Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten said it would have been “helpful” if the high court had given its reasons for ruling indefinite detention was unconstitutional at the same time it handed down its decision.
The Albanese government has spent the last month weathering criticism it was too slow to react to the high court’s decision, which overturned a 20-year precedent allowing the government to indefinitely detain refugees and migrants it could not deport.
The court made its ruling on 8 November, but did not release the reasons behind the decision until 20 days later.
It is common for the high court to not release its reasons when it makes its ruling, but Shorten said in this case, it would have made the government’s job in responding with legislation easier.
Asked if the high court should have had its reasons prepared, Shorten said the government “lives in the real world and have to work out what to do”.
“I’m not a high court judge – the universe doesn’t grant reruns of a month ago,” Shorten told the ABC program Insiders.
“It would have helped. That’s their prerogative.”
Shorten also defended the government’s response to the change.
“[Home affairs minister]Clare O’Neil and [immigration minister] Andrew Giles created preventive orders, got community supervision orders, got electronic tags and changed visa conditions,” Shorten said.
“… The high court has its job to do but it tossed this giant problem demolishing the system and within one month the Albanese government’s resolved it.”
Some of the government’s early response to the change, including onerous visa conditions placed on people released by the decision are already subject to further challenges in the high court. Labor was accused of caving to Peter Dutton by agreeing to Coalition demands to include tough criminal penalties for visas breaches.
At least 148 people have been released as a result of the high court decision. Four have been known to have been re-detained for breaching parole conditions, while a fifth person was arrested after an outstanding warrant was discovered.
The indefinite detention decision fall out dominated the last month of the parliamentary year and almost overshadowed the release of the review into the future of the NDIS.
As minister for the NDIS, Shorten said the government’s response to the review would be finalised in the new year, but he has reiterated that for now, the focus is on providers who have been seeking to defraud the scheme.
“There is work going on,” he said.
“There are green shoots of supports outside the system. The other thing we will do which we haven’t spoken about much is, I think quite a bit of the money in the scheme will be saved by getting rid of the shonks and rorts.
“Everyone has a story on the one hand of how NDIS is changing lives and on the other, a minority of service providers are having a lend to the system.”
The commonwealth and states and territories have agreed to fund so-called “foundational supports” that will support people who are not eligible for the NDIS. The NDIS review found a need to return the scheme to its original intended purpose in focusing “first and foremost” on providing support to those with complex needs.
