PETER VAN ONSELEN: If Anthony Albanese is too weak to sack his best mate Andrew Giles for letting serial rapists stay in Australia then HE’S the one who should go

If Anthony Albanese won’t do his job and fire his wildly incompetent Immigration Minister, his party needs to find a new Prime Minister who will.

Andrew Giles changed immigration laws to allow violent criminals, including child molesters, to remain in Australia if they had close ties to the community.

When the policy change blew up in his face, Giles started playing the blame game: it’s the Home Office’s fault, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)’s fault.

It’s everyone’s fault except his apparently.

Before Labor changed the law, criminals were deported. Now they claim community and family ties and are allowed to stay. And not for stealing a loaf of bread, just to be clear.

Under pressure: Anthony Albanese (pictured) must show he puts the country first and his partner second by firing his immigration minister

A serial rapist who has attacked twenty women and a child and shows no remorse has been allowed to stay. A four-time child rapist – who videotaped his prey – has been allowed to stay, under Giles’ rule change.

A Sudanese migrant has identified himself as an Aboriginal and used Giles’ ridiculous rules to circumvent his criminal actions, allowing him to avoid deportation.

There are now more than 30 examples of such abuse of the system Labor introduced, and more are expected to come to light in the coming days, weeks and months.

The situation we are in is a joke.

Until the Prime Minister sacks Giles, Labor MPs such as Home Secretary Clare O’Neil will be forced to continue putting on embarrassing performances such as the one she performed on Channel Seven’s Sunrise program this morning.

O’Neil was left speechless as host Natalie Barr reeled off the rap sheet of offenders allowed to stay thanks to Giles’ rule change, before attempting to defend the indefensible.

Reforms are needed and Giles needs to go. It’s that simple.

Giles says he was unaware of his department’s decisions. Great, so his best case scenario is that he’s incompetent. As if we didn’t know that already.

Playing the political blame game won’t save Giles, and it won’t save the Albanian if he continues to play politics instead of acting in the national interest.

This absurd system has been in place for over a year now. It started because Albo wanted to have a chat with then New Zealand leader Jacinta Ardern, to show what a more likable Australian prime minister he was compared to Scott Morrison.

When Albo defeated Scott Morrison in 2022, his mantra was “end the blame game.” Yet the blame game seems to be all the Albanian government is willing to do.

Thanks for your support! Home Secretary Clare O’Neil (pictured right) destroys her credibility as she defends her colleague Andrew Giles (pictured left)

So who is the AAT member who followed Giles’ legislative orders by allowing a child molester to remain in the country because of family ties? None other than former Labor Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anna Burke (photo)

It’s not good enough.

It is especially ridiculous to blame the AAT considering that the new Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus, made the biggest deal after taking office on the need to overhaul the AAT by throwing out Liberal appointments and welcoming new names. Two years later, how’s that going?

So who is the AAT member who followed Giles’ legislative orders by allowing a child molester to remain in the country because of family ties? None other than former Labor Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anna Burke. They are appointed by the Coalition.

To be fair, she’s not alone. That’s because the AAT is required to follow the edict of Direction 99: Giles, which has links to Australia and trumps criminal behavior when it comes to deciding who stays and who gets deported.

Blaming the AAT for following the minister’s directive must be particularly hurtful to its members.

Giles and Albo are the best of friends, and it’s not enough to put their friendship above the safety of Australians.

If the Prime Minister is too weak to fire his friend, reshuffle the ministry right now. Replace Giles with a serious minister in the immigration portfolio. Demote Giles to minister for trimming Albo’s toenails, or some equally irrelevant real-world portfolio.

Promote the immigration portfolio in Cabinet to show that Albanians recognize its importance and the policy mistakes to date that need to be corrected.

Change legislation that prioritizes community ties over despicable crimes as the guiding principle for who stays and who is deported. A rule change that Labor has introduced.

The concern that sacking his buddy would give opposition leader Peter Dutton a political victory misses the point. A prime minister cannot protect an incompetent minister simply to save face.

Party politics aside, the opposition is right to demand Giles go.

If Albo doesn’t do it, they’re right to ask for his head too. He will have proven that he is not up to the tough task of being premier.

This parliamentary session week would be all about selling the budget. Cashing in on the money Labor was throwing around in the run-up to a possible snap election.

Instead, Giles’ outright incompetence took center stage, rightly leading Australians to question whether the Prime Minister has the authority to do what is right for them.

Labour’s Ed Husic (pictured) had some home truths for the Treasurer. Maybe he would be a strong leader who was willing to fire Andrew Giles?

And it’s worth noting that the debacle we are witnessing is happening at the same time that the NSW Labor right is flexing its muscles. Cabinet Secretary Ed Husic has highlighted the need to cut corporate taxes, something Treasurer Jim Chalmers simply has not done.

This is a reminder that there are still some cooler minds in team Labor, capable of running the show as the successful Hawke and Keating governments of the 1980s and 1990s did.

Ready, willing and able to do this if Albo cannot find the strength to lead.