Australia proposes new laws to detain potentially dangerous migrants who can’t be deported

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government has proposed new laws that would place behind bars some of the 141 migrants who have been set free in the three weeks since the High Court ruled their indefinite detention was unconstitutional. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said on Wednesday Parliament would not end sittings for the year as scheduled next week unless new laws were enacted to allow dangerous migrants to be detained. In 2021, the High Court upheld a law that can keep extremists in prison for up to three years after they have served their sentences if they continue to pose a danger. O’Neil says the government intends to extend the preventative detention concept beyond terrorism to crimes including pedophilia.