Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I must say that I am extremely disappointed that the government wishes to continue this secrecy in relation to how vulnerable refugees are being treated and the conditions they are being kept in on Manus Island and Nauru. The Australian people have a right to know what is going on there, who is really in charge and, above all else, what our $10 billion being spent in the government's offshore processing regime is actually going to. It is hard to understand why the government would not want to ensure in Australian law through the Migration Act that the Human Rights Commission have access to these camps unless they have something to hide. That is the reality. What else are the Australian people meant to think?

This is disappointing to many members of the community after seeing how badly people can be treated and the conditions they can be kept in in these places. It is not just under this Pacific solution mark 2 regime; we know that the conditions were horrendous when the camps were being run by the former John Howard government. One of the reasons why the Australian detention system was opened to the Australian Human Rights Commission and, indeed, the Commonwealth Ombudsman was the scandal of Vivian Solon and Cornelia Rau. They are the very real examples of what happens to people when governments do not allow these places to have proper scrutiny and transparency. That is the reality. We have seen it. It has been proven. It has ruined people's lives.

Now, despite all of the evidence in front of us, this government are prepared to make the same mistakes all over again. What are the Australian people meant to think? There is no other explanation than that the government are wanting to hide what is really going on. They do not want proper scrutiny. It is bad enough that they put gag clauses in their contracts with service providers, but not letting Australia's peak human rights body inspect what is a fundamental part of this government's immigration system is dishonest, irresponsible and, frankly, shameful. There is no other explanation than that the government are wishing to hide what is really going on.