Former immigration detainees issued invalid visas

The immigration minister Andrew Giles was also addressing reporters, regarding the issuing of invalid visas to former immigration detainees.

Transcript

00:00 In recent days, it became clear to the Department that a technical issue affected visas granted

00:07 to people released following the High Court's decision in the NZYQ matter late last year.

00:13 This issue was a technical issue and has now been resolved.

00:16 And I want to reassure every member of the Australian community that this has not affected

00:20 the constant supervision, the constant monitoring of everyone who was required to be released

00:26 in this cohort, because community safety has been our absolute focus throughout.

00:32 Community safety, working with our law enforcement officers, working with the Border Force, the

00:36 Australian Federal Police and the State and Territory Police forces, focusing on doing

00:41 all we can, adhering to the law, to keep the community safe.

00:46 Now I think there's time for a couple of questions before I have to go inside.

00:49 I guess the Shadow Treasurer did say that he sort of blamed the Government for incompetence over that visa bungle.

00:56 I guess, what do you have to say about that?

00:59 Well, the Opposition are always seeking to play politics.

01:03 But the fact remains that this is an issue that has been on the books for more than a decade,

01:08 since 2013, throughout indeed the former Government's time, a Government in which the Shadow Treasurer was a part.

01:15 They are always focused on looking for someone to blame, never focused on offering solutions.

01:21 Our view is the opposite. It's about solving problems, not continually talking about them.

01:26 So do you think that the Government was incompetent with this?

01:30 Do you think it will happen again, even if it was a technical error?

01:33 Our focus has been on community safety throughout, in responding to the High Court decision.

01:40 We have ensured that people in this cohort have been constantly monitored.

01:44 We have acted immediately to deal with this technical issue, which dates back again for more than a decade.

01:50 So it has been resolved straight away by working around the clock to keep the community safe.

01:55 When were you first made aware that the visas were invalid?

01:58 And have the 10 individuals who were charged with breaches had those charges dropped?

02:03 The issue was identified over the weekend.

02:06 And in terms of the 10 individuals who have faced charges, I guess there's two points that need to be made.

02:11 Firstly, of course, the laying of charges and the conduct of prosecution is a matter either for the Commonwealth DPP

02:17 or the various state and territory authorities.

02:20 And it's particularly important to note this second point, because this will not affect any offences conducted under state or territory law.

02:27 So you've known since the weekend that it was first identified?

02:30 The issue was first identified late on Sunday evening.

02:33 Are you confident that this technical issue won't happen again?

02:37 This is a matter that we have dealt with very quickly.

02:40 And throughout this issue, I can assure everyone that the issues around community safety haven't been compromised

02:46 because continuous monitoring has been maintained.

02:49 And we have acted quickly to re-grant those visas.

02:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]