Category Archives: Peter Dutton

Revealed: 1,500 people in limbo under Australia’s ‘bizarre and cruel’ refugee deterrence policy

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Australia declared in 2013 that asylum seekers who arrive by boat would never settle here. Hundreds of people’s lives are still on hold to prove that point

For more than seven years, Australia’s policy has been clear: if you seek asylum by boat you will never be settled here. You will be sent offshore and have your asylum claims heard there.

Between the declaration of that policy by prime minister Kevin Rudd on 19 July 2013 and the last transfer offshore in December 2014, Australia sent 3,127 people seeking protection as refugees to Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island.

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Tony Abbott’s anti-Muslim rhetoric while PM ‘profoundly dangerous’, Malcolm Turnbull says

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Turnbull says it was a threat to national security and Abbott’s style of government was ‘erratic and flaky’

Malcolm Turnbull has accused Tony Abbott of the “profoundly dangerous” decision to inflame animosity against Muslims while terrorism was the greatest security threat to Australia during his prime ministership.

In a wide-ranging interview on ABC TV’s 7.30, the former Liberal prime minister took aim at his predecessor for running an “erratic” and “flaky” government and his conservative ally turned challenger, Peter Dutton, for destroying his leadership in pursuit of the “absurd proposition” he could lead the Coalition to victory.

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Australian children remain trapped in al-Hawl camp as region braces for coronavirus

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Fresh calls for Australia to repatriate its citizens amid fears the camp is vulnerable to a Covid-19 outbreak

Forty-seven Australian children remain trapped in the abject al-Hawl camp in north-east Syria, as the region braces for a potential Covid-19 outbreak.

Syria has reported only a handful of cases, and there are none confirmed in the camp housing 68,000 women and children, most of them family of Islamic State fighters, but there has been little Covid-19 testing across the war-torn country.

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Australian Signals Directorate has already spied on Australians, boss confirms

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Rachel Noble tells Senate estimates the agency has sought ministerial approval to gather intelligence on Australians

The Australian Signals Directorate has already spied on Australians in the last year, invoking “rare circumstances” and seeking ministerial approval to extend its powers in an unspecified number of cases.

ASD’s director general, Rachel Noble, indicated in Senate estimates on Wednesday that although the focus of the agency’s powers was directed at gathering intelligence about people or organisations outside Australia, it had also produced intelligence about Australians.

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Malcolm Turnbull warns of ‘catastrophic’ future without net zero emissions goal – politics live

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The former prime minister has stepped into the climate debate, with a stark warning to moderate Liberals to act. All the day’s events, live

Greg Hunt will be giving the next coronavirus update at 1.10pm

Meanwhile, the lights keep flickering in Parliament House, which can only mean that my moods have begun to physically manifest.

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Biloela family may spend months more on Christmas Island waiting on court decision

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Home affairs adviser accused of untruthfulness as Tamil family waits on court to decide if youngest daughter can apply for asylum

The Tamil asylum seeker family from Biloela may have to wait another three months for a decision on whether their youngest Australian-born daughter can have her asylum application assessed, after a court hearing in which a home affairs adviser was accused of untruthfulness.

Tamil asylum seekers Priya and Nades and their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa have been detained on Christmas Island since late last year awaiting the hearing on the processing of a visa application for Tharunicaa.

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High court rules Aboriginal Australians are not ‘aliens’ under the constitution and cannot be deported

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The four-to-three split decision giving Aboriginal Australians special status is a major defeat for the deportation powers of the home affairs department

The high court has decided that Aboriginal Australians are not aliens for the purpose of the constitution, a major defeat for the deportation powers of Peter Dutton’s home affairs department and a significant development in the rights of Indigenous Australians.

In a four-to-three split decision on Tuesday the high court ruled that Aboriginal people with sufficient connection to traditional societies cannot be aliens, giving them a special status in Australian constitutional law likely to have ramifications far beyond existing native title law.

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Josephine Cashman sacked from Indigenous advisory body after letter published by Andrew Bolt

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Indigenous affairs minister says Cashman’s membership of advisory group on voice to parliament is untenable after letter is used to discredit Bruce Pascoe

The Aboriginal businesswoman Josephine Cashman has been sacked from her government advisory role, after allegations that she provided a faked letter from a senior Aboriginal leader as part of a campaign to discredit the author Bruce Pascoe.

In a brief statement the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Ken Wyatt, said Cashman’s actions were “not conducive to the constructive and collaborative approach” needed on the advisory council on an Indigenous voice to parliament.

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Home affairs warned Australian government of growing climate disaster risk after May election

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Exclusive: Department’s brief said that ‘coordinated national action’ was needed to ward off increasing disruptions

The government was warned by the Department of Home Affairs after the May election that Australia faced more frequent and severe heatwaves and bushfires, and that livelihoods would be affected without effective action on climate change.

The department’s incoming government brief to the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, warned of “disasters” exacerbated by climate change.

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Peter Dutton: China accuses home affairs minister of ‘shocking’ and ‘malicious’ slur

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Minister says Australia’s issue is with the Communist Party of China, not the Chinese-Australian community

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, has launched a wide-ranging attack on the Chinese Communist party, accusing it of engineering a series of cyber-attacks on Australian targets, stealing intellectual property and muzzling free speech.

The comments prompted a sharp rebuke from the Chinese government overnight, with China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, telling reporters during a press conference that he hoped “Australia will reject the cold war mentality and bias, and work to advance bilateral relations and mutual trust”.

