If Anthony Albanese doesn’t do his job and fire his grossly incompetent Immigration Minister, then his party should look for a new Prime Minister who will.
Andrew Giles changed immigration laws so violent criminals, including child rapists, could remain in Australia if they have close ties to the community.
When the policy change blew up in his face, Giles began playing the blame game: it’s the Department of Home Affairs’ fault, it’s the Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s (AAT) fault.
It’s anyone’s fault but apparently his.
Before the Labor Party changed the law, criminals were deported. Now they claim community and family ties and manage to stay. And not for stealing a loaf of bread, to be clear.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles (pictured) has introduced laws allowing vile criminals to remain in Australia on the grounds they have links to the community.
Under pressure: Anthony Albanese (pictured) must show he puts country first and teammate second by sacking his immigration minister
A serial rapist who attacked two dozen women and a child, while also showing no remorse, is staying. A four-time child rapist who videotaped his prisoner has been allowed to stay, based on Giles’ rule change.
A Sudanese migrant identified himself as Aboriginal and used Giles’ ridiculous rules to get around his criminal acts, allowing him to avoid deportation.
Examples of such abuse of the system introduced by the Labor Party now number more than 30, with more expected to be uncovered in the coming days, weeks and months.
The situation we are in is a joke.
Until the Prime Minister sacks Giles, Labor MPs like Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil will be forced to continue giving disgraceful performances like the one she presented on Channel Seven’s Sunrise program this morning.
O’Neil was left speechless as host Natalie Barr listed the backgrounds of the offenders who were allowed to stay thanks to Giles’ rule change, before attempting to defend the indefensible.
Reforms are needed and Giles must go, simple as that.
Giles says he was unaware of decisions made by his department. Great, so the best case scenario for him is that he’s incompetent. As if we didn’t already know.
Playing the political blame game can’t save Giles, and it won’t save Albanese if he continues to play politics instead of acting in the national interest.
This absurd system has been in force for more than a year. It all started because Albo wanted to get closer to then-New Zealand leader Jacinta Ardern to show that he was a more lovable Australian prime minister compared to Scott Morrison.
When Albo defeated Scott Morrison in 2022, his mantra was “end the blame game.” However, the blame game seems to be all the Albanian government is willing to do.
Thanks for your support! Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil (pictured right) destroys her credibility by defending her colleague Andrew Giles (pictured left)
So who is the AAT member who followed Giles’ legislative orders by allowing a child rapist to remain in the country due to family ties? None other than former Labor Speaker of the House of Representatives Anna Burke (pictured)
It’s not good enough.
Blaming the AAT is especially ridiculous given that after winning office, the new Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus, made the biggest agreements about the need to reform it by expelling liberal appointments and welcoming new names.
So who is the AAT member who followed Giles’ legislative orders by allowing a child rapist to remain in the country due to family ties? None other than former Labor Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anna Burke.
To be fair, she is not alone. This is because the AAT must follow Directive 99 – Giles’ edict that links to Australia trump criminal conduct when it comes to deciding who stays and who is deported.
Blaming the AAT for following the minister’s directive must be especially galling to its members.
Giles and Albo are best friends, and putting their friendship before the safety of Australians is not enough.
If the Prime Minister is too weak to fire his friend, then reorganize the ministry right now. Replace Giles with a serious minister in the immigration portfolio. Relegate Giles to minister for cutting Albo’s toenails, or to some equally irrelevant portfolio in the real world.
Promote the immigration portfolio in cabinet to demonstrate that Albanese recognizes its importance and the policy failures to date that need to be corrected.
Change legislation that prioritizes community ties over vile crimes as a guiding principle in determining who stays and who is deported. A rule change implemented by Labor.
Worrying that sacking your colleague will give opposition leader Peter Dutton a political victory is pointless. A prime minister cannot protect an incompetent minister simply to save face.
Partisan politics aside, the opposition is right to demand that Giles go.
If Albo doesn’t do it, they are right to ask for his head too. He will have shown that he is not up to the hard work of being prime minister.
This week of parliamentary sessions was supposed to focus on selling the budget. Cashing in on the money Labor spent ahead of a possible early election.
Instead, Giles’ utter incompetence has been at the forefront and has rightly led Australians to question whether the Prime Minister has the control to do what is right for them.
Labour’s Ed Husic (pictured) had some home truths for the Treasurer. Perhaps he would be a strong leader willing to sack Andrew Giles?
And it’s worth noting that the debacle we’re witnessing is happening at the same time as the New South Wales Labor right is showing its strength. Cabinet minister Ed Husic has flagged the need to cut corporate taxes, something Treasurer Jim Chalmers simply has not done.
This is a reminder that there are still some cooler heads in the Labor team, capable of running the show as the successful Hawke and Keating governments of the 1980s and 1990s did.
Ready, willing and able to do so if Albo does not find the strength to lead.
