Embattled Immigration Minister Andrew Giles was warned by bureaucrats in his own department that a controversial ministerial direction he issued risked reversing a quarter of visa cancellations for non-citizen criminals.
At a late evening Senate Estimates meeting on Tuesday evening, it was revealed that Home Office officials had modeled the implications of the changes towards Giles in 99, concluding that two of the eight individual analyzed cases would likely be destroyed.
The guidance, issued by Mr Giles in early 2023, requires the Secretary of State for Immigration or a body, including the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, to take into account an individual’s links with the community when considering the revocation of an individual’s visa convicted criminal to withdraw.
Under a barrage of questions from the Coalition during Question Time on Tuesday, Mr Giles refused to apologise. He tried to put further distance between himself and his department, claiming he had not been informed of the AAT’s decisions.
Home Secretary Stephanie Foster said before the Senate estimates on Tuesday evening that the department had breached protocol by failing to inform Mr Giles of some of the AAT’s decisions to reverse the cancellations.
“The department failed him, we failed to comply with every protocol,” Ms Foster said.
Ms Foster said she knew of five cases where the department had failed to warn Mr Giles, before being corrected by another official who said the number of cases was closer to 30.
Senate estimates heard on Tuesday night Andrew Giles was warned by bureaucrats in his own department that his leadership of non-citizens risked allowing criminals to remain in Australia
Under questioning by Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson, who branded the revelation as ‘extraordinary’, Ms Foster apologized for the incidents.
“I deeply regret that this has happened,” Ms Foster said, adding that she was ultimately responsible and that the Home Office has since devoted further resources to tackling the issue.
British-born rapist and masseur Charles William Davidson saw his visa cancellation revoked in February – even as he was convicted of 48 counts of sexual assault, eight counts of rape and three counts of indecent treatment of children under 16 – according to The Australian.
Ms Foster said the case was not among those investigated by the department.
“We are dealing with all cases as quickly as we can,” Ms Foster admitted, before another department official revealed there was no upper limit on the number of cases that could have been quashed through the ministerial direction.
Among those whose visa revocations were reversed are Sudanese national Emmanuel Saki, who was accused of stabbing a 22-year-old in Queensland just weeks after the AAT rescinded his visa cancellation, and Lebanese-born Abdul Wahab Trad , who was found to have strong ties to Australia despite the rape of a 13-year-old girl in 2020.
The Coalition presented five examples to Mr Giles during Question Time, demanding whether he would apologize for his “catastrophic mistake, and reverse course towards 99?”
During cross-examination, Mr Giles took pains to argue that the decisions to cancel the visa were made by an ‘independent tribunal’ in the AAT.
“I remind the House that the board places a serious emphasis on domestic violence. These must be considered by the tribunal in all cases,” he said.
“I have revoked this person’s visa.”
He said he had instructed his department to look at the AAT cases “on a priority basis”.
The coalition also raised questions about an Afghan national, known as ZJFQ, who had his visa revoked after he raped a 16-year-old girl and a disabled 14-year-old child, but was allowed to remain in Australia.
“I say again that Direction 99 has not and will not reduce the importance placed on considerations such as the expectations of the Australian community and the protection of the community from crime,” Mr Giles said.