Q: Former immigration detainee has been arrested and charged in Melbourne after allegedly charging at officers with a metal pole. He was released after that High Court ruling. Did your Government do enough to keep the community safe?

Anthony Albanese:

Well, the DPP charged the bloke. The Commonwealth DPP charged the bloke. We want people and we have introduced laws to ensure that that happens, but most importantly as well we have introduced laws – we want these people out of the country. But you can’t – you can’t override the High Court and that is just something that we have had to deal with. Peter Dutton would have had to deal with the same thing*

*This is true – it was a high court ruling which made indefinite detention illegal, because shock, horror – ministers and governments shouldn’t have the power to lock people up forever. That’s the court’s job (as a Queenslander I am very well across the separation of powers). This could have been avoided if at any time since 2007, either major party had a policy of what to do with asylum seekers and refugees who are unable to be returned to their country (because they face death, persecution, or are stateless) and have had their visas cancelled or rejected in Australia. It is also worth pointing out that if you are an Australian who commits a crime, no matter what crime that is, or how many times you have re-offended, you are released back into the community when your custodial sentence ends. Because that is how the law works.