Government wins crucial High Court detainee case

Begin with breaking news in a High Court judgement the government had been sweating on. An Iranian man has lost his bid for freedom from immigration detention after refusing to cooperate with attempts to deport him straight to Eliza Edwards, who’s at the High Court in Canberra. Eliza, talk us through this judgment. Well, Jane, this time the High Court has ruled unanimously in the government’s favour, rejecting a bid for freedom from an Iranian man known as ASF 17, who isn’t cooperating with efforts to deport him and hasn’t been found to be owed protection. His lawyers have argued he should be released from immigration detention after the court found in November that it’s unlawful to keep people locked up indefinitely if there’s no reasonable chance of them ever being deported. That triggered the release of 150 detainees, some with serious criminal histories. But in the case of AS F-17, the High Court justices found today that he is capable of providing the assistance to remove him and has been found to not have a genuine fear of persecution. In Iran, that is. The court did not buy his story. Here was the Prime Minister speaking ahead of that judgment this morning. Governments need to have the capacity for people who have no right to stay in Australia, have exhausted their legal processes. Who’ve been found not to have any right to stay here shouldn’t be just allowed to self nominate in staying here. Jane After was caught off guard by November’s High Court loss. The government had laws, has laws ready to go to make it easier to deport people. That legislation will be back before the Parliament next week, but the Greens are arguing today that that move is even more unjustified after today’s High Court ruling. Jane Eliza, thank you.