Australia Passes Preventive Detention Laws Amid Controversy

New laws give judges power to cancel citizenship of serious offenders and detain non-citizens, sparking criticism from various groups.

Australian government passes preventive detention laws allowing judges to cancel the citizenship of serious offenders and to detain some non-citizens released by the high court ruling on indefinite detention.
The new laws have drawn criticism from various groups including the Greens, crossbench MPs, and refugee and asylum seeker advocates who warn it will create a parallel legal system.
The citizenship repudiation bill allows judges to remove dual nationals’ Australian citizenship at sentencing for offences including terrorism, espionage and foreign interference.
Under the preventive detention regime, courts can order non-citizens convicted of serious violent or sexual offences who cannot be deported to successive terms of three years in detention.
Three of the 148 people released after the high court’s decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful have been rearrested for alleged offences.