Australia detains people who come to the country to seek asylum on the islands of Manus in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, a practice which has been criticized by rights groups for subjecting the detainees to inhumane conditions.
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Shorten said he still supported the offshore processing of asylum-seekers on Nauru and in PNG to dissuade others from making the risky journey to Australia, but that refugees should not be left to languish in Pacific camps indefinitely.
On Monday, Australia’s opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten said he was leading the push to have a senate inquiry into the allegations.
Guardian Australia this week published more than 2,000 leaked incident reports – running to more than 8,000 pages – which revealed a regime of routine dysfunction and cruelty, showing widespread sexual and physical abuse of men, women and children, massive rates of self-harm and suicide attempts among those detained, and harsh living conditions in indefinite detention.
The Nauru Government has since said numerous reports have been fabricated and used by refugee activists for political purposes.
“In a nutshell, the advice says that while the royal commission can’t obviously go to Nauru and exercise coercive powers on Nauru, it can look at the response of the Australian Government and its contractors to child sexual abuse that occurred on Australia’s detention centre on Nauru”, he told the ABC.
Of the asylum seekers who have had their claims assessed on Nauru, 77 per cent have been found to be refugees, that is, they have fled a “well-founded fear of persecution” and are legally owed protection.
“It’s nearly like Australia has lost its moral compass in terms of where it’s going”, he said.
An “ugly sort of politics” in Australia was apparent to Little on a visit there previous year: the type that allowed some political players to gain traction when looking “tough and heavy with asylum seekers and stateless persons”, and could explain a perception of political apathy on the subject. Added to that is the fact it’s illegal under Australian law for any doctor or health worker to speak publicly on the health or treatment of these people.
Previous year the New Zealand government suspended $NZ1.2 million from its aid budget to Nauru because of concerns about civil rights and the rule of law.
Australia sends asylum-seekers, including children, by boat to Nauru where they suffer violence, sexual assault and degrading treatment.
As federal Parliament prepares to resume on August 30, Labor believes terms of reference for the inquiry can include contributing factors to detention abuse, reporting mechanisms, internal investigations and the role of centre operators.
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“We need to get to the bottom of what is really going on”, he said on Sunday.
