Typical of this government after 5pm, the sneaky smelly business is released
The Nauru Inquiry Report has been published and can be found here –
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Regional_processing_Nauru/Regional_processing_Nauru/Final_Report
Just before the report Transfield who have overseen the abuse and cruelty on Nauru was given another 5 year contract to do more of the same.
http://sarah-hanson-young.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/nauru-cannot-continue-inquiry-report-reveals
Inconsistently, one of the recommendation was for Nauru to hurry up with the Processing of people refugee claims. (Recommendation 2)
Considering that people have been in the camps for two years now, one would consider that their decisions should be finalised and release imminent.
However Transfield has been given a billion dollar contract for FIVE YEARS. Why?
A further recommendation is that the Commonwealth Ombudsman conduct ” an independent external review of all complaints”. Considering that currently the Ombudsmans office is in breach of its statutory duty to report to the Parliament, the reasons and recommendations on the people who have been held in detention for more than two years, expecting an independent report from the Ombudsmans Office is a pigs will fly recommendation.
It is worth noting that NO asylum seeker was allowed to give evidence to this Senate Committee.
One of the best Recommendations is Recommendation 15 which provides for a Legal and Constitutional Committee until December 2016 to continue taking reports and investigating. It is not all over yet.
Transfield awarded yet another 5 years to mis-manage offshore detention centres.
Vice-Chair of the Australian Churches’ Refugee Taskforce, Sister Brigid Arthur, said today
As a regular visitor to mainland detention centres, Sister Brigid Arthur works with women and children who have experienced sexual assault on Nauru. She said that “this company was paid $1.2 billion by Australian taxpayers to manage these gulags on Manus Island and Nauru. Transfield AND their sub-contractors should have been punished by their poor performance, not rewarded!”
Misha Coleman, Executive Officer of the Taskforce, said “now the spotlight will really be on those investors – superannuation funds, mums and dads – who hold shares in Transfield Services.”
She said that Transfield were awarded the contracts the first time around in an uncompetitive process, which the Government of the day justified due to the hasty decision to re-open Nauru and Manus Island and the political need to get them up and running ‘overnight’.
This time around, Coleman said “there was enough time to run the competitive process with full due diligence being applied to competing companies. We’ve had so many inquiries including the Government’s Moss Review, which document a plethora of poor management procedures in Transfield’s Nauru centre, and which have led to the systematic sexual abuse of women and children. Most of this abuse goes largely unprosecuted and unpunished. Surely some of these poor performance issues should have found their way into the judging and scoring for this new round of contracts?”
In evidence given to the Senate Inquiry into recent sexual abuse legislation on Nauru, many submitters talked about the way the toilet areas have become dangerous places where sexual assaults often occur. Coleman said that “the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce will be calling on the government, and Transfield Services, to introduce basic safeguards – such as functioning and safe toilet facilities – into the contracts before they are signed by both parties. Surely that’s the least we can expect from a billion dollar deal.”
Further comment available from:
Misha Coleman
Executive Officer, Australian Churches’ Refugee Taskforce, 0428 399 739
Sister Brigid Arthur
Vice Chair of the Australian Churches’ Refugee Taskforce, 0408 101 134