Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has copped a grilling from journalists after Labor's new legislation surrounding immigration detainees was voted down.
The Albanese government was seeking support on amendments which would impose a minimum one-year sentence for detainees who refuse to cooperate with authorities.
Part of the legislation will also see the government given new powers to ban foreign nationals from applying for visas if their own country refuses to accept them.
The Coalition and the Greens in the Senate teamed up on Wednesday to delay the bill to refer the emergency powers to a parliamentary inquiry.
The opposition questioned why the government had to rush through the removal laws.
The Home Affairs Minister and Immigration Minister Andrews Giles held a press conference Wednesday afternoon, copping a barrage of questions from the media.
Sky News Australia Political Editor Andrew Clennell flagged the department had been working on the legislation on March 5, then 10 days later had briefed journalists.
"Why only bring in the opposition five minutes to midnight if you're fair dinkum about getting this bill up, why not include them earlier ?" he asked Ms O'Neil.
She said the the bill brought forward this week was "a very common sense proposal" which would assist the Australian government to deal with detainees who had "exhausted every legal option to continue to stay in our country".
"And yet as it stands today the Australian government does not have a power to compel those people to cooperate with us on their removal," the Home Affairs Minister said.
"The reason we need it is we seek to run an orderly migration system in this country. We have come to office with a migration system in a categorical mess."
Finally addressing Clennell's question on timing, the minister said the opposition should be asked what would they have done if they been brought in earlier.
Immediately after she finished her sentence, Ms O’Neil was hit with a wave questions from journalists about the urgency of the new legislation.
"We’re going to run an orderly press conference here," the Home Affairs Minister said before Mr Giles took the next question.
Asked why it was urgent for the laws to pass on Wednesday, Mr Giles reiterated the importance of the powers proposed in the bill.
"The opposition recognised the urgency of the legislation yesterday in agreeing to the debate management which would have enabled the bill to be enacted today and to come into law tomorrow," he said.
"This is an area where the opposition have continually pressed us on the need to act urgently to ensure the community is kept safe.
"They had an opportunity to do that just now to put into the migration act a power that we believe always should have been there."
Ms O'Neil emphasised the legislation would enable the government to run a more "efficient migration system".
Asked what connection the legislation has to the upcoming High Court hearing for case ASF17, Ms O'Neil said she would not comment on legal issues and matters before the court.
The case involves an Iranian man who is allegedly refusing to cooperate with authorities trying to deport him. He has argued he is likely to face persecution in Iran should he return.
If the High Court chooses to rule in his favour, it is believed the result could potentially trigger more detainees to be released.
Pressed on the timing of the new laws and upcoming High Court hearing, Ms O'Neil said the case does demonstrate the importance of the powers of the proposed legislation.
"I think the ASF17 case does show that it is important that we have these powers," Ms O’Neil said.
"It's not the only reason why we're doing this though. It is very important that the Australian government move towards running a more orderly migration system."
Speaking at a separate media conference earlier on Wednesday, shadow home affairs minister James Paterson claimed Labor had "failed" to explain the immediacy of new legislation.
"Last night in a specially convened Senate hearing the government was completely unable to answer basic questions about this legislation and the need for it," Mr Paterson said prior to the bill being voted down in the Senate.
"In fact, Coalition Senators basically begged the government to demonstrate why it was so urgent, why it had to be rushed… and they failed to do so.
"They couldn’t explain how many people this would effect. They couldn’t explain what the consequences of this would be for any upcoming High Court cases.
"They couldn’t explain how or when they would use this legislation."
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2024-03-27 03:56:15Z
CBMi0wFodHRwczovL3d3dy5za3luZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy9wb2xpdGljcy9jbGFyZS1vbmVpbC1hbmQtYW5kcmV3LWdpbGVzLWdyaWxsZWQtYWZ0ZXItY29hbGl0aW9uLWFuZC1ncmVlbnMtdGVhbS11cC10by1kZWxheS1lbWVyZ2VuY3ktaW1taWdyYXRpb24tZGV0YWluZWUtbGF3cy9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzkwNjY0YTBmNDMxOWU1NjMxODk4MTE3ZTJmMzVlNTcz0gEA
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