Albanese Government sneaks bill into Parliament that attacks legal and human rights

Human rights organisations have condemned the Government’s Home Affairs legislation tabled in Parliament this week, as yet another baseless attack on the rights of migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum.

In a move the organisations say shows blatant disregard for the law, the Albanese Government has introduced legislation that would strip migrants and refugees of their legal rights when sending them to third countries like Nauru, legislating their way out of cases currently before the courts.

The Bill is yet another attempt at rushed law-making, this time stripping protections from migrants and refugees that make sure bungled bureaucratic decisions that affect people’s safety and family integrity can be challenged. It is designed to limit government accountability for making sure those decisions are fair and based in fact. 

The Bill also has a retrospective effect – validating incorrect decisions that were made in the past, preventing the right for these decisions to be corrected. The Bill even allows the government to continue to prosecute criminal charges that were brought as a result of incorrect decisions.

Jana Favero, Deputy CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said:

“The decisions are serious and lifelong. We are talking about people being permanently deported to places like Nauru. Decisions like this must not be made without fundamental legal safeguards. This legislation is clearly designed to manipulate the law so that the Government is not accountable to the courts.”

“If the idea of people being deported without the ability or right to challenge the decision makes you think of ICE and Donald Trump – you’d be right. The Albanese government is setting a dangerous precedent of removing people’s legal rights to question when the government has made serious mistakes.”

Sarah Dale, Centre Director and Principal Solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service said:

“All people are entitled to have such serious legal decisions made about them using the correct facts and law, to have an opportunity to respond, and to be protected from unilateral and unjustified changes to that law by the Government after the fact. These decisions are often life and death. They must be correctly and fairly made, and the Government must not be given power to override the protections of the law in this way.”

“The Courts have already recognised one man was not afforded due process prior to an attempt to forcibly exile him to Nauru. The Government now seeks power to override fair processes – and even the established law – in order to facilitate their powers to remove people, including to harm. It’s dangerous law-making to erode these fundamental protections, that are for all members of the Australian community. It’s a disturbing precedent that attacks the core of our fundamental rights.”

Josephine Langbien, Associate Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:

“Just weeks ago, the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee agreed there are serious questions that the Australian Government must answer about its Nauru deportation plans, and the consequences for the people subjected to them. Yet now the Albanese Government wants to permanently exile people to Nauru without having to consider the consequences. This legislation would save the Government from having to consider basic questions like whether someone can access the medical care they need in Nauru, or whether they would be permanently separated from their families. By eliminating safeguards that are designed to ensure fairness and accuracy, the Government is showing that it does not care if it gets these life-changing decisions wrong.”

The group of human rights organisations say this Bill is a blatant attempt at removing scrutiny, stripping people of rights, and shielding the Government from accountability. Migrants and refugees deserve the same access to justice and protection under the law as anyone else in this country. They call on Parliament to reject this dangerous legislation in its entirety. 

For further information or to request an interview contact Natasha Blucher (ASRC) on +61 412 034 821 or media@asrc.org.au or Chandi Bates (HRLC) on +61 430 277 254

Header image: Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Tony Burke. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen