Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has been accused of sitting on her hands for six weeks after learning critical offshore processing laws had expired.
Ms O’Neil revealed in Question Time this week she only learned legislation designating Nauru as a regional processing centre had lapsed on December 15.
A document obtained by Sky News Australia shows Ms O’Neil did not fulfil an obligation to inform the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees of its intention to relist Nauru until six weeks later on January 27.
Ms O’Neil told Parliament on Wednesday she first learned the legislation had lapsed “late in the evening” of December 15 and the Prime Minister’s Office was informed “immediately” after.
At that stage the laws had been out of action for two months.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews blasted Ms O’Neil for the “oversight”, declaring it had been “jolly lucky” no boats had arrived while the legislation had lapsed.
“I thought it was appalling yesterday when she introduced this legislation to the house that she didn’t do a mea culpa … it clearly is a mistake on her part,” she told Sky News Australia.
“This is Operation Sovereign Borders and this is a key pillar.
“She left a pretty big loophole there and she is jolly lucky that two boats we know of that were on their way here were able to be turned back.”
In the document tabled in Parliament late on Wednesday, Ms O’Neil wrote:
“On 27 January 2023, I wrote to the UNHCR High Commissioner Mr Filippo Grandi, and sought UNHCR’s views on the designation of Nauru as a regional processing country under section 198AB of the Migration Act 1958 (the Act).”
Ms O’Neil said her office and Department of Home Affairs officials spoke with UN representatives in Canberra on February 3, regarding the relisting of Nauru as the regional processing centre.
She received a formal response the next day on February 4.
“I acknowledge High Commissioner Grandi’s response, and echo that the past decade has proven challenging and has, sometimes, tested the important partnership that UNHCR and Australia share,” Ms O’Neil wrote.
“Yet, like High Commissioner Grandi, I am also confident that we can surmount these challenges and likewise welcome ongoing positive and constructive engagement with the UNHCR.”
Senior Labor sources levelled blame at the Home Affairs department over the lapse in legislation, saying they had “dropped the ball” in notifying the minister.
They said there was no opportunity to rectify the issue until the first sitting week of 2023, which is why Commissioner Grandi wasn’t alerted by Ms O’Neil until after Christmas.
Ms Andrews asked Anthony Albanese in Question Time on Wednesday why the issue hadn’t been dealt with on December 15, considering Parliament had been recalled that day for a special sitting to pass legislation to bring down soaring energy prices.
Ms O’Neil later told the lower house her opposition counterpart had already been “informed” the lapsed legislation had not been flagged with the government until late in the evening on December 15 and after parliament had risen for the year – an assertion Ms Andrews strongly refutes is “not true”.
It is understood Ms Andrews was briefed on the lapse in legislation on Monday, but was told “late December” rather than a specific date.
The bungle has sparked claims from the Coalition that the four-month absence of the instrument had exposed Australia to significant risk, but the government argues the lapse had “no impact” on Operation Sovereign Borders.
The instrument, which was reinstated on Tuesday afternoon, streamlines powers that exist across many pieces of legislation and allows for offshore detention on the island.
A spokesman for Ms O’Neil said a regional processing country must be designated every 10 years.
“There has been no impact on Operation Sovereign Borders or on the cases of the people who are currently on Nauru.”
Source: Sky News