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| Nauru files: global reaction to huge leak of immigration detention reports – live | Nauru files: global reaction to huge leak of immigration detention reports – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 4.16am BST | |
| 04:16 | |
| The coalition government is “addicted to secrecy”, opposition leader Bill Shorten has said. Asked a short time ago if he supported calls for a royal commission, Shorten replied: | |
| “The first thing we need to do is for the Turnbull Government to carry out Labor’s policy of putting in place an independent children’s advocate. It is really, really disturbing that there have been all of these files, no the that they have been released, but what they contain, and if we are going to have offshore detention, it has to be conducted in the safest possible way. Just because people are indirectly in the care of Australia doesn’t absolve Australia of ensuring that people are safe. And so these files, I think, again point to the immediate need for an independent children’s advocate. | |
| This government is addicted to secrecy, transparency is the best way, I believe, to ensure that people in our care have been properly maintained and Australian standards are being upheld and not undermined in these centres.” | |
| 4.06am BST | |
| 04:06 | |
| The peak body for aid and international development and the peak body for social services in Australia have joined calls for a royal commission to examine the treatment of children on Nauru. | |
| The Australian Council for International Development (Acfid), and the Australian Council of Social Services (Acoss) say the current royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse should immediately examine incidents and allegations raised in the Nauru files. | |
| “We have a royal commission tasked with investigating institutional responses to child sexual abuse. In the face of the extraordinary evidence of such abuse and harassment of children in immigration detention in Nauru there must be an investigation into whether this is an explicit breach of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s duty of care,” said Acfid chief executive, Marc Purcell. | |
| Chief executive of Acoss, Cassandra Goldie said: “the royal commission already has the power to investigate the treatment of children in these centres. With more than 1,000 documented cases of child abuse, including many involving sexual abuse, it is clear the commission must act.” | |
| They also called for the immediate transfer of asylum seeker children and their families on Nauru to Australia. | |
| 3.59am BST | |
| 03:59 | |
| Calla Wahlquist | |
| Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has just addressed the media in Melbourne and said the Turnbull government cannot claim ignorance of the “institutionalised child abuse, taxpayer funded sexual assault of women” on Nauru. | |
| Hanson-Young wrote to then immigration minister Scott Morrison in 2014 alleging widespread sexual assault on women and children in Nauru, and said the incident reports published by The Guardian today showed those reports were correct. | |
| “This is not new information to Peter Dutton. It’s not new information for Scott Morrison and I don’t believe it’s new information to Malcolm Turnbull,” she said. “The sad truth of the matter is that the government knowingly turned a blind eye as collateral damage for their stop the boats policy. | |
| “And if you want to be honest about it this government’s policy for stopping the boats is to stop the boats through child abuse. It’s obscene, it’s inhumane, and it’s beneath anything that this country should stand for.” | |
| Hanson-Young said Malcolm Turnbull’s comment this morning that the incidents were a matter for the Nauruan government were disingenuous when the camps were funded, governed, and staffed by Australians. | |
| “Ministers have known that children have been abused at the hands of people paid for by the Australian taxpayer,” she said. “Ministers have known that. And they have done nothing to protect those children.” | |
| She said a royal commission into the camps was “long overdue” and that detainees, particularly women and children, should be brought to Australia as a “matter of urgency.” | |
| She compared the Australian government’s efforts to stem information from Nauru and Manus Island to the Catholic Church’s silencing of sexual abuse victims, which prompted the current royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. | |
| “The cover-up is astounding in regards to all of these incidents,” she said. “The gagging of staff, the gagging of independent advocates, the locking out of media from these detention centres has allowed abuse to fester. | |
| From the experience of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, she said, “we know that when we cover this stuff up, when we intimidate people from speaking up, abuse festers and children suffer.” | |
| 3.52am BST | |
| 03:52 | |
| Labor has renewed calls for an independent children’s advocate after the release of the Nauru files. | |
