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

My question is to Senator Vanstone, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Can the minister confirm that the Ombudsman’s report on Mr G a mentally ill Australian resident, cites the manager of the detention centre expressing concern at an early stage about the lawfulness of his detention? Is the minister concerned that one official responded to the effect that he also had concerns but that ‘fortunately, Mr G. is not educated enough to consider suing us for unjustified detention’? Hasn’t the Ombudsman now recommended that Mr G is entitled to legal redress for his appalling treatment? What action has the minister taken to ensure that this occurs? How much compensation is Mr G likely to receive and when?

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

I thank Senator Kirk for the question. Senator Kirk obviously can read the Ombudsman’s report into Mr G. She is correct, I think, in what she cites. There certainly were some most unsatisfactory responses and communications. It was not just the communications that were unsatisfactory but the sentiment behind them was unsatisfactory. There is absolutely no doubt about that. The Ombudsman, rightly, says that Mr G may well be entitled to compensation. The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs has been in contact over the last couple of months, I am advised, with Mr G.’s representatives—I think he might have the equivalent of a public advocate acting on his behalf at this point—with respect to compensation.

I made the point yesterday, through you, Mr President, to the senator, that the exercise in Immigration at the moment is one that has not been seen, to my knowledge, by any Australian government that has so openly said: ‘Some serious problems have been recognised. Not only will we try to fix these serious problems, but we will lift up the rug and go back to see whether anyone else, technically or otherwise, was detained unlawfully for a short or long period of time and we will deal with it.’ And that is what we have been doing. In the time that I have been in parliament or in the time that I have been interested in politics, I have not seen such an open dealing with an issue. Yesterday something called the ‘dollar a day’ legislation came to mind. I know some of you will not be familiar with it, but people who were in cabinet at the time will be familiar with it. There was a time when the previous Labor government improperly detained a bunch of, I think, Cambodian refugees—sorry, asylum seekers; they may not have been refugees—and the response from Labor, in government, to discovering that it had improperly detained some people was to pass legislation legitimising the detention. That is what you did. When you got caught out, you passed some laws that said it was okay. But there is a lot more to say on this, Senator Kirk. I have had just about enough.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. It goes to the question of relevance. The minister has been asked a very serious question about someone who has been illegally detained, and the department treated the complaints in such a terrible manner that the person is now able to sue the Commonwealth. I would ask the minister to treat the question seriously.

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, I would ask you to ignore the interjections and return to the question.

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

Thank you, Mr President. I will ignore the interjections, but it is of interest that in a question in relation to compensation, people on this side of the chamber and the government have said: ‘Things may have been done incorrectly—let’s get a whole lot of cases, send them off, and find whether we have done the wrong thing. Let’s pursue the correctness of it and, where we’ve gone wrong, we’ll fix it.’

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Chris Evans interjecting—

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Evans!

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

Interestingly, sitting opposite are a party which, when they were last in power and found they had improperly detained asylum seekers, said, ‘I think we’ll pass a law that legitimises the detention.’ Just in case you have a supplementary question, it gets better.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Chris Evans interjecting—

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Evans, shouting across the chamber is disorderly.

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

Labor then sought to pass legislation called the ‘dollar a day’ legislation. Do you know what they did? They said, ‘If you’re improperly detained, we will limit your legal right to compensation to $1 a day.’

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There are too many interjections and shouting across the chamber is disorderly. Minister, you have 25 seconds to complete your answer.

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

This is a question from a party, which, when they last unlawfully detained people, passed legislation to say it was okay. They then passed legislation to limit compensation to $1 a day, and this is the party which first introduced mandatory detention and which first locked up children. (Time expired)

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Your arrogance is beyond belief. You locked up kids.

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Evans, I have been asking you to come to order. I warn you!

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

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Minister, who was the most senior official in the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs to become aware of the appalling treatment of Mr G and what action did they take? What disciplinary action has been taken against the officers involved? When did the minister or her office first become aware of this case and what action did they take?

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

In relation to the question about the most senior officer, I do not have that name. In relation to the question about what disciplinary action was taken, I see that Senator Kirk has selectively read the Ombudsman’s reports that were released yesterday, because the Ombudsman does not recommend disciplinary action. What the Ombudsman says is that there was a systemic failure and it is inappropriate to blame a particular individual—I think that is a fair paraphrasing of it. I accept the Ombudsman’s views in that respect. I made a comment yesterday about Labor and Australia being at a fork in the road; in fact, what Labor have is a fork in their tongue.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Chris Evans interjecting—

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Evans, I have warned you. Come to order!