Scott Morrison calls Destroy the Joint 'juvenile' for sending him tampons

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/scott-morrison-dismisses-tampons-juvenile-protest

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Scott Morrison has dismissed a campaign of sending tampons to his office to push for more open access to female sanitary products in detention centres as a "juvenile protest".

The immigration minister said in a press briefing on Wednesday that claims about a policy change were false, and that asylum seekers in detention had open access to sanitary products.

"That was a ridiculous protest. The policy hasn't changed. It's been the same for years. There's open access and continued access on demand, female welfare officers, all of those sorts of things," he said.

An online advocacy group, Destroy the Joint, was behind the campaign to send unused sanitary products to Morrison.

"For people to be sucked in and engage in this juvenile protest I think was very unfortunate, it is very disappointing and not the sort of thing that I would have thought that people who should be more responsible in the debate should be supporting in any way," Morrison said.

But Destroy the Joint co-ordinator Jenna Price insisted the campaign’s claims that women had had to ask guards for sanitary items, and that they were being issued one or two at a time were correct. She accused Morrison of deception about what was going on in detention centres and called on him to be more open in his responses to media inquiries.

“We spoke to many, many refugee groups who said this was a chronic problem. It doesn't happen every time at all detention centres, but it does happen,” she said.

“Politicians always complain about activists, particularly when activists embarrass them. Mr Morrison’s complaints show that approach is working and because he has been so deceptive his words will not stop the tampons until refugees are treated more humanely in Australia and offshore.

“When Mr Morrison responds appropriately to journalists’ questions and queries we will be able to be sure we know about what happens in detention.”

Morrison’s press conference on Wednesday was the first of the “as needed” Operations Sovereign Borders updates that will now occur, after he announced the end of his weekly press briefings.

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