Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

What an inconvenient situation for the Greens political party that I just happened to be in Papua New Guinea last week. Some lawyers, no doubt egged on by Senator McKim—and the usual bunch of lawyers that we get at every Senate estimates committee—took proceedings within the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea. That court met just last Tuesday, the 7th. The claim by these people was that the closure was unconstitutional. They were seeking orders from the Supreme Court to restrain military personnel from taking over the naval base. They were claiming orders that food should be restored and electricity and water supplies should be restored. But, of course, that was opposed by the PNG government, who are the relevant government, on the basis that services were fully provided at the east Lorengau detention centre for refugees, at the west Lorengau detention centre for refugees and at the Hillside centre for non-refugees.

I know it's not possible in this chamber for me to use props or to show this photograph, but let me describe the photograph from The National, the newspaper of Papua New Guinea, which has a policeman pointing to the east Lorengau camp that has been set up. I can't show this, but might I say it looks like a 1980s motel in Australia. It's a long building. It looks to contain 50 or so rooms. It's hard walled with cement pylons, windows and air conditioning. It has panels on the roof for electricity. When the Supreme Court heard all of the evidence from reliable sources, it dismissed the claim, saying that there were alternative facilities available. All of the lies you hear from the Greens political party and GetUp! about this being a humanitarian crisis and that people are living in a hovel are completely unnecessary, because the PNG government has provided not one, not two, but three other facilities where there is water, there is food, there is every facility and there is air conditioning—and a lot of better than many Australians have in their own home. I will seek later to table this newspaper cutting, which has a photograph of the east Lorengau centre that simply puts the lie to the Greens political party. You can see how they've all gone quiet, because someone has—

Senator McKim interjecting—

You can say what you like when no-one else is there, Senator McKim, but I happened to be there. I happened to have some discussions with the member for Manus.