Dan Jervis-Bardy: Anthony Albanese can’t absolve himself from detainee decisions

Among Anthony Albanese’s many pre-election promises was a pledge to take responsibility. To show up, rather than shy away. To own up, rather than deflect. It seems a basic expectation of a would-be prime minister but Mr Albanese went out of his way to emphasise it in order to separate himself from Scott Morrison, a leader who, in his own words, didn’t “hold a hose, mate”. Mr Albanese set a standard for accountability against which his actions in the nation’s top job would be judged. His response to his Government’s handling of Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan — the ex-immigration detainee now charged in connection with the bashing of Perth grandmother Ninette Simons — has failed to meet that standard. To briefly recap. Mr Doukoshkan was among the 152 non-citizens released into the community after the High Court ruled immigration detention to be unlawful. The 43-year-old was not wearing an ankle monitoring device at the time of the alleged attack after the Commonwealth’s community protection board advised it wasn’t required. Mr Albanese has attempted to absolve himself and his ministers of that decision, first by claiming the board was independent and then by implying it actually makes decisions itself. Neither of those point are true. The board is not independent: Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil admitted as much on Monday. And the board does not make decisions: it provides advice to the Immigration Minister and Home Affairs officials. Labor is correct when it says the High Court ruling that set off this saga was outside its control. But from that moment on the Federal Government has been in control — ultimately responsible for everything from which detainees are fitted with GPS trackers to how Commonwealth prosecutors approach bail applications. It is entirely appropriate and legally sound that experts have been brought in to offer advice and decisions delegated to departmental officials. This is what a responsible government does. But for Mr Albanese to suggest he and his ministers are somehow divorced from those decisions is disingenuous in the extreme. It’s also a breach of his pre-election promise.