Labor accused of rushing through ‘Trump-style’ migration bills to appear tough on border security

Labor has been accused of rushing through a controversial “Trump-style” trio of migration Bills to outflank the Coalition as the champions of tough border controls ahead of next year’s election.

A Government deal with the Coalition is expected to ensure the passage of laws granting new powers to pay third countries to receive non-citizens, criminal penalties for non-citizens who refuse to facilitate their own deportation and strict curbs on phones in immigration detention centres.

The Bills could pass as early as Wednesday evening, chalking up another legislative win for Labor but also laying it open to criticism it is sacrificing human rights in a bid to neutralise a key Coalition election strategy to attack the Government as weak on immigration.

The Coalition has already signalled migration will be front and centre of its electoral platform, tapping into public anxieties over crime and that high migration figures are contributing to the nation’s housing crisis.

On Wednesday, shadow home affairs and immigration ministers, James Paterson and Dan Tehan, were already on the attack, slamming the Government’s record on immigration, border protection and community safety.

The Coalition was already “basically running the immigration system for the Government because they have failed to deliver it themselves,” said Mr Tehan.

Mr Paterson added the Coalition had “negotiated in good faith with the Government” to ensure the safety of Australians.

“(We) will not allow their mess and incompetence when it comes to community safety and national security to harm the Australian public any more than it already has,” he said.

Within the suite of measures is the Migration Bill, which reinforces the Government’s ability to negotiate deals with third countries to pay them to accept deportees, and also protects it from civil lawsuits linked to these decisions.

It was introduced by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in early November, after the High Court ruled it unlawful to force former immigration detainees to wear ankle bracelets and adhere to curfews.

It permits the reinstatement of monitoring conditions to those deemed to pose a risk to the community.

Under another plank of the legislation, the Immigration Minister would be granted powers to direct a non-citizen to face deportation at risk of a minimum of 12 months and up to five years in prison for non-compliance.

The Bill would also open the way for the Government to ban new visa applications from countries that do not accept involuntary removals from Australia.

The Albanese Government watched how Donald Trump punched down on migrants in the US election campaign and instead of rejecting those politics, they are embracing them.

The Coalition on Wednesday said it had won two concessions to “sunset” the power to ban applications from a specific country on these grounds after three years. The minister must also supply a list of reasons for a decision to impose the ban.

A third prohibited items Bill to allow immigration detention officers to confiscate items they deem dangerous, including mobile phones, is also proving contentious.

Immigration minister Tony Burke justified the move to crack down on “using encrypted messaging services to run drug trafficking and other organised crime activities.”

But rights advocates have warned that phones are vital lines of communication, as well as tools to enforce accountability on conditions inside centres.

The Greens, who will vote against the package, accused the Government of working hand in hand with the Coalition to push through the “most extreme anti-migrant and anti-refugee policies Australia has seen in a generation.”

Immigration spokesperson David Shoebridge said the new legislation would put up to 80,000 people at risk of deportation to third countries, where they would have no legal protection.

He also denounced the “Trump-style travel ban” that would allow the Government to prevent anyone from certain countries from entering Australia, which could place “permanent barriers” between diaspora communities and their extended families.

“The Albanese Government watched how Donald Trump punched down on migrants in the US election campaign and instead of rejecting those politics, they are embracing them,” he said.

Advocacy groups and human rights lawyers have criticised the lack of transparency over which third countries the government plans to approach to accept deportees and have promised legal challenges against the new legislation.

Refugee Council of Australia CEO Paul Power raised the alarm over a “rushed and reckless” approach that had given “no thought to the disastrous impact they would have on tens of thousands of people across Australia.”

Some have suggested the Government is trying to get ahead of a fear campaign in the run up to the election, and that innocent families would be ripped apart as a result.

“This is not what multicultural refugee and migrant communities have voted for. We voted for a Labor government that was going to find some compassion, some humanity, some decency, and protect our multiculturalism and protect refugees and migrants,” Asylum Seeker Resource Centre CEO Kon Karapanagiotidis said.

“But they are so desperate for a few grubby votes that they’re selling out an entire community just as a hope that it’s going to win them the next election,” he said. “And refugee migrant communities will not forget this when it comes to the ballot box.”