Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It is appalling and reprehensible that misconduct of a grievous type seems to have taken place at this centre. It is absolutely appalling that this has happened and we are working with the government of Nauru, which runs the centre, to try to ensure that this kind of thing is appropriately dealt with, that it is punished and that it never happens again. That is what we are doing. That is why, as the minister for immigration and border protection made crystal clear on Friday, we have accepted all 19 recommendations of the Moss review.

Let me deal with the issue of children in detention. No-one wants to see children in detention. There were children in detention under the former Howard government, but because the Howard government stopped the boats, the children left detention. There were no children in immigration detention when the Howard government left office.

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