Details have emerged around three more people with serious criminal histories being spared from deportation as a result of Direction 99 only hours after Immigration Minister Andrew Giles insisted he was the right person to fix the bungled saga.
Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie has criticised immigration Minister Andrew Giles saying he has been “hardly urgent” about Australia’s immigration crisis.
Ms McKenzie’s comments come after Mr Giles commented on the announcement that the government will revise its controversial Direction 99 ruling.
“We’ve been in a version of chaos in this portfolio since at least the end of last year,” Ms McKenzie told Sky News Australia.
“Where’s he been since Christmas?
“We’ve had myriad concerns about what happened with those released last year.
“It’s been a snowball effect of disaster”.
The Australian on Thursday said it had found more than 80 offenders so far who had their visas reinstated by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) “at least in part” due to Direction 99.
The ministerial direction, which the government has now agreed to revise, originally made ties to Australia a primary consideration in the tribunal’s visa determination decisions.
Andrew Giles has been copping a barrage of criticism of his handling of the issue. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Among the recently unearthed cohort is a New Zealand citizen who has lived in Australia for 17 years.
In 2022, he was convicted and received prison sentence for having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old, according to documents from the AAT.
The cancellation of his visa was revoked late last year.
“In all the circumstances I am satisfied that this is a case where there are strong countervailing considerations, especially those arising from the ties Mr Smith has with his parents, (his current partner) and her children and those concerning the best interests of his young daughter and the three other children, that are sufficient to justify revoking the cancellation of the visa despite the serious conduct associated with the offending, which if repeated, would result in serious harm,” AAT member Rob Reitano wrote in his decision.
Another person who had their visa cancellation revoked was in 2022 “convicted of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child and interfering with another”, according to The Australian.
Labor MP Andrew Charlton says Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is “methodically” working through the challenges he was left in the immigration department by Peter Dutton.
“Andrew Giles was left with a million-visa backlog, a system that was being exploited by criminal gangs and a migration system that wasn’t serving the country,” he said.
“He’s stated that he’s incredibly disappointed by the AAT’s decision, that those decisions are not consistent with the original intent of Direction 99 and now he’s working to fix that.”
A third man who was born in the Solomon Islands and has remained in Australia since 2001 was also spared from deportation.
It is understood he has a substantial criminal record which includes alleged domestic violence incidents.
The revelations came less than three hours after Immigration Minister Andrew Giles told Sky News Australia he was the right person to fix the immigration system which had allowed convicted criminals to remain in the country.
“These are cases that go to some serious offending… where the decision of the Tribunal does not meet my expectations,” he said.
“I’ve considered them and it’s in the national interest, in my view, that the visas continue to be cancelled so that the community can be kept safe.”
He said the revision to the ministerial direction would ensure “that the perspective of victims and of victims’ families is brought to bear”.
The Minister went on to promise he was “working day and night” to deal with the myriad of issues associated with Direction 99 and its implications.