Nat Barr confronts Albanese government after foreign murderers and pedos released into community following high court decision: ‘Fix it’

Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr has confronted the Albanian government after three murderers and a number of sex offenders were released into the community following a landmark Supreme Court ruling.

The decision forced the government to release 80 immigrants in detention after ruling that their indefinite detention – with no other country willing to take them – was illegal.

“Until now, the political debate has focused on who to blame, rather than on solving it,” Barr said before confronting Interior Secretary Clare O’Neil.

“Clare, a pedophile who raped a ten year old boy, a hit man who murdered a pregnant woman, do we know where they are?”

O’Neil responded, saying: “Nat, may I just say before I answer your question, these crimes and those people are absolutely despicable,” the minister said.

“I’m raising three children in this country and I can tell you that if I had anything in my power to keep these people in prison, I absolutely would.

“Yes, we know where those people are.”

Ms O’Neil said the government was releasing people under “the strictest possible visa conditions”.

Ms O’Neil said the government was releasing people under “the strictest possible visa conditions”.

This includes informing authorities of their location, personal daily reporting and restrictions on working in certain types of industries.

“It means we’re constantly monitoring things like social media and email addresses and phone numbers and things like that,” she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the government is focused on keeping Australians safe and had opposed the High Court’s decision.

“I remind Australians that we protested this in the High Court,” Mr Marles told Sunrise on Wednesday.

‘This is not our decision. But according to the Supreme Court’s decision, these people have been released.

‘They have been given a bridging visa with the strictest possible conditions. That was something the government did immediately.

“We continue to assess what options we have here, including potential legislative responses, and we will work on that very quickly.”

But opposition senator Jane Hume argued that courts “always” make decisions that overturn or override government decisions.

The government had taken its eye off the ball because they knew the court ruling was coming and they were unprepared, she told Seven.

“Now we have 80 very dangerous and potentially offenders in the community,” she said.

“They knew there would be a Supreme Court ruling, but no legislative or regulatory response is ready yet.”

Ms O’Neil said Senator Hume’s reasoning was “nonsense”.

“The idea that the Australian government can simply override a High Court decision through legislation is not the way our Constitution works,” she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles added that the Supreme Court has not yet issued a full ruling, making the “situation even more difficult.”

However, he explained that the government will impose the “strictest” conditions on those released to ensure the safety of the community.

“It’s clear that the difficulty of the situation is much greater now that these people have been released, and again, this is not what we wanted,” Mr Marles said.

The opposition has accused the Albanian government of not keeping its eye on the ball because they knew the judge’s ruling was coming and were unprepared.

‘These people have been given the strictest possible conditions and we want to make sure that the steps we take are legally robust and sustainable.

“But what the community needs to understand is first and foremost our main criteria, our main focus is the safety of the community.”

The Australian Federal Police commissioner has informed his state and territory counterparts of the decision, and a joint operation has been set up with the Australian Border Force to coordinate their release.

When asked why the government does not have a legislative or regulatory framework to address the issue, Labor Minister Anika Wells said the Supreme Court has not yet announced the reasons for its decision.

“So to capture this and ensure this doesn’t happen again, we need to know the reason before we draft any legislative or regulatory measure for the House,” she told Nine’s Today show.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has said the government has sought advance advice on its options depending on the different outcomes of the court ruling, and continues to look at “all regulatory and legislative options”.