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Dutton accuses government of failing to keep Australians safe
By Olivia Ireland
After a few dixer questions to the government, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has sought leave to move a motion that the Albanese government has failed to keep Australians safe after the release of 149 detainees.
Leader of the House of Representatives Tony Burke does not grant Dutton leave, who then moves the standing orders to be suspended for him to make his statement.
Peter Dutton during Question Time.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Dutton moves the government has “failed in the duty” to manage the released 149 detainees following the High Court ruling that indefinite immigration detention was illegal.
“[We call] upon the Prime Minister to dismiss this incompetent minister [for immigration Andrew Giles] who is proven entirely inadequate to the task of keeping Australians safe. Mr Speaker, this Minister has to go, this week the Prime Minister needs to show leadership,” Dutton shouts to the house, before Burke moves the motion be dealt with after question time.
Steggall takes a stand over immigration questions
By Olivia Ireland
Another three questions have been asked of Immigration Minister Andrew Giles about the 149 released detainees – which sparks a point of order from Independent Member for Warringah Zali Steggall about imputations being in questions.
Liberal backbencher Aaron Violi asks: “The Albanese government has released 149 criminals from immigration detention. Last night at Senate estimates, the AFP was unable to confirm if any of those murderers or rapists the minister has released are among those who have committed new crimes. Minister, have any of the seven murders, 37 sex offenders or 72 other violence criminals released committed a new offence?”
Member for Warringah Zali Steggall.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Before Giles can answer, Steggall makes a point of order, referring to a section of the House of Representatives standing orders that states questions must not contain inferences or imputations.
“The release of these detainees was made as a result of the High Court decision, that is not reflected in the question,” Steggall argues.
Speaker of the House Milton Dick says it is not his role to give judgement on whether statements are accurate or not, to which Steggall questions what the purpose of the standing orders is if the Speaker cannot rule.
“I appreciate the member’s interest and I appreciate her raising the point of order. The difficulty for me as chair is I would start ruling out nearly every question,” he said.
Giles cops more questions on freed immigration detainees
By Olivia Ireland
Two questions have already been asked of Immigration Minister Andrew Giles on the 149 people released from immigration detention after the High Court ruling that indefinite detention was illegal.
Coalition spokesman for immigration Dan Tehan asks Giles how the government is continuously monitoring the released detainees if 18 have been arrested by state and territory police.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“How could the minister claim they have been continuously monitored if in fact they’ve been left to their own devices to commit crimes?” Tehan asks.
Giles responds: “The location of every individual in this cohort is known, every individual’s location is known and unlike those opposite, I want to reassure Australians and remind them of what the AFP acting deputy commissioner [Grant Nicholls] said last night to Senate estimates … ‘I don’t think there’s any difficulty in knowing where they are, they’re monitored through the mechanism of those clauses which are placed upon them which are quite restrictive’.
“On this side of the house we trust our law enforcement and thank them for their work in keeping Australians safe.”
Sydney school to be shut down for weeks over asbestos
By Max Maddison
In Sydney, state Education Minister Prue Car has revealed Liverpool West Public School will need to undergo further significant remediation work due to asbestos contamination.
The school’s pupils will be forced to learn on another site for multiple weeks as the remediation work is carried out.
Liverpool West Public School was forced to close.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Bonded asbestos was found in garden mulch at the school on Sunday, after the Environment Protection Authority realised the school had received mulch from the same manufacturer that had supplied Rozelle Interchange, where asbestos was first found in mulch last month.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Car described the situation as “extremely disappointing”.
“It is an extremely disappointing situation that we find ourselves in where we are required to move a school on to another school because there is so much mulch that needs to be removed because it has been contaminated with asbestos,” she said.
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This afternoon’s headlines
Thank you for joining our live coverage today.
If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:
- Better tax revenues and a fall in the interest rates on government debt are likely to deliver Treasurer Jim Chalmers a second successive budget surplus.
- Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell has confirmed that foreign citizens could be allowed to serve in the Australian military to help address the recruitment and retention crisis.
- Nationals leader David Littleproud confirmed he urged former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce to take time off after footage showed Joyce lying on a Canberra footpath.
- Universities are warning of a $310 million blow to their revenue from the federal government’s plan to cut net migration from last year’s record high.
- Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s bid to contest serious corruption findings against her will recommence in the Supreme Court in late February.
