Refugee Advice & Casework Service (RACS) is concerned about the human rights ramifications of provisions in the Migration Amendment (Bridging Visa Conditions) Act 2023 (the Act), which was rushed through Federal Parliament on Thursday. Several of the measures introduced by the Act are draconian and significantly encroach on people’s right to liberty.
Labor’s emergency laws after immigration detention ruling may amount to ‘extrajudicial’ punishment. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
A legal challenge to emergency legislation responding to the high court’s decision on indefinite detention is likely, with advocates warning the Albanese government the changes may be unconstitutional.
Alison Battisson, the director of Human Rights For All, and David Manne, the executive director of Refugee Legal, have both warned the changes may amount to “extrajudicial” punishment.
If we’re willing to imprison outsiders for life, we must ask: Who are we? Julia Baird, SMH
You have to ask whether this country will have a collective moral injury about the perpetual demonising, stigmatising and politicising of asylum seekers.
It’s gone on for decades. The often-successful exploitation of this vulnerable group for political purposes has led to ignorant claims that only Greens and crossbenchers care about human rights.
If we’re willing to imprison outsiders for life, we must ask: Who are we? Julia Baird, SMH
Refugees in PNG told they will be evicted next week after Australian-sponsored housing bills not paid. By Rebecca Kuku in Port Moresby and Ben Doherty, The Guardian
The Australian government claims it funded the humanitarian program in full to finalise the resettlement of all refugees in PNG or in third countries, and that those remaining are now the responsibility of the PNG government.
But PNG’s immigration authority said the resettlement of refugees has been much slower than forecast, largely delayed by Covid border closures. As a result, more refugees and asylum seekers remain dependent on Australian-funded support.
The 64 refugees and asylum seekers still held in Port Moresby are the final cohort remaining from Australia’s unlawful offshore processing regime in PNG.
PNG refugees face eviction as all services cut. By Ian Rintoul, Refugee Action Coalition
“The PNG farce has gone on too long. The assurances from PNG CMO Stanis Hulahau that the interruptions to services ‘will be resolved in the very near future’ are worse than a joke. Refugees cannot live on empty promises.” Ian Rintoul
PNG refugees face eviction as all services cut. By Ian Rintoul, Refugee Action Coalition
Court rules UK government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is illegal. Reuters, ABC News
Britain's Supreme Court has ruled that the government's scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful, dealing a crushing blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before an election expected next year.
Court rules UK government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is illegal. Reuters, ABC News
Labor to criminalise visa breaches in response to release of immigration detainees. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
Labor appears set to criminalise the breach of bridging visa conditions as the first plank of its legislative response to the high court’s decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful.
Misused millions: Top spy’s secret report slams Home Affairs. By Nick McKenzie and Michael Bachelard, SMH
A classified inquiry by ex-spy chief Dennis Richardson has provided a scathing assessment of how Australia’s Department of Home Affairs managed hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for the offshore asylum seeker processing system.
Whistleblowers also confirmed that Richardson said he would pass their details to the National Anti-Corruption Commission after they raised allegations of graft and crime during his Albanese-government commissioned inquiry into contracting under the so-called Pacific Solution.
The revelation that the review is highly critical of the way the department managed Australia’s offshore processing procurement regime was confirmed by official sources who have read Richardson’s still-secret report but are not permitted to discuss it publicly.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil received Richardson’s report weeks ago but declined to answer questions about whether it would be released, stating only it was under review. “The Richardson inquiry is currently under consideration by government,” a spokesperson for O’Neil said.
It comes amid fresh corruption concerns surrounding controversial contractor Paladin, which was paid hundreds of millions of dollars to run the Manus Island detention centre.
This masthead has obtained documents, including court files and financial records, that show Paladin made suspicious payments to a businessman with links to both the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang and to allegedly corrupt officials in Papua New Guinea.
According to Paladin paperwork, payments of at least $3 million were made to the businessman’s offshore account which Paladin expected would secure backing from PNG politicians as it sought to overcome resistance to its delivery of its Home Affairs contract on Manus Island.
A former Paladin director, Ian Stewart, has also revealed he reported the offshore Paladin payments “externally to agencies as suspected bribes”.
Separately, a Manus Island clan leader and former Paladin business partner has alleged in court documents that the Australian firm may have defrauded him while paying millions to the family of a powerful PNG politician who then “dished” it out to others.
