While question time rages on in the House of Representatives, Senate Estimates continue elsewhere in Parliament House, where Home Affairs officials just revealed only 13 of 39 convicted sex offenders, and 45 or 73 people convicted of assault released from immigration detention since November are being electronically monitored.
Australian Border Force officials earlier revealed two convicted murderers were also not subject to electronic monitoring, nor were three former detainees before they went on to allegedly commit further crimes.
Australian Border Force commissioner Michael Outram during a Senate estimates hearing.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
After being told 26 former detainees convicted of sex offences were not being electronically monitored, nor were many subjected to curfews, Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson asked how it was that so many people had been released of their visa obligations.
“This cannot meet any public interest test,” he said.
ABF commissioner Michael Outram said it wasn’t as simple as drawing a link between an offence and a decision to apply strict visa conditions, saying a board of experts established by the government had to consider a range of factors.
“It’s not infallible, nobody can come up with an infallible process,” he said.
“Even if you electronically monitored and [applied curfews to] all these people, they may well still be reoffending,” he said.