| “These troubling reports are clear indications that the Turnbull Government’s management of offshore detention facilities fails to meet Australia’s obligation to provide safe, dignified and humane treatment for all people seeking asylum,” said shadow immigration minister Shayne Neumann. | |
| “The culture of secrecy that the Turnbull Government has cultivated needs to end. The Turnbull Government must reveal whether these serious and disturbing alleged incidents of abuse have been investigated and the outcomes of those investigations. | |
| Further, the Turnbull Government must find a durable and secure third country resettlement arrangement as a matter of priority.” | |
| 3.35am BST | 3.35am BST |
| 03:35 | 03:35 |
| Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called for a royal commission. | Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called for a royal commission. |
| .@sarahinthesen8 addressing media in Melbourne just now. Seconded #BringThemHere, called for royal commission pic.twitter.com/bAFwG2XX0b | .@sarahinthesen8 addressing media in Melbourne just now. Seconded #BringThemHere, called for royal commission pic.twitter.com/bAFwG2XX0b |
| .@sarahinthesen8: "I don't buy for a moment this argument from the prime minister this morning that this is a matter for Nauru." #naurufiles | .@sarahinthesen8: "I don't buy for a moment this argument from the prime minister this morning that this is a matter for Nauru." #naurufiles |
| SHY:Scott Morrison has known since 2014 that children were being sexually assaulted and that women were being sexually assaulted on Nauru. | SHY:Scott Morrison has known since 2014 that children were being sexually assaulted and that women were being sexually assaulted on Nauru. |
| 3.29am BST | 3.29am BST |
| 03:29 | 03:29 |
| A little more from that press conference with Turnbull and former immigration minister, now treasurer, Scott Morrison. | A little more from that press conference with Turnbull and former immigration minister, now treasurer, Scott Morrison. |
| My colleague Paul Karp has caught the exchange between Guardian reporter Paul Farrell, and the two politicians. | My colleague Paul Karp has caught the exchange between Guardian reporter Paul Farrell, and the two politicians. |
| Farrell: The Guardian has published more than 2000 incident reports from Nauru today that show that child abuse allegations and sexual assault allegations have continued well beyond the Nauru senate inquiry and the Moss inquiry commissioned by the Treasurer. Why has the Government allowed these incidents to continue? | |
| Turnbull: As you know, and Scott is a former Immigration Minister, may want to add to this, but we continue to support the Nauru Government to provide for the health, welfare and safety of all transferees and refugees on Nauru. The material that’s been published will be examined. It’s not clear over what time period it relates, at least not in the report that I saw. It will be carefully examined to see if there are any complaints there or issues there that were not properly addressed. | Turnbull: As you know, and Scott is a former Immigration Minister, may want to add to this, but we continue to support the Nauru Government to provide for the health, welfare and safety of all transferees and refugees on Nauru. The material that’s been published will be examined. It’s not clear over what time period it relates, at least not in the report that I saw. It will be carefully examined to see if there are any complaints there or issues there that were not properly addressed. |
| Morrison: I note the incidents reports, as you know Paul, are reports of allegations, they are not findings of fact in relation to an incident. And the reporting system that was put in place was to monitor what those allegations are and provide an opportunity to follow up and discussion both at the centre level and between governments and that’s their purpose. It’s important to stress that incidents reports of themselves aren’t a reporting of fact, they are a reporting that an allegation has been made. | Morrison: I note the incidents reports, as you know Paul, are reports of allegations, they are not findings of fact in relation to an incident. And the reporting system that was put in place was to monitor what those allegations are and provide an opportunity to follow up and discussion both at the centre level and between governments and that’s their purpose. It’s important to stress that incidents reports of themselves aren’t a reporting of fact, they are a reporting that an allegation has been made. |
| Farrell: You commissioned a royal commission into the Don Dale events within 12 hours, what will it take you to be shocked about what is happening on the detention centres on Nauru when you have primary evidence from guards and case workers saying children are being abused? | |