The classified report by Richardson, a former director general of ASIO, examines how Home Affairs engaged with contractors such as Paladin and Brisbane firm Canstruct, along with the dozens of subcontractors, that were paid billions of dollars to run Australia’s offshore processing system.
Richardson’s inquiry was ordered by the Albanese government in July after this masthead and 60 Minutes revealed in the Home Truths investigation detailed allegations that firms contracted for offshore processing may have been corrupted, with suspect payments funnelled to foreign politicians in Nauru and PNG.
The official sources with knowledge of Richardson’s findings said his report concluded that serious failures within Home Affairs had led to the engagement of contractors and subcontractors with alleged links to dubious business dealings or foreign officials.
Richardson found Home Affairs did not conduct adequate due diligence on some contractors, a problem exacerbated by information sharing failures between departmental officials and agencies such as the Australian Federal Police.
The sources said Richardson closely examined the decision of Home Affairs to continue to contract with a company closely linked to Australian businessman, Mozammil Bhojani, after Australian authorities charged Bhojani with bribing Nauruan officials to gain mining favours.
Home Affairs retained Bhojani’s company in Nauru even after he was convicted, court and departmental files show.
Richardson also interviewed former Paladin employees about their concerns about the way the company operated in PNG.
Home Affairs paid Paladin $530 million in taxpayer funds to run the detention centre for just over two years between 2017 and 2019 but from the beginning, the company had difficulty with PNG officials in obtaining visas and work permits.
An ongoing investigation by this masthead can reveal that Paladin paid at least $3 million to an offshore account in 2018 and 2019 to get the backing of senior PNG officials.
In a statement to this masthead, former Paladin director Ian Stewart described the payments as “very likely” to be bribes paid to ensure Paladin could obtain visas and work permits. He said he had reported his concerns to Australian law enforcement agencies.
Payment records show the funds were sent to the Singapore account of a Chinese-Malaysian businessman with interests in Queensland and PNG and who entered into a business arrangement with Paladin that Stewart now alleges was a sham.
The businessman is now at the centre of a federal police investigation involving Paladin and allegations that some of the $3 million paid by Paladin was used to get favours from PNG officials close to the businessman.
The Chinese-Malaysian businessman, who this masthead is not naming for legal reasons and who did not respond to efforts to contact him, has a chequered history that has also been unearthed by this masthead.
His home was recently shot up in an alleged outlaw bikie drive-by and detectives subsequently alleged in court he had business dealings – that had soured – with a company owned by a bikie and which police claimed is controlled by the Comancheros motorcycle gang.
The issue of offshore processing remains a sensitive one for the Albanese government, which wants to avoid accusations from the opposition that it is soft on asylum seekers who attempt to travel to Australia by boat.
Other payments Paladin made in PNG are separately under scrutiny.
Rodney Pokapin, a Manus Island clan and business leader who partnered with Paladin to manage security on the island’s detention centres, claims the Australian firm did not pay his companies millions of dollars it earned running Australia’s offshore processing system.
Pokapin said in an affidavit filed in court that Paladin had instead “paid a lot of money in millions to” another company it partnered with to run offshore processing and which is controlled by the family of a powerful and still serving PNG politician.
“Funds from the [unnamed politician’s family] company were dished out to any person or event without proper recordings,” Pokapin’s statement alleges.
It also claims that in May 2019, the politician “was seen and filmed dishing out cash” they had earned through partnership with Paladin. This masthead is not suggesting that Pokapin is corrupt.
The Richardson inquiry is the second investigation into Home Affairs that remains confidential, after the government separately commissioned former Public Service Commissioner Lynelle Briggs to investigate the conduct of suspended Home Affairs chief Michael Pezzullo.
Pezzullo oversaw much of the Home Affairs offshore contracting as the department’s chief, but the Briggs inquiry is limited to examining his private dealings with lobbyists.
‘None’ of 81 people released from immigration detention arrived during Albanese government, Labor says. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
On Tuesday Dutton claimed the government should not have released people from immigration detention on the basis there was “another” – unspecified – “option available” to prevent their release and still comply with the court ruling.
Asked if those released were in “taxpayer funded accommodation”, Giles responded that detention was also “taxpayer funded” and defended expenditure of commonwealth funds as an important measure to “maintain community safety” because it gave “some control over where an individual lives”.
