The Albanese government has been accused of blaming "independent, impartial public servants" for decisions that have sparked calls for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to resign, as it forces hundreds of tribunal members to reapply for their jobs.
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Mr Giles continued to defend his position on Thursday, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hit back at criticisms of a deal with New Zealand to stop deporting foreign nationals who have spent decades in Australia.
After days of Mr Albanese insisting the Administrative Appeals Tribunal had made the wrong call when it cited a ministerial direction to overturn visa cancellations of serial rapists and other criminals, Opposition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson blasted the government for scapegoating bureaucrats.
"They have tried to implicate independent, taxpayer-funded public servants in a grubby political hit," Senator Paterson told Sky on Thursday. "A drowning man does dumb things."
Mr Giles continued to fend off calls for him to resign over Direction 99, which the AAT has cited when overturning visa cancellations of foreign nationals convicted of violent offences.
Mr Albanese defended the creation of Direction 99 after then New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden lobbied him to stop exporting criminals who had spent most of their lives in Australia.
"We determine our own policy according with our own interests," he told the Parliament, noting that Ms Arden had pushed for the removal of section 501 of the Migration Act, which enables visas to be cancelled on character grounds.
In response to attacks from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during Question Time, Mr Albanese rattled off a list of British criminals who had been released from immigration detention on the former Home Affairs minister's watch.
Mr Giles said when asked why he still had his job: "There's so much work to do to clean up the mess, to rebuild a migration system that was left in tatters" under Mr Dutton.
Speaking to ABC radio, the minister promised his revamped direction would make sure community safety was paramount, and reminded listeners of the revelation by Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster that the department had not kept him informed of the AAT cases.
Senator Paterson said the fact the minister had now opted to change Direction 99 showed the government should have known it was bad policy.
![Anthony Albanese stands by his decision to change immigration rules to stop foreign nationals with strong ties to Australia from being deported. Picture by Keegan Carroll Anthony Albanese stands by his decision to change immigration rules to stop foreign nationals with strong ties to Australia from being deported. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/234480217/fb5b21b8-1708-4c6c-ae51-7e2cd7bac0eb.jpg/r776_276_4881_2394_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Almost 300 AAT decision makers will soon have to reapply for their jobs and have their suitability to serve as members of the new Administrative Review Tribunal assessed by an independent panel.
It is understood that almost three-quarters of the current members face an uncertain future, as they were appointed before the government introduced the panel in December 2022.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who has final say on appointments, said the new ART would restore "trust and confidence in Australia's system of administrative review".
Members appointed by the previous Coalition government include AAT Deputy President Stephen Boyle, who made the decision to reinstate the visa of a Sudanese man who previously terrorised a woman and two strangers in Canberra, and is now in custody facing murder charges in Brisbane.
Other Coalition appointees - who took their places right before the 2022 federal election - are former NSW Liberal MP Pru Goward, former Coalition staffers Cheryl Cartwright and Kate Chapple, and former Liberal Western Australian MPs Michael Mischin and Peter Katsambanis.
Should they fail to persuade the board to appoint them to the ART, their five-year terms will be cut short by almost three years.