Theplaintiff in the High Court decision – a stateless Rohingya man who the government was unable to deport after he had been paroled for raping a 10-year-old boy – had already been released on strict conditions,Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said in a statement on Friday.
“Other impacted individuals will be released,and any visas granted to those individuals will be subject to appropriate conditions,” Giles said.
The Coalition accused the government of being unprepared to respond to the judgment after Labor ministers said the government would need to digest the reasons for the High Court’s decision before determining the implications for detainees.
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Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson told Sky News on Friday the government should have already investigated all legal alternatives to the ruling to be ready to introduce new laws into the Senate this week.
“But really anything that they can do to protect the community is necessary,and I just don’t have confidence in the government being on top of this,” Paterson said.
Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue,KC,told the High Court this week the cohort featured convicted murderers,sex offenders and people smugglers,and overturning the ability to indefinitely detain people would allow entry into Australia for those with such bad character that every other country had rejected them.