Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) | Hansard source

I thank the member for Riverina for the question, and I take the opportunity to remind him, of course, that it was the decision of the High Court that required the release of the detainees who were the subject of his question. I remind him that, as well as following the decisions of the court, our top priority always is keeping the community safe. I remind him, as a senior member of the former government, that the regime that we've put in place is modelled on the former government's high-risk terror offenders scheme. I remind him, as I reminded the House yesterday, that the shadow minister for home affairs, and indeed the member for Wannon, have reminded all of us that there is a very high legal threshold to be met for a court to agree to ongoing detention. I remind him, too, that it took the opposition three years after passing their legislation to make their first application before the court. And, Speaker, I reassure you and I reassure the House that we are preparing applications. We are making sure, as evidence in Senate estimates made clear, that we are putting in place the resources and the processes to get it right, because it is in no-one's interest to have a half-baked application that doesn't succeed. Our focus is on doing the things that keep people safe.

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