Embattled Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will change the directive he issued allowing courts to take a soft line against foreign-born criminals being deported.
In the wake of widespread backlash and condemnation, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his right-hand man confirmed on Wednesday that Direction 99 will be reshaped.
Labor placed the blame squarely on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for misinterpreting Mr Giles’ directions in January 2023, which saw as many as 60 foreign-born criminals granted leniency.
‘The Albanian government has always said that visa decisions should be based on two clear principles. Firstly, the protection of the Australian community. Secondly, common sense,” Mr Giles said.
‘A number of recent AAT decisions have not demonstrated common sense.’
Embattled Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will change the directive he issued allowing courts to crack down on foreign-born criminals facing deportation
Mr Giles revealed during Question Time that Labor is introducing ‘a new, revised ministerial direction to ensure clear principles’ in response to the crisis.
He said the revised direction will ensure that “all members of the [review tribunal] adopt a common sense approach to visa decisions, in line with the intent of Ministerial Directive 99′.
He also confirmed that he and his department are in the process of ‘reviewing recent AAT decisions’.
Senator Murray Watt, who represented Mr Giles in the Senate Estimates on Tuesday, argued that the AAT decisions were ‘not consistent with government policy’.
“And frankly, I don’t think these AAT decisions are in line with community expectations either,” Mr Watt said.
But the coalition has hit back at the government’s attempts to distance itself from the crisis, noting that the AAT decisions were made with direct consideration of Direction 99.
Anthony Albanese supported his controversial minister on Wednesday
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed his embattled minister on Wednesday as he weathered a second day of intense criticism of Direction 99.
Mr Giles told the AAT in January 2023 to take into account a person’s family dynamics and connection to Australia when assessing visa cancellations on character grounds.
As a result, dozens of criminals whose visas have been revoked for serious criminal offenses have been allowed to remain in Australia, while they would have been deported under the old leadership.
Mr Giles said if a foreign-born citizen arrives in Australia at a young age or has family ties here, the tribunal must consider the consequences of deporting them.
But now he says those considerations should never have outweighed the safety of the community, and that the tribunal failed to act properly in some of the decisions made with that direction in mind.
Further complicating the issue, it was revealed during the Senate Estimate that his department had failed to inform him of several tribunal decisions to overturn visa revocations.
Now he and his department are working on a priority list.
Mr Giles has since revealed that several of these visas have been revoked again.