A staggering number of inmates released following a controversial Supreme Court ruling are currently receiving benefits at the expense of Australian taxpayers.
On Monday, the exact number of sex offenders and murders released into the community following the Supreme Court’s ‘NZYQ’ ruling Was revealed.
This was followed on Wednesday afternoon Services Australia officials reveal 103 of the former detainees are now receiving special welfare benefits.
Officials, questioned by Coalition Senator Linda Reynolds at a Senate estimates hearing, said the agency pays out benefits to the ex-offenders every two weeks.
But Services Australia officials refused to reveal how much is being paid out, saying the rates were set by the Department of Home Affairs.
After murderers, pedophiles and thieves were released following a shock Supreme Court ruling last November, it has now emerged that a large number of them are receiving welfare benefits at the expense of Australian taxpayers. Asylum seekers are pictured at the Arena Hotel in Chullora
They said the special payment program was intended for people who could not get other social benefits.
Seven of those released from immigration detention were convicted of murder or attempted murder.
Another 37 released detainees had been convicted of sex offences, including sex offenses involving children, documents presented at the Senate estimates in Canberra on Monday showed.
Liberal Senator James Patterson wrote on X that the documents “confirm that the Albanian government has not submitted any application for preventive detention of released prisoners.
“What was the point of passing the legislation before Christmas if they weren’t going to use it,” he said.
Another 72 of the former detainees were convicted of assault, violent crimes, kidnapping or armed robbery, and 16 were convicted of domestic violence or stalking.
There were also thirteen others convicted of serious drug offenses and up to five of human smuggling or crimes of serious international concern.
The documents also show that 24 detainees have breached their visa conditions or have been charged with serious crimes against Australians.
One of the documents shows that ‘as of February 1, 2024, six persons have been arrested and charged for violating visa conditions.
“In addition, the ABF (Australian Border Force) is aware that 18 individuals have been charged by State and Territory Police with State and Territory offences.”
The same document also revealed that as of January 31, no one has been “re-detained in an immigration detention center on the basis that there is a real prospect that their removal from Australia is reasonably practicable in the foreseeable future.”
Documents previously tabled in the Senate showed that 18 of the foreigners held indefinitely before their release were from Afghanistan.
A total of 17 came from Iran, 10 reached Australia from Sudan, while nine were listed as ‘stateless’ – meaning they have no country to return to.
Other countries high on the list included South Sudan, Eritrea and Sri Lanka – while one asylum seeker was originally from New Zealand.
The exact number of murderers and sex offenders released into the community after a surprise Supreme Court ruling (pictured) revealed
Government ministers Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil had previously refused to detail the crimes committed by some former prisoners, although Giles said they included murderers and some sex offenders.
Those freed include a pedophile who raped a 10-year-old boy in Sydney’s west and a hit man who blew up a pregnant woman in Malaysia.
These criminals had served prison sentences for their crimes but could not be deported for various reasons beyond the government’s control, including the fact that the country they came from refused to allow them to return.
In November, Labor pushed legislation through both houses of parliament, backing coalition amendments that hit released asylum seekers with even tougher rules.