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Last Updated: Friday 31 January 2020
Is ScoMo Going To Remove The Biloela Family From Christmas Island Before Turning It Into A Quarantine Zone?
30 January 2020
WHERE DID THE EMPATHY TRAINING GO @SCOMO? WHERE?!
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In the latest controversial news around our unfortunate Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the government has announced that they are going to transport Aussie nationals who are currently in/near Wuhan to be quarantined on Christmas Island, in case of coronavirus spread.
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Basically, what that means is they’re locking up Chinese-Australians in a refugee camp for two weeks. And, worse still, they’re actually charging them for the costs of evacuation. WTF.
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Four-year-old Christmas Island detainee to be escorted to first day of school by guards
28 January 2020
The eldest daughter of the Tamil family currently detained on Christmas Island will attend her first day of school on Monday as the court case aiming to stop their deportation continues.
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The four-year-old daughter of a Tamil family held in detention on Christmas Island will be escorted to her first day of school by guards.
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Kopika, who has been in immigration detention with her parents, Priya and Nadesalingam, and younger sister Tharunicaa, 2, since March 2018, is very excited about seeing her friends when she starts school on Monday, a family friend and advocate Amanda Fredericks said.
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The family were moved from a Melbourne detention centre to the remote island just south of Indonesia in August last year after a legal bid delayed their deportation.
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Not a 'Headline' as such, but a good article, highlighting (as if we needed further proof), the duplicity of Peter Dutton.
24 January 2020
Dutton's McKenzie defence fails audit test
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AAP FactCheck Investigation:
Did deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie fund programs that were recommended for funding?
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The Statement
"Bridget McKenzie made recommendations, as I understand it, on advice from the sporting body that these programs that have been funded were recommended."
Peter Dutton, Home Affairs Minister. January 23, 2020.
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The Verdict
False - The checkable claims are all false
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The Analysis
Deputy National Party leader Bridget McKenzie is under heavy pressure over her handing of a sports grants scheme that was found to have given money to clubs in marginal Coalition seats and electorates targeted by the Coalition government for the 2019 election.[1][2]
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Last asylum seekers held in Papua New Guinea detention centre released
24 January 2020
Final 18 men moved from Manus Island to the Bomana facility are now in hotels but some are so ill they can not eat
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Eighteen men who were held in isolation and poor conditions in Papua New Guinea’s Bomana immigration detention centre have been released.
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In August, PNG authorities arrested 52 men who had previously been detained on Manus Island on behalf of the Australian government after seeking asylum by boat.
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As of January this year, just 18 of the 52 men remained in the detention centre, after the others had been removed having agreed to return to their country of origin.
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All asylum seekers have been released from Bomana prison
23 January 2020
Thanks to everyone who signed and shared this petition to demand the release of the Bomana men
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Pleased to announce that as of today all the asylum seekers held in the Port Moresby Bomana prison have been released.
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It appears the UNHCR have been involved in securing the release of the men.
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The men were detained in Bomana for a total 164 days. They were held in extremely harsh conditions designed to break their will. Reports are that the men are emaciated and in extremely poor health both physically and mentally. They still have a very long road to true freedom and recovery.
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Peter Dutton's office was suspected of leaking 'classified' medevac information
23 January 2020
FOI documents show a member of Peter Dutton's office wanted to know how much it would cost to medevac refugees to Taiwan..... A day later, the information appeared in The Courier Mail........The AFP investigated the disclosure but determined no further action was required
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The office of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was suspected of leaking information it was told was classified about the cost of medically evacuating refugees to Taiwan, as the Government geared up to campaign against newly passed medevac legislation last year.
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The disclosure of the information concerned the secretary of the Home Affairs Department, Michael Pezzullo, so greatly that he requested the matter be referred to the Australian Federal Police for investigation.
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In February 2019, parliament passed new legislation that provided greater power to medical practitioners to transfer asylum seekers and refugees with medical conditions to Australia for care.
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Leaked photos of Papua New Guinea prison reveal 'torture' of 18 asylum seekers cut off from world
15 January 2020
Conditions inside Australia-funded Bomana centre prompted dozens to agree to return to country of origin
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Leaked pictures from inside Papua New Guinea’s Bomana immigration detention centre have given a glimpse of where up to 20 asylum seekers still remain locked up by PNG authorities, despite widespread concerns for their health, welfare and legal rights.
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Despite around 30 men being released after signing agreements to return to their country of origin, Guardian Australia understands all remain in PNG.
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In August PNG authorities arrested 52 men who had previously been detained on Manus Island on behalf of the Australian government after seeking asylum by boat.
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