Up to 80,000 people in Australia may be affected by ‘sledgehammer’ powers to deport non-citizens to Nauru, lawyers warn

Greens senator David Shoebridge accused Tony Burke of doing his Peter Dutton impression, dog-whistling and punching down on migrants'

Up to 80,000 people in Australia may be affected by the Albanese government's proposed powers to strip basic legal protections from the non-citizens it plans to deport to Nauru, refugee lawyers warn.

The proposed federal powers, revealed last Wednesday, are expected to pass parliament this week with the Coalition's support at a snap two-hour committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday night.