Nauru transcript exposes Albanese Government secrecy over billions in offshore spending

MEDIA RELEASE
Monday 24 November

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) is calling on the Albanese Government to explain why it has been hiding the contents of a newly released English transcript of a February 17 interview with Nauruan President David Adeang, in an extraordinary example of their ongoing secrecy about the billions in taxpayer dollars they are spending on offshore processing.

The Government refused to release a separate transcript under FOI and also refused to give it to the Senate, deepening already serious concerns about transparency. As a last resort to get the information on the public record, tonight Senators David Pocock and David Shoebridge have read an English transcript of the interview onto the Senate Hansard under Parliamentary privilege.

The transcript confirms for the first time that Nauru intends to return people to their countries of origin “if they find a way,” despite these being people Australia has not removed because they are refugees, stateless or cannot be removed for other reasons. This means Australia appears to be effectively outsourcing refoulement – meaning sending people back to harm – by enabling another country to carry out removals that Australia is legally prohibited from undertaking.

President Adeang states that these individuals have been living safely in the Australian community. As such, Australians deserve to know why the Government is spending up to seven billion dollars to punish them offshore. The transcript also reveals that negotiations for the new offshore agreement have been underway since last year, contradicting the Albanese Government’s public statements and raising questions about why these details were kept from Australians.

The President of Nauru has given his own media more clarity about the deal than the Australian Government has provided to the Australian public, to whom the Australian government only announced the deal in August this year.

Ogy Simic, Head of Advocacy from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said, “Two different stories are now on the record. One is being told to the people of Nauru, and another to the people of Australia. Either the Nauruan President is being dishonest, the Albanese Government is being dishonest, or Australia has misled Nauru. No matter which version is true, it exposes a system marked by secrecy, confusion, a lack of accountability and an extremely high risk of corruption.”

The Government’s secrecy on these issues is part of a wider pattern of corruption and cover-ups that have plagued offshore processing for more than a decade. Millions of taxpayer dollars have flowed through secretive contracts linked to fraud, bikie gangs, and mismanagement. An expose by 60 minutes has recently revealed in detail that one of the contracts for this arrangement was given to a company run by members of the Finks bikie gang. Billions have now disappeared into a system built on cruelty and deception.

“Australians expect integrity and transparency, yet the Government is withholding key information about a policy that carries profound human and financial consequences,” said Ogy Simic, Head of Advocacy at the ASRC. “The fact that Nauru’s President was more transparent with the Nauruan media than the Australian Government has been with the public and the media is deeply alarming.”

“This secrecy is exactly what Labor criticised the Coalition about when they were in opposition: dodgy contracts, secrecy, and cover-ups that erode public trust. When governments operate like this, we know that abuse and corruption thrive.”

The ASRC is calling on the Albanese Government to release all contracts, correspondence, and agreements related to offshore processing and offshore warehousing in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. It also calls on the Government to end offshore detention and stop outsourcing Australia’s legal responsibilities to other nations. A humane, transparent onshore system would protect people’s safety, save taxpayer money, and restore integrity to Australia’s refugee program.

For media inquiries or interviews 

Contact Natasha Blucher on 0412 034 821 or media@asrc.org.au 

The full translated transcript is available here.

A version of the full video of the interview, subtitled in English can be viewed here.