Australia to reopen controversial island detention centre

World Wednesday 13/February/2019 17:24 PM
By: Times News Service
Australia to reopen controversial island detention centre

Muscat: The government of Australia has announced the reopening of a highly controversial refugee detention centre on Christmas Island following a historic defeat in parliament. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, said, "Today I convened a meeting of the National Security Committee. I have adopted the advice of our security and border protection officials to reopen the Christmas Island detention centre. We're taking this action to clean up the mess Bill Shorten and Labour made yesterday, once again." Morrison was referencing the passing of the 'medical evacuation bill', a law that made it easier for sick refugees held in offshore detention centres to receive medical treatment in Australia. The country currently maintains offshore detention centres for asylum seekers in Nauru and Manus Island. Previously, detainees were also sent to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. Morrison's Coalition Government claimed that the bill would embolden people smugglers attempting to bring illegal immigrants to the country by boat. In that regard, the prime minister stated, "It’s my job now to ensure the boats don't come back. I will to do everything within the Government’s power to ensure that what the Labor Party has done to weaken our borders does not result in boats coming to Australia." However, Labour leader Bill Shorten was clear that the bill only applied to those currently held in detention centres, saying, "Our legislation preserves the security of regional processing, it ensures the government has the power to deny criminals and national security risks entry to Australia. "Importantly - it only applies to people who are already on Manus and Nauru. This means the people smugglers don’t have a product to sell and can never again resume their trade in human misery," he added. "The Australian people understand our nation can be strong on borders and still treat people humanely. We can preserve our national security and still look after people to whom we owe a duty of care. This legislation gets that balance right." Morrison's announcement led to an immediate backlash from his opponents, who accused him scaremongering ahead of an election. "This is fear-mongering at its absolute worst by a desperate government who want to drag Australia through another federal election fought on false narratives around border security," said Western Australian Senator Jordon Steele-John. Andrew Bartlett, of the Greens Party, added, "Blatantly unnecessary & a giant waste of money solely for electioneering purposes. Medical evacuees from PNG will need medical care, not another island prison."