The head of the nation's human rights watchdog has defended a decision that recommended a West Papuan refugee who killed his pregnant de facto wife be paid $350,000 in compensation.
The recommendation earned the ire of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who labelled the recommendation "pretty bizarre" while Immigration Minister Peter Dutton described it as "just offensive".
John Basikbasik complained to the Human Rights Commission that he had been wrongfully imprisoned by authorities after completing a jail sentence for manslaughter.
Since 2007, Mr Basikbasik has been held in immigration detention because successive government ministers refused to release him on the grounds he posed a danger to the community.
He has a history of violent crimes and breaching bail conditions that dates back to 1985 when he arrived in Australia by canoe.
Because he is a refugee, he cannot be deported to Indonesia.
The commission found his arbitrary detention was a breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and recommended his release.
Commission president Gillian Triggs, appearing before a Senate hearing in Canberra on Friday, said any fair-minded person would consider the proposed compensation amount was a reasonable one.
The compensation amount was calculated on a formula used by the Federal Court.
Prof Triggs said the government had not appealed against the commission's finding, which was its right.
Nor was it required to pay Mr Basikbasik any compensation, despite the commission's recommendation.
"They are almost never paid by the government," she said.
Liberal senator Linda Reynolds asked Prof Triggs about the rights of the Australian people to be protected from someone like Mr Basikbasik.
In response, the commission president said Mr Basikbasik had been detained without charge for eight years and there had been no proper assessment of alternative options.
Under questioning from Nationals senator Barry O'Sullivan, Prof Triggs admitted Mr Basikbasik's detention for the past eight years was lawful.
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