| Turnbull: As I said, just to reiterate what Scott said as well, the matters that are referred to here in these incidents reports will be reviewed to see whether they - whether and to what extent they have been dealt with. This is a - the Australian Government provides support to the Government of Nauru and their police force in dealing with complaints of this kind and they have the responsibility for responding to them and dealing with them. | Turnbull: As I said, just to reiterate what Scott said as well, the matters that are referred to here in these incidents reports will be reviewed to see whether they - whether and to what extent they have been dealt with. This is a - the Australian Government provides support to the Government of Nauru and their police force in dealing with complaints of this kind and they have the responsibility for responding to them and dealing with them. |
| Updated | |
| at 4.05am BST | |
| 3.24am BST | 3.24am BST |
| 03:24 | 03:24 |
| There are obvious parallels being drawn between the Four Corners report last month on alleged mistreatment and abuse of detainees inside the Don Dale juvenile detention centre in the Northern Territory, and the Nauru files. | There are obvious parallels being drawn between the Four Corners report last month on alleged mistreatment and abuse of detainees inside the Don Dale juvenile detention centre in the Northern Territory, and the Nauru files. |
| Both shine light and reveal the shocking extent of issues inside the respective centres. Both follow years of reporting which failed to get any significant government response. | Both shine light and reveal the shocking extent of issues inside the respective centres. Both follow years of reporting which failed to get any significant government response. |
| Within a day of the Don Dale report, Turnbull had called a royal commission. What will happen today? | Within a day of the Don Dale report, Turnbull had called a royal commission. What will happen today? |
| Elaine Pearson, the Australian director of Human Rights Watch, said the Don Dale images had shocked the Turnbull government into action, and called for the same response to the evidence presented in the Nauru files and in other investigations. | Elaine Pearson, the Australian director of Human Rights Watch, said the Don Dale images had shocked the Turnbull government into action, and called for the same response to the evidence presented in the Nauru files and in other investigations. |
| “The fact that the number of serious incidents has not declined but continued steadily, and in some cases escalated, is further proof that the failure to address abuses is a deliberate policy of the Australian government to deter further boat arrivals,” Pearson told Guardian Australia. | “The fact that the number of serious incidents has not declined but continued steadily, and in some cases escalated, is further proof that the failure to address abuses is a deliberate policy of the Australian government to deter further boat arrivals,” Pearson told Guardian Australia. |
| “Australia’s policy of deterrence is premised on making people in offshore locations suffer. This policy is inhumane and irresponsible, and it means refugees and asylum seekers remain vulnerable to further abuse and mistreatment. Men, women and children need to be removed from Nauru immediately.” | “Australia’s policy of deterrence is premised on making people in offshore locations suffer. This policy is inhumane and irresponsible, and it means refugees and asylum seekers remain vulnerable to further abuse and mistreatment. Men, women and children need to be removed from Nauru immediately.” |
| Hugh de Kretser, the executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre, told Guardian Australia: “Nothing excuses the failure to act. There is a real hypocrisy in the fact we have two royal commissions currently afoot – one into institutional child sexual abuse and another into youth detention centres – and yet at the very same time we’re warehousing children on Nauru in conditions that allow this kind of abuse to thrive.” | Hugh de Kretser, the executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre, told Guardian Australia: “Nothing excuses the failure to act. There is a real hypocrisy in the fact we have two royal commissions currently afoot – one into institutional child sexual abuse and another into youth detention centres – and yet at the very same time we’re warehousing children on Nauru in conditions that allow this kind of abuse to thrive.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.29am BST | at 3.29am BST |
| 3.11am BST | 3.11am BST |
| 03:11 | 03:11 |
| AAP reports that the Liberal frontbencher Karen Andrews said no one wanted to see women and children treated poorly under any circumstances. | AAP reports that the Liberal frontbencher Karen Andrews said no one wanted to see women and children treated poorly under any circumstances. |
| The Australian federal police had been working with Nauru police to strengthen their capability when it came to dealing with severe incidents, she said. | The Australian federal police had been working with Nauru police to strengthen their capability when it came to dealing with severe incidents, she said. |
| “We would encourage anyone to report any incidents they are aware of,” Andrews told Sky News. | “We would encourage anyone to report any incidents they are aware of,” Andrews told Sky News. |
