A fourth former immigration detainee released because of a High Court ruling on indefinite detention has been arrested.
The 45-year-old Sudanese-born man’s arrest by Australian Federal Police at a Melbourne hotel today came hours before the House of Representatives was due to debate new preventative detention laws addressing the court’s ruling.
The man was charged with breaching the curfew imposed under visa conditions issued following his release by allegedly travelling to Melbourne Airport on Friday and stealing luggage from a sleeping traveller.
He was taken into custody and scheduled to face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.
The man is one of more than 140 people released after a High Court ruling blocking what had been a long-held practice of indefinite detention of foreign citizens unable to be deported, and is the fourth among that cohort to be arrested.
Dad was also charged with trespass in relation to a reported incident in Dandenong on November 24.
The federal opposition has alleged in parliament that Dad is the former ringleader of a child exploitation gang.
The High Court’s decision on November 8 found that detainees could not be kept in indefinite immigration detention where there was no prospect of people being deported in the reasonably foreseeable future.
The Senate yesterday passed laws that would see serious violent and sexual offenders re-detained if a court deemed them an unacceptable risk of reoffending.
They were due to be debated in the House of Representatives tonight and expected to pass.
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The opposition has sought to pressure the government on the issue, calling for both Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to resign.
Crossbench MPs have criticised the government for rushing through the laws, while Labor has defended its actions from both sides as doing what’s necessary to protect the community.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus fired up today when O’Neil was pressed on the matter during a press conference.
She was asked if the government owed an apology to people affected by the reoffending of those released from immigration detention.
O’Neil started to point out the High Court’s decision made it illegal to keep the cohort detained, before Dreyfus cut in when she was pressed further.
“You are asking a cabinet minister, three ministers of the Crown to apologise for upholding the law of Australia, for acting in accordance with the law of Australia, for following the instructions of the High Court of Australia,” he said, before objecting to the reporter’s attempts to ask a follow-up question.
“I will not be apologising for upholding the law.
“I will not be apologising for pursuing the rule of law and I will not be apologising for acting – do not interrupt – I will not be apologising for acting – I will not be apologising for acting in accordance with a High Court decision.
“Your question is an absurd one.”
