Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I know I could have expected a question, yes. But I do not intend to delve into any of these cases until the Ombudsman puts out his report. I would have thought that it was appropriate to leave the Ombudsman to do his job. I was asked the direct question: were there any other cases? I answered honestly, as I ought to, ‘Yes, I’m sure there are amongst that number.’ I did not give any details of the case, such as I know them from the knowledge that I have, and I do not intend to give much in the way of detail. However, I can say that the person was detained some time ago and was detained on a number of occasions, and is another example of the tremendous difficulty that both the police face with mental health cases and the immigration department face in relation to these cases. For the detail of it, we will wait and see what the Ombudsman has to say. There is no question of not being up-front with these. They were sent off for a proper independent review and they will get proper public reporting.