| She hailed the federal government’s efforts to stop the flow of asylum seeker boats and resulting deaths at sea. | She hailed the federal government’s efforts to stop the flow of asylum seeker boats and resulting deaths at sea. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.13am BST | at 3.13am BST |
| 3.05am BST | 3.05am BST |
| 03:05 | 03:05 |
| The leak is beginning to make international news, with reports on the BBC, the Telegraph, the New Zealand Herald, and German newspaper Zeit Online. | The leak is beginning to make international news, with reports on the BBC, the Telegraph, the New Zealand Herald, and German newspaper Zeit Online. |
| 3.01am BST | 3.01am BST |
| 03:01 | 03:01 |
| Calla Wahlquist | Calla Wahlquist |
| Guardian Australia reporter Calla Wahlquist has been at a press conference called by a group of human rights and refugee advocacy groups. | Guardian Australia reporter Calla Wahlquist has been at a press conference called by a group of human rights and refugee advocacy groups. |
| Australia’s peak refugee advocacy bodies have called for immigration detainees on Nauru and Manus Island to be moved to Australia after Guardian Australia’s reports on abuse there, saying documents published on Wednesday showed an “immediate humanitarian crisis”. | Australia’s peak refugee advocacy bodies have called for immigration detainees on Nauru and Manus Island to be moved to Australia after Guardian Australia’s reports on abuse there, saying documents published on Wednesday showed an “immediate humanitarian crisis”. |
| “The documents provide graphic evidence of the harm we are inflicting on innocent people, including children,” the Human Rights Law Centre’s director, Hugh de Kretser, said at a joint press conference in Melbourne on Wednesday. | “The documents provide graphic evidence of the harm we are inflicting on innocent people, including children,” the Human Rights Law Centre’s director, Hugh de Kretser, said at a joint press conference in Melbourne on Wednesday. |
| “We are responsible for this harm. We must act now to bring them here to safety.” | “We are responsible for this harm. We must act now to bring them here to safety.” |
| Shen Narayanasamy, the human rights director for GetUp!, said a royal commission was necessary to discover the extent of abuse in the camps but establishing an inquiry must come second to bringing people to safety. | Shen Narayanasamy, the human rights director for GetUp!, said a royal commission was necessary to discover the extent of abuse in the camps but establishing an inquiry must come second to bringing people to safety. |
| “Right now, facing an immediate humanitarian crisis, the only plausible, moral thing to do is to bring these people to Australia immediately,” she said. | “Right now, facing an immediate humanitarian crisis, the only plausible, moral thing to do is to bring these people to Australia immediately,” she said. |
| “After that point, most definitely we need a royal commission. Clearly if a Senate inquiry is not able to pick up this level of abuse … then we have a serious question here in Australia about the extent of the cover-up in relation to Manus Island and Nauru, and only a royal commission has the power to do that.” | “After that point, most definitely we need a royal commission. Clearly if a Senate inquiry is not able to pick up this level of abuse … then we have a serious question here in Australia about the extent of the cover-up in relation to Manus Island and Nauru, and only a royal commission has the power to do that.” |
| Jana Favero, from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the reports “confirmed a lot of unofficial reports” she had seen in past three years. | Jana Favero, from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the reports “confirmed a lot of unofficial reports” she had seen in past three years. |
| “It’s echoing the 4am phone calls that we have been receiving from Nauru and Manus from desperate, broken people,” she said. “People that our government has broken.” | “It’s echoing the 4am phone calls that we have been receiving from Nauru and Manus from desperate, broken people,” she said. “People that our government has broken.” |
| Mat Tinkler, from Save the Children, said his organisation was surprised by the publication of the Nauru files today but not by the content of the files, which he said echoed concerns it had raised with government on a number of occasions. | Mat Tinkler, from Save the Children, said his organisation was surprised by the publication of the Nauru files today but not by the content of the files, which he said echoed concerns it had raised with government on a number of occasions. |
| “The last thing that Save the Children was advised [by the federal government] was that their concerns were noted and that they would be taken into consideration,” Tinkler said. | “The last thing that Save the Children was advised [by the federal government] was that their concerns were noted and that they would be taken into consideration,” Tinkler said. |
| The government had adequate information to act on human rights abuses on Nauru but lacked the political will, he said. | The government had adequate information to act on human rights abuses on Nauru but lacked the political will, he said. |
