Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has rejected calls for her resignation after an elderly couple was allegedly assaulted by a freed immigration detainee during a home invasion.

Western Australian police say a trio bashed Ninette Simmons, 73, and tied up her 76-year-old husband Philip while they stole $200,000 in jewellery.

One of the alleged perpetrators was part of a cohort of immigration detainees at the centre of a federal political fight.

The 43-year-old man was one of 154 men released from immigration detention in November after the High Court ruled indefinite detention was unlawful.

Ms O’Neil dismissed calls from the coalition for her resignation following the incident, saying they were “disappointing.”

“If I had this simple power to put him back into detention, I would do it in a heartbeat,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program on Wednesday.

“What I would like to see is for the opposition and the government to work together to manage a legal change made by the High Court of this country.”

Ms O’Neil expressed sympathy for the Perth couple following the assault and said steps were in place to monitor the released detainees following the High Court ruling.

“This particular individual and others like him were kept in immigration by our government, but the High Court of Australia made a decision last year which required us to remove those people from detention,” she said.

“The safest thing for the community is for that individual and others like him to be in immigration detention, and when I had the power to maintain the situation, I did, all these people were detained.”  “

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has offered to speak with the couple about the situation.

Noting he was limited in what he could say about a case before the court, Mr Andrew Giles said he had spoken to the WA police minister about the case.

“How we can better support the victims, including if they wish to speak to me directly to reiterate that’s something that I’m very keen to do … if … that’s of interest to them,” he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

The government has been given the power to apply to put a detainee back behind bars, even if they hadn’t committed a crime, if they are ruled to be too high a risk to community safety.

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said the government had not done enough to protect the community.

“Where was this man’s ankle bracelet, where was his electronic monitoring that (Ms O’Neil) promised?” she asked on Seven’s Sunrise program.

“Quite frankly, the Westminster system of ministerial responsibility and accountability says if things go wrong in your department, it is your fault.”

This post was originally published on Michael West.