A staggering number of detainees released following a controversial High Court decision are now receiving welfare payments at the expense of the Australian taxpayer.
On Monday, Exact number of sex and murder offenders released into community after ‘NZYQ’ High Court ruling was revealed.
This was followed on Wednesday afternoon by Services Australia officials reveal 103 of the former detainees are now receiving special social benefits.
The officials, who were being questioned by Coalition Senator Linda Reynolds at a Senate estimates hearing, said the agency was paying welfare to former detainees every fortnight.
But Services Australia officials refused to reveal how much is being paid, saying the rates were set by the Department of Home Affairs.
After murderers, pedophiles and thieves were freed following a shocking High Court decision last November, large numbers of them have now been found to be receiving welfare payments at the expense of Australian taxpayers. Asylum seekers in the photo at the Arena Hotel in Chullora
They said the special payments program was designed for people who could not receive other welfare payments.
Seven of those released from immigration detention centers were convicted of murder or attempted murder.
A further 37 released detainees had been convicted of sexual offences, including sexual offenses against children, documents presented during Senate Estimates in Canberra on Monday showed.
Liberal Senator James Patterson wrote in
“What was the point of rushing through the legislation before Christmas if they weren’t planning to use it?” he said.
Another 72 of the former detainees were convicted of assault, violent crimes, kidnapping or armed robbery, and 16 were convicted of domestic violence or stalking.
There were also 13 other people who have been convicted of serious drug crimes and up to five who were convicted of human trafficking or crimes of serious international importance.
The documents also show 24 detainees violated their visa conditions or were charged with serious crimes against Australians.
One of the documents reveals that ‘As of February 1, 2024, six people have been arrested and charged with offenses against the Migration Act 1958 for failing to comply with visa conditions.
“In addition, the ABF (Australian Border Force) is aware that state and territory police have charged 18 people with state and territory offences.”
The same document also revealed that, as of January 31, no one “has been detained again in an immigration detention center on the basis that there is a real prospect of their removal from Australia being practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future.”
Documents previously filed in the Senate showed that 18 of the foreigners who were detained indefinitely before their release came from Afghanistan.
A total of 17 came from Iran, 10 arrived in Australia from Sudan, while nine were listed as “stateless”, meaning they have no nation to return to.
Other countries high on the list included South Sudan, Eritrea and Sri Lanka, while one asylum seeker was originally from New Zealand.
The exact number of murderers and sex offenders released into the community has been revealed after a bombshell High Court decision (pictured) was revealed.
Government ministers Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil had previously refused to detail the crimes some of the former detainees had committed, although Giles said they included murderers and several sex offenders.
Those released include a pedophile who raped a 10-year-old boy in Sydney’s west and a hitman who blew up a pregnant woman in Malaysia.
These criminals had served prison sentences for their crimes, but could not be deported for various reasons beyond the government’s control, including the fact that the country they came from refused to allow them to return.
In November, Labor quickly passed legislation through both houses of Parliament, backing Coalition amendments that imposed even stricter standards on released asylum seekers.