| Misha Coleman, from Australian churches refugee taskforce, called on the government to exercise the same political will it used to institute a royal commission into youth detention in the Northern Territory and investigate its own practices on Nauru. | Misha Coleman, from Australian churches refugee taskforce, called on the government to exercise the same political will it used to institute a royal commission into youth detention in the Northern Territory and investigate its own practices on Nauru. |
| She also called for a royal commission. | She also called for a royal commission. |
| Heads of refugee advocacy agencies call for all refugees in Manus and Nauru to be brought to Australia #naurufiles pic.twitter.com/4chw5iCZh7 | Heads of refugee advocacy agencies call for all refugees in Manus and Nauru to be brought to Australia #naurufiles pic.twitter.com/4chw5iCZh7 |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.10am BST | at 3.10am BST |
| 2.56am BST | 2.56am BST |
| 02:56 | 02:56 |
| The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was asked about the Nauru files a short time ago. | The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was asked about the Nauru files a short time ago. |
| PM @TurnbullMalcolm says the government will carefully examine #naurufiles | PM @TurnbullMalcolm says the government will carefully examine #naurufiles |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.58am BST | at 2.58am BST |
| 2.52am BST | 2.52am BST |
| 02:52 | 02:52 |
| Gillian Triggs, the Australian human rights commissioner, has responded to the report, urging the Australian public to “speak out and talk up”. | Gillian Triggs, the Australian human rights commissioner, has responded to the report, urging the Australian public to “speak out and talk up”. |
| “We really need the public’s attention to ensure that our politicians change the policy. This is unsustainable, and of course extremely expensive to the Australian taxpayer.” | “We really need the public’s attention to ensure that our politicians change the policy. This is unsustainable, and of course extremely expensive to the Australian taxpayer.” |
| If media had access to the immigration centres, the Australian public could be moved in the same way they were over the Don Dale juvenile detention abuses broadcast last month. | If media had access to the immigration centres, the Australian public could be moved in the same way they were over the Don Dale juvenile detention abuses broadcast last month. |
| “Our democratic system depends on transparency and access by our journalists and also by other community groups who can speak up and take photographs. That is what really moves the public, when they actually see, preferably on video, how these children are being treated.” | “Our democratic system depends on transparency and access by our journalists and also by other community groups who can speak up and take photographs. That is what really moves the public, when they actually see, preferably on video, how these children are being treated.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.55am BST | at 2.55am BST |
| 2.50am BST | 2.50am BST |
| 02:50 | 02:50 |
| Helen Davidson | Helen Davidson |
| Today the Guardian published the Nauru files, a collection of more than 2,000 leaked documents from inside Australia’s offshore immigration processing centre on Nauru. | Today the Guardian published the Nauru files, a collection of more than 2,000 leaked documents from inside Australia’s offshore immigration processing centre on Nauru. |
| The Nauru files have revealed the extent of the trauma and abuse which occurred over more than two years, and sparked calls for a royal commission or federal inquiry, as well as renewed pleas to bring all remaining detainees to Australia. | The Nauru files have revealed the extent of the trauma and abuse which occurred over more than two years, and sparked calls for a royal commission or federal inquiry, as well as renewed pleas to bring all remaining detainees to Australia. |
| I’ll bring you all the reaction to the reports throughout the day. | I’ll bring you all the reaction to the reports throughout the day. |
| You can read our opening report on the leak, what it contains, and what it means, here. | You can read our opening report on the leak, what it contains, and what it means, here. |
| Related: The Nauru files: 2,000 leaked reports reveal scale of abuse of children in Australian offshore detention | Related: The Nauru files: 2,000 leaked reports reveal scale of abuse of children in Australian offshore detention |
| The interactive, a harrowing exploration of the documents and data, is here. | The interactive, a harrowing exploration of the documents and data, is here. |
| Related: The Nauru files: the lives of asylum seekers in detention detailed in a unique database – interactive | Related: The Nauru files: the lives of asylum seekers in detention detailed in a unique database – interactive |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.56am BST | at 2.56am BST |