The Commonwealth might have won today in the High Court, but that victory means a defeat for the Albanese Government in the politics of this issue.
He mocks the Labor Party’s desperate insistence just weeks ago for parliament to hastily pass laws that could have escaped a negative judgment.
Today’s unanimous High Court decision means that the Iranian man known only as ASF17 will remain in immigration detention until he cooperates with his deportation, because “a delegate of the Minister has determined that he does not have a genuine and well-founded fear of persecution in Iran ‘.
It also takes pressure off the Coalition to pass the bill when the Senate returns on Tuesday, which is also Budget day. Labor would have increased pressure on the opposition to do so urgently if the ruling had been the opposite.
Simply put, there was no need to rush the bill through parliament in 72 hours in the first place. The jurists were almost unanimous in their assessment that the High Court would do exactly what it has now done.
Home Secretary Clare O’Neil (above), while welcoming the High Court decision, was left with political egg on her face.
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Labor should now take the time to get the bill it initially toyed with politically right, which may mean adopting the recommendations the Coalition has made to improve it.
While Labor enjoyed the political optics before the ruling that the Coalition was forced to side with the Greens to defeat the rushed legislation in the Senate, the two parties approached it from very different perspectives.
The Greens were concerned about the human rights of detainees. The Coalition’s focus was on the lack of oversight and giving too much scope to the responsible minister.
The stacked government inquiry, which unsurprisingly supported passing the bill as it stands, received 118 submissions, 117 of which opposed the bill in its current form.
The only submission to support him came from the Home Office – the department of Clare O’Neil, the responsible minister with much to lose politically as the problems in her portfolio drag on.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton (above) stood firm in opposing Labour’s rushed legislation.
Many Australians would question why the High Court made a distinction between its previous ruling affecting the NZYQ cohort (meaning they could not be detained indefinitely and were so controversially released into the community) and this ruling.
The difference comes down to the fact that PPA17 can be removed but simply refuses to do so. He is neither a stateless person nor a true refugee. Therefore, the cohort can be sent back to their home countries.
While some activists might disagree with this, citing concerns for their safety, from the High Court’s perspective that does not matter given formal determinations to the contrary.
The bill’s initial passage through parliament was purely political, so the Coalition could not accuse the government of being unprepared for a court ruling if it went against them, as the ASF17 ruling did.
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But that was a very different situation. Jurists were preparing for the High Court to rule as it did, the Government’s own lawyers warned it that an adverse ruling was possible, and the High Court itself even flagged the imminent ruling, presumably to give the Government time to do what it wanted. did. ‘t: make appropriate arrangements for the imminent release of dozens and dozens of alleged rapists and murderers to adequately protect the community.
That did not happen and since then there have been a series of alleged criminal actions by the cohort, causing serious political headaches for the Albanian government.