PETER VAN ONSELEN: If Anthony Albanese is too weak to sack his best mate Andrew Giles for letting serial rapists stay in Australia then HE'S the one who should go
If Anthony Albanese won't do his job and sack his wildly incompetent Immigration Minister then his party should find a new prime minister who will.
Andrew Giles changed immigration laws so that violent criminals including child rapists could stay in Australia if they have close ties to the community.
When the change of policy blew up in his face, Giles started playing the blame game: It's the Home Affairs Department's fault, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal's (AAT) fault.
It is anyone's fault but his apparently.
Before Labor changed the law, criminals were deported. Now they claim community and family ties and get to stay. And not for stealing a loaf of bread, just to be clear.
Immigration minister Andrew Giles (pictured) introduced laws that allow vile criminals to stay in Australia by claiming they have ties to the community
Under pressure: Anthony Albanese (pictured) needs to show that he puts the country first and a mate second, by sacking his immigration minister
A serial rapist who attacked two dozen women and a child - showing no remorse either - gets to stay. A four-time child rapist - who videoed his prey - has been allowed to stay, based on Giles' rule change.
A Sudanese migrant has self-identified as an Aboriginal and used Giles' ridiculous rules to get around his criminal acts, allowing him to dodge deportation.
The examples of such abuse of the system Labor introduced now number over 30, with more expected to be uncovered in the days, weeks and months to come.
The situation we are in is a joke.
Until the PM sacks Giles, Labor MPs such as Home Affairs minister Clare O'Neil will be forced to keep giving embarrassing performances like the one she turned in on Channel Seven's Sunrise program this morning.
O'Neil was left speechless as host Natalie Barr reeled off the rap-sheet of offenders permitted to stay courtesy of Giles' rules change, before trying to defend the indefensible.
Reforms are needed and Giles must go, it's that simple.
Giles says that he was ignorant of decisions made by his department. Great, so his best case scenario is that he is incompetent. As if we didn't already know that.
Playing the political blame game can't save Giles, and it won't save Albanese if he keeps playing politics rather than acting in the national interest.
This absurd system has now been in place for over a year. It started because Albo wanted to cosy up to then New Zealand leader Jacinta Ardern, to show what a more loveable Australian PM he was compared to Scott Morrison.
When Albo defeated Scott Morrison in 2022 his mantra was 'ending the blame game'. Yet the blame game seems to be all that the Albanese Government is prepared to do.
Thanks for your support! Home Affairs minister Clare O'Neil (pictured right) shreds her credibility defending her colleague Andrew Giles (pictured left)
So who is the AAT member who followed Giles' legislative orders by letting a child rapist stay in the country because of family ties? None other than former Labor Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anna Burke (pictured)
It isn't good enough.
Blaming the AAT is especially ridiculous, given that after winning office the new Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus, made the biggest of deals about the need to overhaul it by kicking out Liberal appointments and welcoming in new names. Two years on how is that going?
So who is the AAT member who followed Giles' legislative orders by letting a child rapist stay in the country because of family ties? None other than former Labor Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anna Burke. Albeit appointed by the Coalition.
To be fair, she isn't alone. That's because the AAT is required to follow Direction 99: Giles' edict that ties to Australia outrank criminal conduct when it comes to deciding who stays and who gets deported.
Blaming the AAT for following the minister's directive must be especially galling to its members.
Giles and Albo are the best of friends - and putting their friendship ahead of Australians' safety isn't good enough.
If the PM is too weak to sack his friend then reshuffle the ministry right now. Replace Giles with a serious minister in the immigration portfolio. Relegate Giles to minister for clipping Albo's toenails, or some real-world equally irrelevant portfolio.
Promote the immigration portfolio into cabinet to show that Albanese recognises its importance, and the policy failures to date that need fixing.
Change the legislation that prioritises community ties over vile crimes as the guiding principle for who stays and who gets deported. A rule change Labor put in place.
Worrying that sacking his mate would give Opposition Leader Peter Dutton a political win misses the point. A PM can't protect an incompetent minister to simply save face.
Partisan politics aside, the Opposition is right demanding Giles go.
If Albo won't do it they are right to call for his head too. He'll have proven himself not up to the tough job of being PM.
This parliamentary sitting week was supposed to be all about selling the Budget. Cashing in on the cash Labor splashed around ahead of a possible early election.
Instead Giles' downright incompetence has been front and centre, and rightly leading Australians to question if the PM has the ticker to do what is right by them.
Labor's Ed Husic (pictured) had some home truths for the Treasurer. Perhaps he'd be a strong leader willing to sack Andrew Giles?
And it is worth noting that the debacle we are bearing witness to is happening at the same time the NSW Labor right flexes its muscle. Cabinet minister Ed Husic has flagged the need to lower company taxes, something Treasurer Jim Chalmers simply hasn't done.
This is a reminder that there are still some cooler heads in team Labor, capable of running the show the way the successful Hawke and Keating governments of the 1980s and 90s did.
Ready, willing and able to do so if Albo can't find the strength to lead.
