IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison says more children are being released from detention because the boats have stopped, as the government today prepares to mark six months without a successful maritime people-smuggling venture.
His comments came yesterday as the High Court upheld the government’s right to detain asylum-seekers overseas, citing the constitution’s “aliens and naturalisation” power.
Mr Morrison told parliament the government’s policies had relieved pressure on the crowded detention network and delivered budget savings.
“The number of children in detention now, right across our own network and offshore, is now less than 1000,” Mr Morrison said.
“It has fallen by one-third since the election.
“You know how you get children out of detention?
“You stop the boats. That’s how you do it.
“That’s what this government is doing. That’s why children are coming out of ... detention, and that’s why this government’s been more successful where you lot failed.”
The High Court, in a unanimous decision, also found “nothing in the text or scope” of the law requiring an immigration minister to consider anything other than the Migration Act and the national interest before designating an offshore processing country.
“What is in the national interest is largely a political question,” the court said.
Barrister Mark Robinson SC described the lawsuit as “a complete failure” and predicted his Iranian client, a member of Iran’s minority Nimatullahi Sultan Ali Shahi Gonabadi Sufi sect aged in his 20s, would eventually be resettled in Cambodia.
Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles said Labor and the Coalition “stand as one” on offshore processing, saying the Manus Island centre is “saving lives”.
“Labor absolutely believes in the importance of the regional resettlement arrangement with PNG, the role that Manus is playing in saving lives,” he said.theaustralian.com.au
