Officials back PM`s claims about Curtin

The head of the Department of Immigration has backed Prime Minister Julia Gillard's
claims that the government never had plans to boost capacity at the Curtin detention
centre to 3000 beds.
The opposition has accused Ms Gillard of misleading Australians after she rejected
allegations on the eve of the election that the government was planning a massive
increase in beds at the centre in Western Australia to cope with an influx of asylum
seekers.
Days before the election, opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison accused
the government of having a "secret" plan to boost the centre's capacity and
circulated building plans to support his claim.
Those plans referred to a stage one development that would cater for 600 people, a
stage two expansion to 1800, and stage three works to bring the capacity to 3000
people.
Mr Morrison, who inspected Curtin last week, has since produced photographs of
earthmoving equipment at the site and evidence of recent activity.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has also accused Ms Gillard of misleading Australians
about Curtin, calling on her to explain how she could "justify saying one thing
before the election and doing exactly the opposite afterwards".
However, immigration department officials have told a Senate hearing in Canberra
that no work had been carried out on stage three and had never been requested by the
government.
Department of Immigration secretary Andrew Metcalfe said that while work had been
carried out beyond what was required for stage two, it was simply part of "prudent
contingency planning".
"In the past, the department has been accused of maladministration by not catering
for potential need into the future and was determined that the department not be
caught short into the future," Mr Metcalfe said.
"I know there was suggestions around plans for 3000 people at the centre and that's
never been, ever, a suggestion that we've had, that 3000 people might be detained
there.
"Certainly, we are fixed now on having places for 1200 people."
Department deputy secretary Bob Correll said the work was done at the suggestion of
a contractor who had been part of the stage two development.
The work was authorised by the department and not by the immigration minister or
anyone in government.
"The facts of the matter are the contractor was working on stage two," Mr Correll said.
"The contractor, who had heavy earthmoving equipment available, suggested it would
be sensible to use that earthmoving equipment to dig trenches and lay unconnected,
unserviced conduit and pipes."
The evidence provided by the two senior officials directly contradicts the
allegations made by Mr Morrison and Mr Abbott.
The development comes after the government on Monday announced plans to expand its
processing of asylum seekers on the mainland to cope with the more than 5000 people
now in immigration detention in Australia.
It was also announced that children and vulnerable family groups would be moved into
community based accommodation instead of being housed at immigration facilities.
In the wake of the announcement, Ms Gillard on Tuesday turned to the words of former
Liberal prime minister John Howard in an attempt to shoot down an accusation from Mr
Morrison that the changes amounted to a "softening" of border protection policy.
"What we will have, even more so after these changes, are a mandatory detention
system with a softer edge but nonetheless a mandatory detention system," Ms Gillard
said.
The prime minister was quoting Mr Howard in June 2005 when the coalition moved
children from behind razor wire into less secure, family-based detention facilities.
"The shadow minister would not be contending to this place that John Howard was soft
on border protection," she said.
"The opposition cannot play this both ways."