Curtin shows Rudd can't stop boats: Libs

The federal government has rejected suggestions the continued influx of asylum
seekers could pave the way for the re-opening of South Australia's Baxter Detention
Centre.
Human rights groups have already condemned a decision to reopen an isolated
detention centre in Western Australia - at Curtin Air Base in the Kimberley region -
as the government seeks to cope with a swelling number of detainees on Christmas
Island.
As authorities began moving almost 200 detainees to the mainland, concerns were
raised about the potential for the Baxter Detention Centre, near Port Augusta, to
also be recommissioned.
The development came as a stand-off between Indonesian authorities and a group of
Sri Lankan asylum seekers in the Javan port of Merak finally ended after six months.
Australian authorities on Monday were set to transfer another 120 detainees from
Christmas Island to Darwin, following 70 which began the process on Sunday. Another
60 unaccompanied minors were being moved into residential housing in Port Augusta.
The decision to re-open the Curtin facility and the transfer of unaccompanied minors
to Port Augusta has raised concerns about the potential for the former Baxter
Detention Centre to also be used again.
A spokeswoman for the Immigration Minister Chris Evans dismissed the concerns,
telling AAP there were no plans to reopen Baxter, which is also on Defence land.
But the mayor of Port Augusta, Joy Baluch, appeared sceptical about whether or not
the government would renege on a pledge to keep Baxter closed.
"They're stupid enough to do it aren't they? They are looking at opening a detention
centre in the northwest of Western Australia. Once again, far away from all
resources," she told ABC Radio on Monday.
The comments came as refugee advocates, including the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Amnesty International, criticised the Curtin
move.
UNHCR regional representative Richard Towle said it would have a negative impact on
the asylum seekers' health and wellbeing.
"The combination of mandatory detention, suspension of asylum claims and the
geographical isolation of detention facilities such as Curtin Air Force Base in
Western Australia - all without any effective judicial oversight - is a deeply
troubling set of factors," he said.
Amnesty International refugee co-ordinator Graham Thom described the move as
deplorable.
"The Australian government's decision to reopen the centre in far northwest
Australia completely ignores the clear evidence showing that remote detention has an
extremely detrimental impact on asylum seekers," he said.
"The extreme remoteness of Curtin will limit their access to health, counselling and
legal services, and greatly increase the negative psychological impact of prolonged
detention."
Curtin, closed in 2002 following riots, will be used to house up to 300 asylum
seekers affected by the freeze on processing claims by Afghanistan and Sri Lankan
asylum seekers.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the federal government's failure to stop the flow
of asylum seeker boats has forced the reopening of the Curtin centre.
"If Prime Minister Kevin Rudd could stop the boats then Curtin wouldn't be needed,"
Mr Abbott told reporters in Perth on Monday.
"The difference between Mr Rudd and the former government is that the former
government stopped the boats.
"Sure it's good to stop overcrowding on Christmas Island but wouldn't it be better
to stop the boats coming?
"Mr Rudd can't do that, he's completely lost control of our borders."
South Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says taxpayers will be hit in the
hip pocket over the policy change.
She said the government would not answer questions on the cost of refurbishing the
Curtin centre but the Christmas Island detention centre cost a minimum of $10
million a year to maintain.
The cost of housing just over 500 detainees on the island between October 2008 and
August 2009 was $32 million - and now numbers had swollen to more than 2000.
The government refuses to reveal how much it costs to house detainees despite
requests from the Greens, she said.
The difference between the Rudd government's management and approach to asylum
seekers to that of John Howard is barely visible, Senator Hanson-Young added.
"The only difference between Kevin Rudd's policies and John Howard's policies is
that Kevin Rudd promised not to do it and now here he is re-implementing some of the
worst parts of the Howard government's regime when it came to asylum seekers," she
told reporters in Adelaide.
"I think the fact the government has broken so many promises on this issue and is
now prepared to put the lives of vulnerable people at risk I don't believe they are
not considering reopening any of the facilities.
"I think it's fairly clear that if the government wanted to re-open Baxter (in SA),
Port Hedland (in WA) or any of the others, just as they've announced on Curtin
detention centre, they could.
"This is a government who said no more indefinite detention, no more detention of
children, yet here we are seeing them opening desert prisons."
Meanwhile, another group of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, stopped en route to
Australia six months ago, were also on the move on Monday.
The 253 ethnic Tamils were headed for Australia last October when Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd called on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to stop their
vessel in Indonesian waters.
The group, now numbering less than 200, will be taken to the Australia-funded
Tanjung Pinang Detention Centre, on the island of Bintan.
It is the same place the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers involved in last year's
Oceanic Viking stand-off were taken before being resettled under a special federal
government deal.