So much about what happened to these men, and to the more than 1000 others we have sent to the island detention centre, is shrouded in mystery thanks to this government's bald-faced refusal to make itself accountable for its offshore asylum policies. (Highlighting the sometimes ridiculous nature of this new secrecy was Morrison's refusal on Tuesday to even identify the state where an asylum seeker who suffered a fractured skull after the riot had been taken: ''I'm not about to disclose his location because I don't think that's going to assist with his treatment.'') But the minister is right about one thing: under the terms of the asylum-seeker agreement between Australia and Papua New Guinea, we have very little control over what happens to asylum seekers once they leave the centre. Human misery has become big business, and in the process - and to our shame - Australia has abdicated its responsibility. Under the hasty agreement then-prime minister Kevin Rudd signed with his PNG counterpart Peter O'Neill two months before last year's election, there is no obligation on PNG to keep asylum seekers Australia sends there safe. When it comes to the protection of asylum seekers, the agreement only states: ''Australia and Papua New Guinea take seriously their obligations for the welfare and safety of any persons transferred to Papua New Guinea under the life of this agreement.''

Let's bear in mind that, according to the Department of Immigration, the vast majority of these people would have been found to be refugees if we had processed them here. From 2010-11 to 2012-13, between 80 and 90.3 per cent of people who arrived in Australia by boat were later found to be refugees and to have the right to our protection. But the Australia-PNG agreement has become more than just about asylum seekers; it is big business. Announcing the agreement with O'Neill by his side, Rudd said he would make ''no apology'' for waving foreign aid at our impoverished neighbour to take our asylum seekers. Human misery has become big business, and in the process – and to our shame – Australia has abdicated its responsibility. ''I want to be clear with everyone both within Australia and Papua New Guinea that Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has decided to help Australia with a problem we face … I want to be equally clear with people in Australia and PNG that our government is also helping PNG deal with the problems that they face. That's what friends are for and that's what friends do for each other, and we make no apology for that.''

Under this agreement, Australia agreed to almost double its aid contribution to PNG, funnelling $420 million extra into overseas development aid over four years, including $207 million to rebuild the Lae hospital and $132 million to deploy 50 Australian Federal Police officers to advise and mentor local police. But Australia's foreign aid organisations say not only do we have little control over what happens outside the wire fences surrounding the people we send to Manus Island, we have too little control over what happens to the aid money we send there. In 2011, an independent review of the effectiveness of Australia's aid found that PNG ''remains a difficult environment, with poor governance and growing corruption, all of which hamper aid effectiveness''. Marc Purcell, executive director of the Australian Council for International Development, says the asylum-seeker aid inducement is unlikely to reduce poverty and help people in most need. ''O'Neill had Rudd over the barrel of a gun and the Australians bent over and agreed to everything PNG wanted,'' he said. ''None of this is a good use of taxpayers' money, or an effective means of alleviating poverty.'' In the wake of the violence at the Manus centre, the Greens called for a royal commission into the management of Australia's offshore processing centres. Labor leader Bill Shorten called for the government to ''dispense with its addiction to secrecy'', but would not back the move.

Of our aid spending, Purcell said: ''The government should institute a comprehensive review of aid to PNG to make sure we're doing what we can to effectively help the people of PNG.'' Loading But it seems unlikely that the secrecy shrouding what happens in our name on Manus Island will be lifted in the near future. Bianca Hall is The Sunday Age political correspondent.