This week the government struggled to manage its response to the High Court’s landmark November ruling, that indefinite detention is illegal. 

As a result of the decision, about 150 non-citizens have been released from custody, and this week it emerged that four of them have allegedly reoffended since their release. This includes a former detainee and convicted multiple rapist who was arrested on an indecent assault charge, and another man, a registered sex offender, who was arrested on charges of contacting a child online. 

So how badly have Albanese and his ministers been damaged by this debacle? And does the mismanagement of this issue indicate broader incompetence within the government as it reaches the mid-point of its term? 

Chief political correspondent David Crowe and national affairs editor James Massola join Jacqueline Maley on Inside Politics.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.