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Peter Dutton appeals federal court ruling over medical transfer of refugees

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Lawyers for refugees say case important given the government wants to repeal medevac legislation

Peter Dutton is seeking to appeal in the high court a federal court ruling relating to dozens of medical transfers of asylum seekers and refugees.

The government argued the federal court had no jurisdiction to hear cases brought on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers in offshore centres on Manus Island and Nauru, who were seeking urgent medical transfer to Australia.

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Labor labels Coalition’s drug-testing plan ‘demeaning’ – politics live

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Scott Morrison accused of trying to force jobseekers to pee in a cup because he wants to pick fights with the opposition. All the day’s news, live

George Brandis has been spotted in the building.

We are not sure why our man in London is here, but no doubt it is all very terribly important.

Pauline Hanson is speaking to Sky News about a speech she is giving on family law reform, where she is calling for 50/50 joint custody of children, from the moment of separation.

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Home affairs data ‘gives lie’ to Coalition’s refusal to let Biloela Tamil family stay

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Fifty-two refugees and asylum seekers in offshore detention have received temporary protection visas or safe haven enterprise visas

Some 52 refugees and asylum seekers in offshore detention have received temporary protection visas or safe haven enterprise visas, according to new statistics that fly in the face of the Morrison government’s refusal to allow the Biloela Tamil family to stay.

The home affairs department has revealed to a Senate inquiry that of the 3,127 people classified as “illegal maritime arrivals” who have been taken to a regional processing country since 2011, some 52 have received visas and now face legal limbo if banned from permanent settlement in Australia.

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‘We’re a polite town’: rage in Biloela as Tamil family’s fate in Peter Dutton’s hands

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Nadesalingam, Priya, Kopiga and Tharunicaa were given a five-day reprieve – then moved to Christmas Island

The officers came in the early morning.

On 5 March last year, Australian Border Force officers accompanied by Serco guards stormed the modest Biloela home of Tamil husband and wife Nadesalingam and Priya, and their two Australia-born daughters Kopiga, 2, and Tharunicaa, then just nine months old.

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Repealing medevac would be ‘a wicked thing’, Centre Alliance says – politics live

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Rebekha Sharkie says if the government is successful in repealing the legislation it will cause ‘needless harm’

On the ensuring integrity bill, Rex Patrick says there are political elements to the bill it can’t support:

The aim was to deal with misconduct and there is no question that has been in the union movement.

I have seen the fairly significant sheet of judicial rulings against some of the unions and in some instances we have some very conservative, considered judicial officers stating things like this union is simply using the fines, treating the fines as the cost of business.

Rex Patrick is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on Afternoon Briefing and says while Centre Alliance supports the intent of the temporary exclusion order bill, it will abstain from voting for it, because it can’t support it in its current form.

Labor will be passing it, although it has raised its own concerns.

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Labor supports exclusion orders for foreign fighters – politics live

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Opposition will try to introduce amendments but if that fails it will pass the bill. All the day’s events, live

tl;dr - shut the hell up.

I'm also told @ScottMorrisonMP told backbenchers who have been out and about on issues, including, lately, superannuation, to calm their farms and work through party processes. Words to that effect @AmyRemeikis #auspol

You know what it absolutely is not, and was never, going to be? A third chamber.

I'm told @SenatorMcGrath raised constitutional recognition in today's party room meeting. He asked what the position was. @ScottMorrisonMP and @KenWyattMP told him the voice could be many things & constitutional change wouldn't be radical @AmyRemeikis #auspol

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Coalition accused of ignoring bipartisan advice over scrutiny of security powers

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Labor and Centre Alliance fear government will proceed with two key bills without recommended safeguards

The Morrison government is being accused of ignoring bipartisan recommendations and breaching commitments to reform the spy agency’s powers as it prepares a fresh push on national security when parliament resumes on Monday.

Labor and Centre Alliance fear the government is set to ignore advice to improve scrutiny of proposed new powers for the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, to exclude citizens from Australia and to phase out Asio’s detention powers.

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AFP adds more confusion about whether ministers consulted over raids

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Federal police say ministers may be ‘notified’ before raids, but outgoing commissioner Andrew Colvin says they are not ‘consulted’

The Australian Federal Police has added more confusion to the question of whether the AFP consults ministers before conducting raids, after its outgoing commissioner, Andrew Colvin, denied that it did so.

On the ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday, Colvin was questioned about the recent raids on the ABC and on News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst over leaked documents. Colvin was asked whether any government minister was consulted about the raids in advance.

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Peter Dutton says he renounced financial interest that could have disqualified him

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Statement comes as Turnbull defends his threat to use eligibility question to thwart Dutton’s prime ministerial ambitions

Peter Dutton has revealed that he renounced a financial interest that could have seen him disqualified from parliament before the May election, as he fends off calls for his eligibility to be tested in the high court.

The decision by the home affairs minister to rid himself of the financial interest comes amid fresh revelations about how Malcolm Turnbull threatened to use the constitutional cloud hanging over Dutton to thwart his bid to become prime minister.

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Peter Dutton claims asylum seekers refusing resettlement in US due to medevac laws

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Home affairs minister alleges 250 applications for medical transfer being reviewed by ‘activist’ doctors

Peter Dutton claims asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island and Nauru are refusing resettlement offers in the United States because of the medevac legislation, claiming 250 applications for medical transfer were currently being reviewed by “activist” doctors.

Despite conceding last week the US was “unlikely” to resettle 1,250 refugees under the deal Malcolm Turnbull struck with the then US president, Barack Obama, and begrudgingly held to by Donald Trump, Dutton said the medevac legislation had upended the process and claimed asylum seekers and refugees were still holding out for Australia.

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