Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has refused to resign while being grilled over the alleged brutal bashing of a Perth grandmother by a former immigration detainee.
Ninette Simons, 73, was allegedly assaulted by three men who posed as police officers and claimed to have a warrant to search her home in the city's north on April 16.
One of the men in the alleged home invasion was identified as 43-year-old Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan who was among about 150 detainees freed following the High Court ruling against indefinite detention in November of last year.
Ms Simons alleged she was punched multiple times in the face and lost consciousness, while her husband, 76, was shoved to the ground and had his hands tied up.
It was revealed Doukoshkan was released on bail three times in 2024, with the most recent happening just days before the alleged bashing of the elderly couple.
Ms O'Neil and the Immigration Minister have been facing growing calls to resign, with the opposition saying the government had failed to protect the Australian community.
The Home Affairs Minister was pressed on live television by Sunrise host Natalie Barr on Wednesday if she would step down given what allegedly happened to the couple.
She expressed her condolences to Mr and Ms Simons, saying every Australian was "entitled to feel safe" and the alleged incident was "violent and horrendous".
Ms O'Neil then accused the opposition of "playing politics" and insisted the government were doing its best in response to the court's ruling, referencing its $255 million funding to police and law enforcement and "new laws" to protect the public.
Barr argued the Perth couple "needed more than thoughts and prayers" before questioning why Doukoshkan was not wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet.
The Home Affairs Minister insisted she would put dangerous detainees back in detention if she could, saying the decision of bracelets was made by state courts.
Barr suggested it was the Community Protection Board, which Ms O'Neil's department had set up in response to the High Court ruling, who were responsible for the management of the immigration detainees who were let back into the public.
The board of Australian Border Force, Home Affairs and former law enforcement officials, provide individual assessments to appropriate measures which could include preventative detention, community safety supervision orders, electronic monitoring devices and curfews and stringent visa conditions.
"Well, I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the case," Ms O'Neil said, stressing she "may interrupt a prosecution of this particular individual".
The Sunrise host continued the grilling, quoting the Home Affairs Minister and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles who both in February said the government only had "the safety of the Australian community" in mind.
"So you accept no responsibility?" Barr asked.
"What I have to do is manage the situation that the High Court has left for us in changing the law, whether I am Home Affairs Minister, whether Jane (Hume) was Home Affairs Minister, whether Peter Dutton was Home Affairs Minister, we would be grappling with the same problem," Ms O'Neil claimed.
Barr doubled down on the question again: "Clare do you accept any responsibility?"
"My job is to make good laws and make sure we have good laws and make sure we have good systems in place within the legal constraints... set out for me," she said.
"I want the community to be safe. What we have done is had that option taken away from us, so we have put in place the best system that we can to protect the community.
"We will continue to build on that system. I hope we will have the support of Jane and her colleagues when we try to do it."
Shadow finance minister Jane Hume questioned why Doukoshkan was let out on bail and did not have an ankle bracelet before urging Ms O'Neil "you must resign now".
The Home Affairs Minister said she would rather talk about solutions, raising the point there is a bill before parliament that would "provide an additional layer of protection".
Labor last month rushed a bill that would see hundreds of immigration detainees and unlawful non-citizens threatened with a minimum 12 months jail and/or a $93,900 finer if they refuse to cooperate with efforts to deport them from Australia.
The bill did not pass the Senate after the Coalition and Greens teamed up to delay it by at least six weeks, with shadow home affairs minister James Paterson flagging a "proper inquiry" was needed to guard against possible “unintended consequences".
Barr wrapped up the heated chat saying viewers "sure as hell they're feeling unsafe".
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2024-04-30 23:31:13Z
CBMi9AFodHRwczovL3d3dy5za3luZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy9wb2xpdGljcy9zdW5yaXNlLWhvc3QtbmF0LWJhcnItZ3JpbGxzLWhvbWUtYWZmYWlycy1taW5pc3Rlci1jbGFyZS1vbmVpbC1hZnRlci1lbGRlcmx5LXBlcnRoLWdyYW5kbW90aGVyLWFsbGVnZWRseS1iYXNoZWQtYnktaW1taWdyYXRpb24tZGV0YWluZWUtZnJlZWQtb24tYmFpbC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2Y5NGJmMTQ3ZGQ5MzBkZWRjOTg0NTE2ZjcyODhjYzRm0gEA
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