- In other state news, a Victorian farmer has been killed as hundreds of thousands are still without power after wild storms lashed the state.
My colleague Catherine Naylor will be keeping the blog updated for the rest of the afternoon.
Foreign student visa rejections to cost unis $310m this year
By David Crowe
Universities are warning of a $310 million blow to their revenue from the federal government’s plan to cut net migration from last year’s record high, sending a furious complaint to Canberra over tighter visa rules for overseas students.
The leaders of 16 universities are blaming the government for an “alarming” hit to their finances from the new migration strategy and are seeking an urgent intervention by two federal cabinet ministers so they can accept thousands of students who have been turned away under the stricter rules.
The government wants tougher visa rules for international students in order to meet its promise to cut the migration intake.Credit: Edwina Pickles
But the government is insisting on the need for tougher rules in order to meet its public promise to cut the migration intake from 510,000 last year to 375,000 this year and 250,000 next year amid community concerns about housing and congestion.
In a sign the new migration strategy is having an impact, the 16 vice-chancellors wrote to Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Education Minister Jason Clare to warn the financial damage was hurting Australia’s reputation as a study destination.
Ten lawyer says Wilkinson became ‘inextricably intertwined’ with Higgins
By Michaela Whitbourn
A senior lawyer at Network Ten has told the Federal Court that Lisa Wilkinson became “inextricably intertwined” with Brittany Higgins, as she defended her decision to approve a Logies acceptance speech by Wilkinson, which ultimately led to Bruce Lehrmann’s criminal trial being delayed.
Tasha Smithies, Ten’s senior litigation counsel, gave evidence in Sydney on Tuesday that she had seen Wilkinson’s draft Logies speech praising Higgins’ courage before it was delivered on June 19, 2022. She agreed she had advised the speech was legally “OK”.
Brittany Higgins and Lisa Wilkinson outside Parliament House in March 2021.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Returning to the witness box on Wednesday, Smithies said she appreciated others might have different views but “I still stand by the advice that was given”.
The court heard on Tuesday that Ten’s chief executive, Beverley McGarvey, texted Wilkinson after the Logies to praise the “beautiful speech”.
Farmer dies in wild Victorian weather
By Lachlan Abbott
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed a farmer has died amid the state’s wild weather.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Allan said the dairy farmer was killed in Mirboo North (about 120 kilometres south-east of Melbourne) after storms swept through south Gippsland.
She thanked firefighters battling intense blazes at Pomonal near the Grampians National Park.
“Yesterday was only the second day since the fires of Black Saturday in 2009, 15 years ago, that had that catastrophic [bushfire] rating,” Allan said.
Rick Nugent, Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, said the farmer was aged 50.
“Our thoughts are with his family, loved ones and friends at the moment,” he said.
“[The] early indication is that he was on a tractor and that he was hit by some flying debris.”
Foreign citizens could serve in Australian military: Campbell
By Matthew Knott
Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell has confirmed that foreign citizens could be allowed to serve in the Australian military to help address the recruitment and retention crisis plaguing the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Campbell revealed on Wednesday that the ADF is 6.9 per cent – or 4308 people – below its authorised strength at a time when it is trying to significantly expand its number of uniformed personnel.
“Inflow rates remain below the level required to maintain our current force,” Campbell told Senate estimates hearings.
Chief of the Defence Force, General Angus Campbell.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The federal government has set an ambitious goal of adding an extra 18,500 uniformed personnel by 2040, a 30 per cent increase on current levels.
Campbell said boosting ADF numbers was a major priority, and that the force was considering allowing “non-citizen enlistment on a pathway to citizenship” as a way to increase recruitment.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported last year that the federal opposition and leading military experts were calling for the federal government to allow foreigners to fight under the Australian flag, offering them an accelerated pathway to Australian citizenship.
Longstanding defence policy states that only Australian citizens can serve, with exemptions granted only in “very rare and exceptional circumstances”.
Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh said last month that “we are certainly looking at all options that we need to look at in terms of how we can grow our Defence Force and that includes looking at how we might be able to grow it from friendly forces”.
Asked which foreign nationals could be allowed to serve in the Australian military, Keogh said the government was “looking at the Pacific, but we’re also looking more broadly than that because we recognise the importance of growing our Defence Force”.
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