Australian govt scrambles to close offshore processing loophole

Transcript

Australia's government is copping heated criticism in its haste to pass legislation about offshore processing of asylum seekers.

The legislation looks to shore up the legality of its offshore facilities for processing asylum seekers, including those on Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

This comes after a flaw was exposed in the legality of the offshore processing system in an ongoing Australian High Court challenge brought about by a group of asylum seekers on Nauru.

Johnny Blades reports:

The High Court case argues Australia is illegally detaining people in foreign countries. It points to the fact that neither PNG nor Nauru governments are party to the 1.6 million US dollar-contract between Australia and Transfield Services to manage the two offshore facilities. The asylum seekers who launched the High Court challenge are represented by Australia's Human Rights Law Centre whose executive director Hugh De Kretser says there's been no legal authority for offshore processing.

HUGH DE KRETSER: Though I wouldn't describe it as a loophole, I'd describe it as a fundamental issue of human rights as to whether or not the parliament has explicitly authorised Australia to detain people in a foreign country. That's what this bill says. It says the parliament grants the government, in very broad terms, the power to lock people up in a foreign country and it's retrospective, so it goes back three years and says "if anything was unlawful about that over the past three years, we're now saying, if this bill is passed, that it was lawful.

The Tony Abbott-led government circumnavigated normal parliamentary procedure to move its legislation at the end of the parliament session. A Senator on the government side, Mitch Fifield, said offshore processing is central to efforts to protect Australia's borders.

MITCH FIFIELD: We are seeking exemption from the cut-off in order to enable this legislation to be debated and resolved today. The government is clearly of the view that it is important to ensure certainty and a robust legislative basis for offshore processing.

Senator Kim Carr told the chamber his opposition Labour party is supporting the legislation. But he found the government's rush to pass the bill strange given that it has known about the issue for months...

KIM CARR: And has only resolved to act in the last twenty four hours of this session. That strikes me as gross incompetence. But it doesn't change the fact that there is a major problem that requires resolution.

Yet the harshest criticism came from Greens senators who asked the government why, if it denies that its offshore system has been illegal, it is moving legislation required because the system was unlawful. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young reminded lawmakers that Australia's offshore centres have become renowned for ongoing abuses of detainees and indefinite detention for people fleeing conflict zones. Fearing the laws give the government too much power, Senator Hanson-Young urged the senate not to support the legislation

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG: And here is an opportunity - and this is straight to the Labor Party - if you want to try and improve the conditions in these places, this is the opportunity. Don;t give unfettered power to Tony Abbott to keep children locked up indefinitely. Tony Abbott has proven to have absolute disregard for the lives of those kids.

Meanwhile, three babies are reportedly among over 40 asylum seekers transferred from Australia to Nauru on Thursday, most of whom had been flown from offshore centres to Darwin for medical treatment. Refugee advocates say some of the transferees complained about sexual abuse on Nauru when they were last there.