A fundamental duty of the Commonwealth Government is to keep Australians safe.
To say Prime Minister Albanese has failed his fundamental duty is an understatement. His Labor Government is being crushed under the weight of its own incompetence.
Mr Albanese leads a government that has not only put in place policies that have made Australians less safe - his government is actively making decisions that put Australians at risk.
Take the Ninette Simons assault – here in our home state of Western Australia.
Mr Albanese must explain to the Australian people how a released detainee allegedly assaulted Ninette Simmons, a Perth woman fighting cancer and, robbed her and her husband.
But the questions don’t stop there.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil must front up and explain how the system they put in place to “protect” the Australian people failed Ms Simons and her husband.
But they are proving nowhere to be seen.
If they cannot address this deeply serious matter, then they should do the honourable thing and resign. If they won’t resign the Prime Minister must finally show some leadership and ask them to go.
On the assault of Ninette Simons and her husband, both Ministers Giles and O'Neil need to answer the following:
Why did the Commonwealth not oppose bail when detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan appeared in court in February charged with failing to comply with his monitoring conditions?
Why wasn’t a preventative detention order made against Doukoshkan?
Was Doukoshkan wearing an ankle bracelet at the time of the alleged offence?
What other monitoring conditions were placed on Doukoshkan at the time of the alleged offence?
Allowing repeat offenders out on bail does nothing except enable them to reoffend, and places the community at risk.
The Ministers have been hiding from scrutiny on this issue. They now need to stand up and answer these questions and more.
Australians now have a Federal Labor Government that has released into the Australian community 151 hardcore criminals, including seven murderers, 37 sex offenders and 72 people who have committed very serious crimes.
At every stage of this sorry saga, Ministers Giles and O’Neil have failed to act to keep the Australian community safe. They have been hopeless and hapless for almost 12 months and sadly the Australian community are paying the price.
While Labor is busy dodging questions and pointing fingers at everyone except their own ministers, the Australian community is on high alert, worrying about when the next ex-detainee will re-offend and who they will target.
The alleged Girrawheen attacker, Mr Jamshidi Doukoshkan, was among the 151 non-citizen detainees released last year after the NZYQ High Court ruled last year that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.
AT the time of the attack he was not wearing an ankle bracelet – why?
The West has reported that just half of the ex-detainees who are out in the WA community have ankle monitors. And this was only revealed after Roger Cook’s office demanded information from the relevant federal agencies, as he too was left in the dark by Federal Labor.
The Prime Minister and his ministers’ handling of this situation tells you all you need to know about their priorities – and it is clear that community safety is not one.
Australians deserve better. They deserve straight answers, but this Government is hiding from questions that must be asked.
See my comments on Sky News here.
ALBANESE CHOOSES SENATE CONTEMPT OVER PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
And the secrecy and lack of responsibility by the Albanese Government continues.
Revelations of a secret manual distributed by the Prime Minister’s Office to departments instructing them how to avoid answering questions from the Senate is a new low from the Albanese Labor Government.
Scrutiny of the Government through Senate estimates is a foundation of our Parliament and democracy, and is recognised as a major institution of accountability. The value of Estimates hearings in providing accountability and integrity of government is clearly missed by the Albanese Labor Government who will do anything to ensure they aren’t held to account.
Extracts from the secret manual demonstrate clear acts of contempt for the Senate and break Prime Minister Albanese’s promises for greater transparency and accountability.
The Prime Minister has serious questions to answer about this document as to whether he has seen it, did he approve it and to whom has his office distributed it to?
This move by the Labor Government is a new low and shows flagrant disregard for the Senate, the practices of Australia’s parliament and the rights of Australians to see their government held to account. We should also fully expect the Senate to demand answers in regard to the flagrant demonstration of contempt.
Prime Minister Albanese would be wise to retract this document and transparently answer questions – avoiding doing so will only be endorsing its contents.
UNIONS BACKING ANTI-SEMITISM
Since the barbaric acts of terrorism by Hamas in Israel on October 7 last year we have seen an unprecedented rise of anti-Semitism. Our Australian Jewish community remains frightened.
Last week the ACTU’s anti-Israel stance was on display again as it continued to draw a false equivalence between the barbaric acts of terrorism by Hamas and Israel’s right to defend itself.
While the Albanese Government should not take advice from the ACTU, experience indicates they probably will.
The ACTU’s anti-Israeli rhetoric was particularly disappointing as it was delivered just as the important Jewish celebration of Passover began.
But Australians of Jewish faith are not alone. The opposition will continue to call out and condemn anti-Semitism wherever and whenever we see it on our soil.
All Australians must stand against age-old, enduring and shape-shifting anti-Semitism – not only because it’s an attack on one segment of our community, but because anti-Semitism is an attack on the Australian achievement, our way of life, and civilisation itself.
The Coalition will always speak up with moral courage and provide moral clarity. We will distinguish the lawful from the lawless, differentiate civilisation from barbarism, and discern the good from the evil.
We have so much to celebrate, commemorate and be proud of in this great nation of ours – Anzac Day is a very clear reminder of this each year.
It is up to all of us to stand up for the values and way of life that our ancestors fought and died for.
Read more in my latest op-ed in the West here.
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