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

On 3 October 2014, the former Minister for Immigration and Border Protection announced that an independent inquiry would be held to investigate allegations of abuse in the Australian-run detention centre on Nauru. While the Moss review, as it would be known, would look at the numerous claims of assault, including against women and children, that were emanating from the Nauru detention camp, it would also look into claims that staff members at the centre were acting inappropriately. In announcing the investigation, the former immigration minister said that he had received a report that shows, with a high degree of probability, that there had been a campaign that involved making false claims and, worse, allegedly coaching refugees into self-harm and using children in protests. The Transfield intelligence report which was used to make these claims reads as follows:

DATE: 30 September 2014

SUBJECT: Save the Children Staff on Nauru

SOURCING: Incident and Information Reports, Human Services

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Information suggests that some Save the Children staff may be engaged in conduct which evidences conflicts of interest with their primary purpose and conditions of employment.

Consequently, such behaviour is likely to be in breach of their employment contracts and may also evidence breaches of contract around the collection and onward transmission of information.

INFORMATION

In an Intelligence Report titled 'Save the Children Staff Redundancies and Asylum Seeker Awareness of this Process' which was published on 29 August 2014, it was assessed that the release of confidential information, from disaffected Save the Children staff, was certain and that it was certain that Save the Children management were concerned that there are members of staff with confidential information stored on personal IT. It is considered very likely that SCA staff, recently made redundant, have left Nauru with large quantities of data that they have failed to declare to SCA managers. Personal computers were used inside RPC3 to record case notes from interactions with Asylum Seekers; it is thought that SCA managers knew this was common practice for some time but failed to do anything to address it.

Subsequent conversations with a SCA manager who works at RPC3 have also revealed that the manager was worried about staff in her group who were displaying an attitude towards work inside and outside of the NRPC that she felt was inappropriate, these concerns centred around a member of SCA staff, AB, in particular.

She opined that AB may be influencing members of SCA staff who were previously compliant and diligent SCA caseworks who were now, in her opinion, more vocal in promulgating views that were not commensurate with the work SCA staff are required to do in and out of the NRPC in support of regional processing operations. It is understood that AB has also been subjected to disciplinary action at SCA in recent weeks.

Research shows that AB has posted a video taken of a Refugee protest on 26 September 2014, at Anabare Lodge, to his Facebook page on 27 September 2014. This footage shows the Police attending to a protest at the lodge and removing a protest banner from some children who are protesting with adults in attendance. The video has appeared on a number of refugee advocacy websites and Facebook pages.

Incident reporting by SCA staff at the NRPC has also been noted to be increasingly emotive in recent weeks. In some cases, this reporting is using language and descriptive imagery that seeks to paint service providers in a bad light. It is considered that this is because any subsequent leak of information from the NRPC can then be supported by Freedom of Information requests for service provider reporting around the topic of the leak using the aforementioned emotively written report which was subsequently requested and released under freedom of information legislation to support whatever agenda those in the media, or refugee advocacy, may wish to promulgate.

Two days ago, information report 280917 was written in such a manner by SCA employees, DE and FF, and some of the allegations regarding sexually inappropriate behaviour by security guards contained within this report have been widely reported across Australian media today. DE left Nauru yesterday and the allegations have appeared in the press today.

Information has also been received which suggests that SCA staff, in RPC3, facilitated the distribution and collection of a petition against offshore processing. This petition has been widely circulated across RPC3 and further information suggests that it was removed and taken back to Australia by SCA staff in the last few days for onward transmission to an external entity. Further, information has also been received that SCA staff has also facilitated the provision of several cameras to Asylum Seekers and this is believed to be so that Asylum Seekers can document the current protests. Moreover, it has been noted that each day's protest is dated by an Asylum Seeker who carries a placard with the date on, this suggests that Asylum Seekers are keen to show a chronology of the protests has each day passes in any media they release or are assisted to release.

