Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, I present the committee's report entitled Public Works on Christmas Island.

In accordance with standing order 39(f) the report was made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—The main objective of the committee's visit to Christmas Island was to inspect public works on the island that have been approved in the recent past or are to be referred to the committee in the near future, and to receive updates and briefings about particular projects with a view to reporting back to parliament. The committee has noted the increase in population on Christmas Island, particularly due to irregular maritime arrivals and the Commonwealth agency staff dealing with those arrivals, and sought reassurance that public infrastructure development and investment is keeping pace with need.

The Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government has established the Christmas Island new housing program which aims to provide approximately 40 dwellings to accommodate additional essential Commonwealth agency staff on Christmas Island. This will enable housing currently leased on the private rental market to be released for use by the Christmas Island community. Project 1 of the program is currently underway, with projects 2 and 3 to be referred to the committee in the near future as they come within our competence and purview. The committee is pleased with the progress of this project and appreciates the efforts of departmental officials in keeping the committee informed and updated.

The committee inspected the island's wastewater treatment plant which is currently being upgraded so that it has the capacity to meet current and future demands. The committee was satisfied that the wastewater treatment plant upgrade is necessary to meet the island's needs. However, there were two key aspects of the plant that concerned the committee. My deputy on the committee will talk more about that when he makes his contribution. The concerns were the discharge of treated water and the disposal of sludge. Both relate to the security of the island's freshwater supply. The committee seeks reassurance from all relevant authorities that treated wastewater is not entering the freshwater supply on the island. The committee seeks reassurance from all relevant authorities that adequate measures are taken to ensure that contaminants from sludge are not entering the freshwater supply on the island. The committee also inspected the three immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island, namely North-west Point, Construction Camp and Phosphate Hill. The committee recommends that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship review existing medical facilities and services at the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre at North-west Point, with a view to ensuring that all residents have full access to all medical services in an appropriate and suitable medical centre environment.

It was immediately obvious to the committee that the medical facility at the Construction Camp detention centre is far too small and not fit for purpose. The committee recommends that a fit-for-purpose medical centre be designed and constructed for the Construction Camp detention centre. Design must be completed in consultation with detention centre management, medical staff and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's Health Advisory Group.

The committee also found the existing facilities at the Australian Federal Police headquarters to be inadequate, sub-standard and not fit for purpose. The committee understands that the Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government has recognised that a new AFP headquarters is a priority need. The committee recommends that the Australian government move to construct new headquarters for the AFP on Christmas Island as a most urgent priority.

After coming back from Christmas Island and preparing this report with the secretariat, the Deputy Chair of the Public Works Committee, the honourable member for Mallee, and I met with the respective ministers concerning immigration and police, Ministers Bowen and O'Connor—we were not able to meet Minister Crean—and we talked to them about the issues before we presented our report. We also have had good cooperation from the department.

In closing, I would like to thank the Deputy Chair, the honourable member for Mallee, and the former Deputy Chair, Senator the Hon. Judith Troeth for their commitment to this visit and subsequent report. The deputy had previously visited Christmas Island some time ago and was very helpful to me on that visit. For their advice and assistance with our visit I especially thank the Christmas Island Administrator, the Christmas Island Shire Council, and officials from the Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. I further thank the committee secretariat, particularly Anthony Overs and Thomas Gregory who accompanied the committee to Christmas Island. I commend the report to the House.

John Forrest (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—thank you for the opportunity to support the member for Page. What the public do not see are the numerous amount of parliamentary committees that beaver away in the public interest—the Public Works Committee is one that I am immensely proud of having served on it for some time—ensuring that taxpayers' money is properly and well spent and there is good value for money.

Christmas Island over the years has seen the investment of massive amounts of Commonwealth funding with parliamentary approval via the public works process, so it was a good opportunity to visit and recap on some of those projects. I have had concerns for some time that Christmas Island was under enormous pressure in terms of its public infrastructure—that is, power supply, water supply, sewerage treatment, medical health and all those sorts of things. A lot of people do not appreciate the need for these things because latterly they think that all that happens at Christmas Island is the detention of people seeking asylum. In fact, for 100 years Christmas Island has been a major area for the production of fertiliser and that continues to be undertaken on Christmas Island although there is some uncertainty about its ongoing future.

Most of the activity and presence of Australians on Christmas Island now is to do with department of immigration activity. I was really pleased to have an opportunity to visit the island along with the chair of the committee, the member for Page. A concern that continues to worry me though is the water supply and I continue to quote Julius Caesar who always said the first thing to secure is the water supply. If you secure the water supply for the citadel, you ensure its ongoing security.

Christmas Island as a limestone island has a water supply from the tropical rainforest stored underground naturally and this is then extracted for public use. I was a little alarmed to discover that the end result of the sewerage treatment plant, which the Public Works Committee approved in the last parliament, is sludge. It is a solid waste that needs to be disposed of. The most convenient place to dispose of it is on the top of this reservoir of water storage, a limestone ridge at the peak of the landfill site on Christmas Island. So the report quite rightly asked for this matter to be reviewed. All the questions the committee asked whilst on the island received a vacant response as to whether the water supply was secure. That is something that the committee very strongly feels needs to be reviewed immediately.

I will finish my remarks by thanking the committee. I also particularly thank Anthony Overs and Thomas Gregory, who has now moved on to other committees around the parliament, and Dr Alison Clegg. I commend this report to the parliament.