Christmas Islanders 'kept in the dark'

Christmas Islanders have appealed to the federal government to keep them better
informed about arrivals of asylum seekers and the use of the island to process them.

A boatload of 73 suspected asylum seekers and four crew is on its way to the island
after being intercepted near Ashmore Reef off Australia's northwest coast on Sunday.
The group will undergo health and security checks before being allocated
accommodation in the island's detention centre or in another facility set aside for
families.
It is the 13th boat carrying suspected asylum seekers to be intercepted in
Australian waters this year, and will take the number detained on the island to
around 540.
An immigration department (DIDAC) spokesman says that is well below the island's
1,246 bed capacity.
But Christmas Island Shire president Gordon Thompson said a doubling of the current
numbers would require hundreds of more immigration officials and lead to "a new
logistical set-up".
"If more boats arrive, the government must look at its (immigration) policy," Mr
Thompson said.
"Are you going to retain the excise zone (under which Christmas Island was excised
from Australia's migration zone in 2001) or are you going to start shifting
operations to the mainland?
"They need to make contingency plans."
He said the government was failing to keep residents informed about new boatloads of
arrivals and operations affecting the local population.
About 150 residents had last week voiced their disapproval of the government's
handling of matters at a meeting to discuss the pressures associated with increasing
numbers of people on the island, Mr Thompson said.
"They were mostly complaining about the allocations of priorities in terms of
freight and services," he said.
"There were complaints the department staff were hiring all the hire cars, that the
price of food was going up while the quantities went down because (DIDAC) was
exhausting the supply more quickly."
But he said shortages would happen "whether the refugees are here or not", and "it's
a bit hard to blame the department".
Mr Thompson said the meeting had succeeded in winning an assurance from the
government that it would appoint a community liaison officer to improve
communication between the department and residents.
"It's necessary to prevent the department operating blindly in isolation from the
community," Mr Thompson said.
"It was their response to the public criticism and the recognition that there are
impacts that must be considered in order to smooth the relationship.
"I would want them to appoint someone from the community."
Mr Thompson said improving the channels of information should begin with the
announcement of new boat arrivals.
"I find out a boat is on its way when I get calls from the media," Mr Thompson said.
"If I'm going to be fielding these inquiries, why can't they tell us when they first
know, rather than me telling the ABC or AAP that I know nothing about it?"