MARK DREYFUS
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S SICKENING DOUBLE STANDARDS ON ALAN TUDGE
Attorney-General Christian Porter has today abandoned his responsibilities as the nation’s first law officer and supported the right of ministers to break the law.
A blistering Federal Court judgment yesterday found Immigration Minister Alan Tudge engaged in criminal conduct by unlawfully depriving a man of his liberty – in defiance of orders made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Federal Court.
The Federal Court held that Mr Tudge may have opened himself to “civil and potentially criminal sanctions”.
Ministers are meant to uphold and enforce the laws of Australia. Yesterday, the Federal Court found that this particular minister had deliberately broken Australian law. And now, in a sickening display of double standards, the Attorney-General has defended Mr Tudge’s law breaking by trying to brush it off as a matter of policy. In doing so, the Attorney-General has made it clear that he believes there is one law for ordinary Australians and another for Morrison Government ministers.
As Mr Morrison himself declared during the election campaign,
"Is there any wonder we're seeing people behave the way they are when you've got people in positions of authority saying the law doesn't matter?"
Scott Morrison, 8 May 2019
When the First Law Officer of Australia takes it upon himself to excuse a minister’s refusal to comply with the law, there is something very wrong in Australia.
It’s now clear that Mr Morrison and his ministers believe there are simply no laws, rules or standards that apply to them. This is now the third time Mr Tudge has been threatened with contempt of court in the last three years – and he is but one of at least four Morrison Government ministers who have been similarly threatened.
Whether it’s forging letters, rorting sports grants, refusing to cooperate with police investigations or the shocking Western Sydney Airport land deal, this is a government that is never accountable.
This is yet another reason why Australian needs an independent and transparent National Integrity Commission and we need it now.
THURSDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2020
