Australia news LIVE: Labor grapples with immigration crisis; Albanese calls Zelensky ahead of Ukraine peace summit

Question time is now over, but there was one more interesting titbit immediately after the end of the session, with Independent MP Allegra Spender raising an issue with Speaker Milton Dick that was first flagged by fellow Teal MP Monique Ryan during the debate yesterday.

Ryan accused the Coalition of “dog-whistling”, which is when politicians use suggestive language to imply a further meaning to a statement, by mentioning the nationality of foreign-born criminals when posing questions about the AAT decisions made under direction 99.

Both Ryan and Spender suggest that it’s not necessary to specifically mention the nationality when discussing the cases.

But Dick says there is no precedent of there being a problem with including nationalities when discussing particular cases in debate. Dick says he wouldn’t make a “blanket ruling”, but would consider future instances in questions.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused the opposition of going down a “dry gully” with their accusation that he was lobbied by the New Zealand government to put in place ministerial direction 99.

Coalition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan asks if Albanese changed the ministerial direction after a meeting with New Zealand leaders on July 8, 2022.

Another back-and-forth takes place on whether Albanese is being relevant before the prime minister gives his full answer:

If the minister or the former minister or anyone who had been involved in any process at international levels thinks that you sit down and you go through directions in ministerial guidelines, you are just wrong. You are just completely wrong.

Direction 90, 79 and 65 all said that Australia may afford a higher level of tolerance for people based upon how long they had been in Australia. The premise of this dry gully that the opposition is going down is completely wrong.”

Another back and forth on direction 99 has taken over the chamber, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton argue about whether Albanese is being relevant to the question.

Nationals MP Kevin Hogan asks Albanese if he received advice that “your direction 99 would result in more criminals having to stay in Australia”?

Albanese begins his answer by saying that the question is more appropriate for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, who is the one who made the direction. Groans erupt again from across the house.

Dutton again argues to Speaker of the House Milton Dick that Albanese is not being relevant. Leader of the House Tony Burke rises to dispute Dutton.

“The challenge is always there when the question is directed to the wrong minister that refers to a specific direction that has been signed off by a different minister,” Burke argues.

Dutton challenges this preposition: “The reason that the leader of the House is speaking in error, I am sure innocently, but leading to the same outcome, nonetheless, is the prime minister was the architect of direction 99 – he did it as a commitment to Jacinda Ardern … he has put our country at risk.”

Dutton is cut off by Dick, who says he will make sure Albanese is relevant to the question.

Albanese says the “premise of the question is wrong” and then attacks Dutton for issuing “directions that resulted in almost 1300 hard-core criminals being released from immigration detention centres”.

For the next question, Giles is asked this time if direction 99 was his initiative, to which Giles simply says: “Yes.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia determined its own policy when it came to direction 99, rebutting the Coalition’s line of argument that Albanese was overtly influenced by former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern in implementing the direction.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley asks if Albanese implemented “direction 99 at the request of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern”.

Albanese begins his answer by thanking Ley for “his question” before correcting himself and saying “her question”.

Albanese continues:

What we do is we determine our own policy according [to] our own interests and that is what we have done, and indeed, the request publicly from New Zealand was to remove section 501 [of the Migration Act], we did not do that.

We have created a pathway for better citizenship for New Zealand people who have been here … and I am pleased that, indeed, 20,000-plus Kiwis now call themselves Australian citizens as well.”

Dutton rises on a point of order, arguing Albanese was not being relevant, but Speaker of the House Milton Dick finds Albanese is being relevant.

Albanese finishes his answer, quipping that when Dutton was immigration minister he allowed criminal visa-holders to stay in the country.

The house has erupted from all sides of parliament, after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton asked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about what Dutton called his “close and sycophantic relationship with Jacinda Ardern”, suggesting this would be the focus of the Coalition’s question time attacks.

Dutton asks: “Direction 99 was created as a result of the prime minister’s meeting with former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern in July of 2022. Why did this weak and incompetent prime minister put his close and sycophantic relationship with Jacinda Ardern ahead of the safety of Australians?”

Immediately, members of the Labor Party shout with outrage, as Speaker of the House Milton Dick attempts to quieten the chamber.

Albanese begins his answer by accusing Dutton of having “anger [and] abuse” in one question.

The shouting and heckling begins again, and Dutton argues the prime minister was not being relevant. Speaker of the House Tony Burke responds to this, rising and saying Dutton’s question “is so full of abuses against standing order 90 and a reflection on members”.

“It is completely unreasonable for the leader of the opposition to be so precious that he cannot take any criticism in return,” Burke argues.

Albanese then continues his answer, referring to examples of criminals who were released when Dutton was in charge as home affairs minister.

“1300 hard-core criminals were released from immigration detention centres, 1300, not because of a decision of the High Court, not because of a decision of the High Court, but on his [Dutton’s] watch,” Albanese said.

Question time has begun and Coalition spokesman for immigration Dan Tehan has asked Immigration Minister Andrew Giles if he was informed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese there would be changes to Australia’s immigration laws for New Zealand before Albanese told then-New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

Tehan says before the House of Representatives: “Was the minister [Giles] informed by the prime minister before the prime minister advised the New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, that he would weaken our immigration laws to allow criminals to stay in Australia?”

Giles rises and appears confused by the question, saying “no one can accept the premise” of Tehan’s question.

“I do not quite know what the shadow minister is wanting me to answer. What I can say is this – in putting in place ministerial direction [99], I had regard to our national interest and common sense, including the protection of the Australian community, and that was the advice that I was given,” Giles says as the opposition groans at his answer.

Question time begins at 2pm in the House of Representatives.

Watch the session below, and follow along as we bring you live updates:

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has lashed out at ABC 7.30′s chief political correspondent Laura Tingle, accusing her of not being balanced.

Speaking on 2GB’s Ray Hadley program this morning, Dutton said it was “comical” that Tingle told the Sydney Writers’ Festival that Australia is a racist country.

“Laura Tingle’s outed herself now as somebody who is a partisan, she’s a Greens/Labor supporter. She is political in nature and therefore her credibility as a journalist really is shot,” he said.

“She’s just now completely destroyed her credibility, but they’ll keep her on because that’s what happens at the ABC. But as I say, I think it’s comical, and you just let them play their games.”

Acting Speaker of the house Scott Buchholz – who is a member of the Liberal Party – has been caught out on a hot mic swearing in frustration while shuffling paperwork.

Earlier this morning in the House of Representatives, Buchholz was chairing and called the clerk, Claressa Surtees, to open a second reading of the NDIS amendment.

While Surtees was speaking, Buchholz could be heard muttering under his breath “f— me” twice, appearing not to realise his microphone was still on.

Members of the chamber appeared not to notice and carried on speaking.

Watch the moment below:

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has revealed the government has turned to using drones to track people released from immigration detention following last year’s High Court decision.

Giles revealed the operational tactic during an interview with Sky News earlier today after he was asked about the limited use of electronic monitors on former detainees who had served sentences for murder, sexual offences and domestic violence.

He said the government had increased the budgets of federal agencies handling the High Court fallout by $250,000 to be able to boost the monitoring of the cohort, even if no electronic monitoring was applied to certain individuals.

“And that’s enabled things like using drones to keep track of those people we know,” he said.

Read more on the ex-immigration detainee saga here.