong told the Senate in question time on Monday that ‘both of these matters are the subject of court proceedings, so I’m not in a position to provide any further details at this stage’.
Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan said Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil should resign “following the news that two of the criminals released from immigration detention have allegedly already re-offended”.
“The government was asleep at the wheel when the High Court made its decision which led to the release of criminals from immigration detention,” he said in a statement.
“They should have had a plan in place to protect the Australian people, including legislation for a preventative detention regime.”
The government has consistently said it was prepared for the High Court’s decision, setting up a joint operation between federal and state police ahead of the ruling.
In the week after the ruling, the governing Labor and Coalition parties passed emergency legislation imposing mandatory ankle bracelets and curfews on those released, with mandatory minimum sentences of one year in jail for breaching visa conditions.
