Journalist Olivia Caisley during a press conference at Parliament House on Wednesday.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Caisley tried to interrupt with a follow-up question – a common practice for reporters – and Dreyfus snapped. “Do not interrupt! I will not be apologising ... for acting in accordance with a High Court decision. Your question is an absurd one,” he said.
O’Neil could then be heard muttering:“OK,I think we will move on here”.
Caisley has tangled with senior politicians before.
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Earlier this year,former prime minister Paul Keating snapped at her “because I have a brain” when she asked him why he was certain that China was not a threat to Australia’s national interest.
Giles said the government had already begun preparing applications to return high-risk offenders to custody once the new laws pass.
“I will work firstly with the officials of the Commonwealth and then with the states,to ensure that we are prepared for every high-risk offender,to make sure that we can get the best application in as quickly as possible,” he said.
“I’m really disappointed at the contribution of the Greens on this. Because this is not a novel concept. We already have a preventative detention regime that deals with high-risk terrorist offenders.
“And I would say here the risk is clearer because we’re dealing with people who have already committed offences,and serious offences.”
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