An in-confidence report to the department of immigration in January said detention camps on Nauru would need three to five months work before they could be functional. It also said the sites could house a maximum of 400 at the island's two previous detention sites, and any more would lead to crowding and 鈥渢ension and behavioural issues鈥 very quickly.
Jay Fletcher
Within a week of the government-appointed Houston panel鈥檚 recommendation that Australia return to the 鈥淧acific solution鈥 for asylum seekers, the toxic atmosphere of John Howard's 鈥渃hildren overboard鈥 era resurged powerfully in Australian politics.
On the same day the Houston report recommended indefinite refugee detention on Nauru and Manus Island for all asylum seekers arriving by boat, 67 asylum seekers taken aboard the Singapore-bound MV Parsifal were the subject of a tense stand-off at sea.
The on asylum seekers is not a plan for 鈥渟topping the boats鈥 or stopping people from risking their lives at sea. It is a plan to demonise refugees and use them as a scapegoat for the rising government-led attacks on Australian people.
Nationwide, on any given night in 2006. About , and 22,000 of these were teenagers. Middle-aged women and their children have also increasingly filled out the statistics, due to their lower incomes and the lack of support services for victims of domestic violence.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard鈥檚 鈥渆xpert panel鈥 on refugee policy will hand over its findings on how to 鈥渟top the boats鈥 and end the parliamentary 鈥渄eadlock鈥 over offshore processing when parliament begins sitting again next week.
After an asylum boat tragedy that killed 90 people in June, the three-member panel, headed by former defence chief Angus Houston, on the 鈥渂est way forward for Australia to prevent asylum seekers risking their lives鈥 considering 鈥淎ustralia鈥檚 right to maintain its borders鈥.
Deported Tamil Dayan Anthony's recanted claims of torture at a Sri Lankan press conference, the day after his July 25 deportation, did not assuage the fears of Australian refugee advocates that Tamils face severe danger if returned.
A team of progressive activists has formed an independent 鈥淗ousing Action鈥 ticket to run in the September 8 council elections in the City of Sydney.
The united platform 鈥淒ecent housing is a human right鈥 is a further step towards practical unity between independent socialists and members of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) and the Socialist Allliance (SA).
The team has come together to challenge City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore鈥檚 pro-corporate development stance. It is also championing public housing and human rights over pro-development and big business.
Federal Labor鈥檚 hopes that its carbon price handouts would lift its primary vote have proven futile, and as Labor policy and rhetoric moves further to the right, a section of the party has begun a full-blown assault on its alliance with the Greens.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) forced the ABC to retract a story about a recently changed 鈥渋ndividual allowance program鈥 for detained refugees to buy canteen items and phone cards to call home.
Labor and Coalition MPs have shed thousands of crocodile tears claiming that Australia needed to 鈥渟top the boats鈥 to 鈥渟ave lives鈥 by making offshore processing of asylum seekers government policy.
Labor backed a private members bill put by independent MP Rob Oakeshott that would allow Australia to expel refugees to any country that was part of the Bali Process, including Malaysia.
The newly opened Yongah Hill detention centre in remote Western Australia is 鈥減robably one of the most secure facilities in the entire network,鈥 immigration media manager Sandi Logan said on June 25.
The new detention centre is about 90 kilometres north-east of Perth, about five kilometres outside the rural town of Northam. The $125 million centre was a disused army barracks and will house up to 600 male asylum seekers.
It is now fitted with electric fences, 鈥渟cale-proof鈥 walls, cameras and bars on most windows, said an AAP reporter who visited the site.
Confirmation that billionaire mining boss Gina Rinehart now owns about 20% of Fairfax Media鈥檚 shares came as the media corporation announced plans to downsize its major newspapers. The moves spell out the future for Australia鈥檚 mainstream media: more corporate-friendly reports and less journalism.
Rinehart鈥檚 tilt for three positions on Fairfax鈥檚 board of directors sparked defensive outrage from executives and journalists alike, who said the company鈥檚 鈥渆ditorial independence鈥 should not be compromised.
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