Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil allowed pivotal legislation which provides Nauru with the power to process refugees to lapse and failed to inform the UN for six weeks.
Ms O'Neil revealed in Question Time this week she only learned legislation designating Nauru as a regional processing centre had lapsed on December 15.
Ms O'Neil told Parliament on Wednesday she first learned the legislation had lapsed"late in the evening" of December 15 and the Prime Minister's Office was informed"immediately" after.Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews blasted Ms O’Neil for the “oversight”, declaring it had been “jolly lucky” no boats had arrived while the legislation had lapsed.
Senior Labor sources levelled blame at the Home Affairs department over the lapse in legislation, saying they had"dropped the ball" in notifying the minister. Ms O'Neil later told the lower house her opposition counterpart had already been “informed” the lapsed legislation had not been flagged with the government until late in the evening on December 15 and after parliament had risen for the year - an assertion Ms Andrews strongly refutes is “not true”.
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