Peter Dutton plays down abuse allegations and says that as Nauru is not part of Australia they are an issue for the government there

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Australia’s immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has rejected comparisons between the Nauru detention centre and Guantánamo Bay as a “ridiculous analogy” as the fallout from the publication of more than 2,000 leaked incident reports continues.

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On Wednesday the Guardian published the Nauru files, which reveal in staggering detail the scale of abuse and trauma of children in Australian offshore detention.

The publication of the files has led to renewed calls for a range of reforms of Australia’s policy of mandatory offshore detention for asylum seekers who have arrived by boat. The government has also faced growing international pressure over the release of the reports.

Dutton has declined to respond to multiple requests for comment from the Guardian.

But in a gruelling interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s 7.30 program on Thursday night he faced heavy questioning about the files from Leigh Sales, including about whether the facility was turning into a “Guantánamo Bay-style situation”.

Dutton said: “No, and with respect I think that’s a ridiculous analogy. I think the situation is that people have paid people smugglers for a migration outcome, they want to come to Australia.”

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“It’s turning into a situation where people are making a choice that they don’t want to go back to their country of origin in cases where we’re offering thousands, literally thousands and thousands of dollars for people to return to their country of origin, to provide support.”

He reiterated earlier comments he had made that he would not tolerate sexual assaults or abuse on the detention centre. But he continued to play down the seriousness of the allegations contained in the Nauru files.

“You’re talking about cases where children might not want to go to school, where children are complaining about conditions at the local park, the local beach. These form the basis of some of these complaints.”

The Guardian’s investigation revealed harrowing incidents, from a guard allegedly grabbing a boy and threatening to kill him once he was living in the community to guards allegedly slapping children in the face.

Dutton continued: “The point that I would make is that one representation of a child or a woman in any of these reports is one too many.”

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He was also pressed on the differences in responses at Nauruan and Australian facilities.

“There would be incident reports at detention centres here in Australia on a daily basis as there would be at schools, as there would be at correctional facilities, they are investigated and there is an obligation on the contractors on Nauru to report every instance,” he said.

Dutton also faced questions about the differences between the Australian government’s swift decision to establish a royal commission into the juvenile detention system in the Northern Territory and the comparatively muted response to the release of the Nauru documents. Dutton responded: “There are considerable differences … Nauru is not part of Australia, so this is an issue for the Nauruan government.”