VIDEO: Community safety remains top priority as 80 unlawfully held asylum seekers released into the community. ABC News
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says the Commonwealth had argued against the outcome but is prepared for their releases, with the AFP and Border Force involved in the process.
Eighty people already freed from Australia’s immigration detention since landmark high court ruling. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
On Monday Andrew Giles sought to allay community concern about the releases, which have included Malaysian hitman Sirul Azhar Umar, by saying “all [80] are on appropriate visa conditions” including regular reporting.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, and Giles have said the government “is considering other measures that may be appropriate to ensure community safety”, but have not said what regulatory changes might be on the table.
Legal experts, pyschiatrists and refugee advocates are celebrating a High Court decision which has found indefinite immigration to be illegal. Presented by Ruth McHugh-Dillon, SBS News
Dr Ghezelbash (Deputy Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW ) says international precedents show Australia can protect the community without resorting to indefinite detention.
"The principles at play here - they go beyond an individual case, and go beyond the immigration detention context. I think it's general principles of justice we should all hold dear. One of them being that, no one should be able to be detained indefinitely, regardless of their visa status, at the whim of the government."
Australia offers refuge to Tuvaluans as rising sea levels threaten Pacific archipelago. By Pauline Rouquette, France 24
Australia’s offer to host its South Pacific neighbours marks a new step towards the recognition of climate change refugees.
Where did the Afghan refugees go – and where next? By Sadiq Amini, The Interpreter/Lowy Institute
High court launches full frontal assault on indefinite immigration detention. By Mary Crock, Pearls & Irritations
It was not always like this. Before 1994, persons suspected of unlawful immigration status could be arrested and detained by migration officials. However, they had to be brought before a magistrate within 72 hours and thereafter every 7 days until their status was determined. Incarceration had to be for a purpose relating either to determination of their status or their removal from the country. This is the regime that should be restored. If individuals pose a threat, they should be dealt with under the criminal justice system. This already allows for preventative detention, release on condition and intensive oversight through control orders and the like.
Mandatory immigration detention is a policy that has caused indiscriminate harm, including death, and permanent incapacity. It has been rightly described as our national shame.
The landmark High Court ruling that's left Anthony Albanese in a political pincher. By Brett Worthington, ABC News
This isn't a problem of Albanese's making but it is his government's to resolve. Handled poorly, it could have catastrophic consequences for the first-term government.
In just three minutes, the High Court on Wednesday dismantled a legal precedent of almost two decades.
The landmark ruling came quicker than almost anyone expected and while human rights campaigners were celebrating, the government was caught flat-footed and left scrambling to treat an almighty political headache.
To understand the moment, we need to go back.
The High Court has decided indefinite detention is unlawful. What happens now? By Eoin Blackwell/AAP, The Conversation
This week, the High Court of Australia ordered the release of a Rohingya man from immigration detention where he had been for the last five and a half years.
Commentators and human rights groups have been celebrating this decision, which indicates the court will overturn a 20-year-old precedent.
The court has stated it will release its decision at a later time. It is important to wait for that judgement to determine the full implications of the decision and how it may limit the government’s power to detain non-citizens.
But here’s a brief rundown on the background of the case and some considerations of what could happen next.
Australia to immediately begin releasing people held in indefinite immigration detention. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
The Albanese government will immediately begin releasing people from indefinite detention after Wednesday’s landmark high court ruling, after receiving a flurry of demands from long-term detainees to be set free.
On Thursday the director of Human Rights for All, Alison Battisson, said the government was wrong to claim it needed to wait for the full reasons for the court’s decision, and could be liable to pay compensation for failing to immediately release people who it is not possible to deport.
New Australian university consortium to help world’s refugees access higher education. Australian National University (ANU)
The Australian National University (ANU) has announced the creation of a new university consortium to help build pathways to higher education for refugees from around the world.
Australia releases stateless man on ‘strict conditions’ after indefinite immigration detention ruled unlawful. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
The Greens senator, Nick McKim, queried why the government had not already released other stateless people from detention since they also have no real prospect of removal to another country.
Labor’s Murray Watt said to his knowledge so far only the plaintiff, NZYQ, had been released and “none of the other people to whom it may relate have been released”.
Watt argued that the government “cannot act on that decision” until the reasons of the court are received and before it gets legal advice as to “how that decision relates to the other people involved”.