The Albanese government is committing a further $255m for security agencies to monitor the release of detainees previously held in indefinite detention.
Operation Aegis has been established between the Australian federal police and Australian Border Force to ensure detainees released after a high court decision adhere to strict new conditions placed upon their visas.
The high court ruled this month in favour of NZYQ, a stateless Rohingya man, who faced the prospect of detention for life because no country had agreed to resettle him. After the successful challenge of a 20-year-old precedent in the high court, the government was forced to release 92 detainees.
The opposition has been critical of the government, accusing it of being unprepared for the high court decision and putting community safety at risk.
Some of the cohort had committed crimes and were sent to indefinite detention after completing their sentence, as they could not be deported. Others were in detention on character grounds or for non-violent offences. Despite that, the opposition, led by Peter Dutton, repeatedly referred to the group as “hardcore criminals”.
Labor accepted Coalition amendments to legislation it created setting strict conditions for those who had been released.
That legislation has been criticised as “draconian” and those conditions are already subject to a court challenge.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, and the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, announced a $255m funding package to be shared between federal police and border force.
Border force will receive $150m for additional staff in “compliance, removal and surveillance functions” while the AFP will receive $88m for “regional response teams and personnel to investigate breaches of visa conditions”.
Operation Aegis will focus on the detainees released by the high court decision and ensure they do not breach the conditions placed upon their visas, which includes strict curfews and ankle monitors. The money will also be used for an “increase in capacity to bring prosecutions” against those who breach the conditions, with the federal agencies to work with their state and territory counterparts as part of the operation.
“This funding will ensure that our agencies are able to dedicate the time and resources that will be required to manage this cohort into the future,” O’Neil said.
“We will continue to work with law enforcement and immigration agencies to make sure they have the resources they need to do this difficult work.”
