Media Release: Albanese Government passes Trump-style deportation laws

In a week when Neo-nazis have been out on Australia’s streets, the Albanese Government in lockstep with the Coalition has today rushed a Bill through Parliament that sends a devastating message to migrant and refugee communities across Australia – no matter how long you have lived here, if you are not a citizen you will never be treated as equal before the law.

The Bill removes the most basic legal safeguard – the right to fairness – from deportation decisions. It validates flawed decisions of the past, cuts off appeals currently before the courts, and gives the Government sweeping powers to deport people to Nauru without notice or legal recourse.

The Bill is directly tied to the Albanese Government’s secretive agreement with Nauru, which a rushed Senate hearing last night revealed could cost taxpayers at least $2.5 billion, and possibly up to $7 billion over the life of the deal.

The agreement contains no cap on the number of people who can be deported, no minimum number required, and no transparency about how public money will be managed. Past Nauru contracts have already been linked to corruption risks and payments to criminal groups.

Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said:

“This Bill is a racist attack on migrants that drags us back to the darkest days of the White Australia policy. In a week when neo-Nazis are marching in our streets, the Albanese Government and the Coalition have revived a racist agenda we thought had been consigned to history. The recent election told us that Australians have rejected this kind of race-baiting and dog whistling, and the decision to revive this kind of politics is an enormous betrayal of our multicultural communities.”

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

“The threat of deportation is now real for thousands of people. People who have Australian citizen family members, including children. This would cause permanent family separation. They should be ashamed. This Bill paves the way for the implementation of the Albanese Government’s secret Nauru deal – which was revealed last night to be likely worth over $2.5 billion. The Government is funnelling billions into a secret deal with corruption risks written all over it, purely to punish refugees and migrants.

“A company linked to a notorious bikie gang was just recently handed $40 million for security on Nauru, and there’s been a decade of corruption allegations tied to these types of contracts. With the Albanese Government refusing to release details, it’s clear this does not pass the sniff test. It reeks to high heaven.”

ENDS 

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