Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Hansard source

That is the basis for this report, Senator Macdonald. If you are a member of the committee, if you actually attended, you would know the circumstances of why this select committee was established. These were not the actions of a previous government; these were the actions of this government. This is a centre that has been administered by the current government, not the previous government. This was a matter that came about as a direct result of the allegations made by the minister in this government into the activities of one of the government contractors. As a result of the independent investigation, it was subsequently found to be baseless. Those persons have never received an apology, not even recognition, that the claims made against them were ill-founded, intemperate and, of course, predicated on false reports by the contractors.

What has been discovered as a result of that independent inquiry is that there had been repeated instances of mistreatment of detainees at the hands of the contractors, including widespread sexual abuse. Senator Macdonald, you and I might have substantial differences on most things, but one thing I would not accuse you of is condoning that action. The purpose of Senate inquiries such as this is to actually protect the human rights of people. That goes to the issue of when people are detained as a direct result of government policy—