Social media has also evidenced several examples of SCA staff being mentioned in Twitter releases relating to the current protests on Nauru, as follows;

Daniel Pye, a journalist based in Cambodia, made the following Tweet on 27 September;

Dan @Pye_Daniel @Sharmanifowler

Academics working with the refugees confirmed seven suicide attempts yesterday to me

HelpRefugeesOZ made the following Tweet on 27 September;

HelpRefugeesOZ @HelpRefugeesOZ @senatormilne @HRP_org

Can you please find out what is going on on Nauru Senator, riot police, Save the Children pulled out, please find out.

In relation to the first Tweet, SCA provide teachers (academics) on Nauru and the second Tweet appears to describe the disposition outside RPC3 on the night of 27 September prior to the protests starting at approx. 2100 hours that night. It is considered that the mentioning of SCA in each Tweet is a common denominator in respect of each of these Tweets.

Information Report—28092014— 0900 hours, 'Overview of Asylum Seeker and Refugee Intentions and Outlook of Current Protest Activity on Nauru' released on 28 September 2014, raises the possibility of an external element seeking to undermine internal operations at the NRPC by the following modus operandi:

Asylum Seekers (AS) involved in the ongoing protests at the NRPC, will attempt to draw reactions from Service Providers and Departmental staff to enhance media effect. This activity is to be in such a manner to embarrass the Australian Minister for Immigration and the Australian Government. This means AS will attempt to obtain details of DIBP, and Service Provider staff with the intent of publishing accusations and personal details on social media.

AS will continue to insist that the protests are non-violent, and that antisocial behaviour will be as a result of the staff reactions to any given situation, or inability to provide adequate care to AS.

To achieve the above outcomes, the following actions will be conducted by AS;

Service Providers

DIBP

Assessment

It is considered certain that there is a concerted effort on the part of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, with assistance rendered from some refugee advocacy and human rights groups in Australia, to bring adverse attention to ongoing operations in Nauru around the processing of Asylum Seekers and the resettlement of Refugees.

It is certain that there will be further allegations made during the current period regarding the misconduct of staff engaged with the NRPC.

It is probable that there are SCA staff engaged in this effort in a facilitative role on Nauru.

It is considered probable that refugee advocates and some service providers are engaged with Asylum Seekers, and Refugees, to manufacture situations where 'evidence' can be obtained of the unsuitability of Nauru for processing and resettlement to pursue a political and ideological agenda in Australia regarding TPV's and regional resettlement arrangements.

It is probable there is a degree of internal and external coaching, and encouragement, to achieve evacuations to Australia through self-harm actions.

In light of the aforementioned external influence, it is considered probable that there will be 'scripted' step changes, agreed with external elements, in the current situation as it develops. These may be assisted by internal elements within service providers.

This is the end of the report. People's names have been removed to protect the identity of those involved.

So there you have it. The report simply contains a series of vague allegations without any actual evidence of inappropriate action by any staff member in the centre. This report, of course, is the one that the former immigration minister refused to release publicly but was the reason his department sacked 10 Save the Children employees who were working at the time on Nauru. The minister claimed that this was also the reason he initiated the Moss review. Now that we can see the contents of the intelligence report, the real reason he refused to release it has become clearer: there is no evidence supporting the claims of misconduct. It seems, from this intelligence report, that the only crime committed by those employees was to report accusations of abuse and the inappropriate behaviour of security guards, who are employed by the very same company that wrote this intelligence report. This is simply a witch hunt against whistleblowers who are concerned for the welfare of the people in their care. The creation of this report and its politicised use by the minister is designed to intimidate those who dare to speak up.

The government has some serious questions to answer. Why was it appropriate to leak this report to the newspaper The Daily Telegraph? Why did the government pre-empt the outcome of the investigation by sacking 10 employees, with no explanation, while refusing to let them or their bosses see the report?

Until tonight Save The Children management and their staff have not been provided with the details of this intelligence report or the reasons for their dismissal. Now that they know, and now that the Australian public knows, the government has some explaining to do. I seek leave to table the report.

Leave granted.