Albanese government to fix ‘broken laws’ and strip terrorists of their Australian ‘citizenship’
The government will introduce new laws to revoke the Australian citizenship of dual nationals convicted of committing terrorist offences.
Home Secretary Clare O’Neil will next week introduce new legislation that will allow the Supreme Court to strip dual nationals of their citizenship on terror grounds.
It comes after the Supreme Court struck down coalition-era laws, introduced under then Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, that gave ministers broad powers to strip a person of citizenship after he or she was convicted of a terror crime.
The ruling led to the imminent release of convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika after he successfully argued that Dutton’s laws were unconstitutional.
Home Secretary Clare O’Neil will next week introduce new legislation that will allow the Supreme Court to strip dual nationals of their citizenship on terror grounds.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Abdul Nacer Benbrika in early November, ruling that section 36D of the Citizenship Act is invalid.
Mr Benbrika was arrested and convicted in 2008 of plotting to attack monuments in Melbourne. He will be released after December 24 under strict conditions.
Ms O’Neil said Labor was trying to fix the “broken” laws that allowed ministerial discretion to revoke citizenship and replace them with laws that were “tough and constitutionally sound”.
“The way to keep our country safe is not by hyperventilating, overreaching and using inflammatory language. “It’s about doing the work, calmly managing the issues and solving the problems one by one,” she said.
According to a spokesperson for the Interior, the new ‘watertight’ laws were drawn up with the input of constitutional-legal experts.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Abdul Nacer Benbrika in early November, ruling that section 36D of the Citizenship Act is invalid
The legislation, which will be introduced on Monday, is expected to pass through parliament with support from the coalition.
The new laws will come as the Albanian government is doing damage control following a November 8 Supreme Court ruling that found indefinite detention was unlawful.
As a result, more than 90 asylum seekers were released, with a pedophile and murderers among those released.
They will support themselves with at least $550 a fortnight from the government’s Status Resolution Support Service, as well as being provided with free Medicare.