Linda Kirk (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to take note of answers given to questions asked of Senator Vanstone, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Just a few days after we learnt of the compensation payout of $4.5 million to Vivian Alvarez Solon, we find again that we have the minister conceding that compensation is going to have to be paid out to victims of the incompetence of the immigration department. This of course follows the report of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Professor John McMillan, as delivered by him yesterday. The report by the Ombudsman found serious deficiencies in the department. He found that it was these deficiencies that led to the wrongful detention of 10 Australian citizens, four permanent residents and four temporary visa holders between 2000 and 2005. Needless to say, all 10 of the people that I have just referred to have a legal entitlement to be in this country.

The most disturbing example is one that has been referred to this afternoon here in the Senate. Of course they are all disturbing, but this one really stands out; it is the case of Mr G. Mr G is a person who came here lawfully in 1975, I understand, from East Timor as a refugee. Unfortunately later in life he developed chronic schizophrenia. At the time that he was taken into immigration detention he had been living on the streets of Fremantle. He was detained by the immigration department for a period of 43 days in the year 2002 even though he had a valid visa.

Professor McMillan said in his report, the one that I was referring to earlier, that Mr G’s schizophrenia was plainly evident to anyone when he was detained. However, immigration department officials apparently did not make the inquiries that you would have thought would follow in such a circumstance. In fact it even went further than that. It is quite concerning, and I referred to this in the question that I asked, that some immigration officers were aware that there could be some, shall we say, problems with this case and they expressed some doubt that Mr G was being unlawfully detained one week after he was detained. He was detained for 43 days, but a week after he was detained immigration officials—some at least—became aware that there could be a problem here. In fact, one immigration officer was reported as having said, and I quote:

I also remain concerned that we have a person in detention who is a permanent resident ... and that we are on very shaking (sic) grounds to continue to hold him here.

This immigration officer went on to say, and this I find so appalling it is beyond words:

Fortunately, Mr G is not educated enough to consider suing us for unjustified detention however, I think we need to be very careful in regard to how long we continue to detain him.

This is an outrageous, appalling situation. We cannot begin to imagine the sort of trauma that Mr G must have experienced. But it was not only Mr G; the report found that eight of those who were wrongfully detained were children. I have spoken on many occasions in this place about children in detention. One of the children who was detained was held in detention for 214 days. When is this government going to acknowledge what it is doing here is just inhumane, unjust and an absolute disgrace? The Prime Minister’s response to this was, and I quote:

No administration is perfect; there are mistakes made.

That response is just an utter disgrace and he should be ashamed.