As Australia’s immigration minister gave interviews that painted a positive picture of the Nauru detention centre, reports from the island told another story

The Australian government has strongly defended its immigration policy. The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has repeatedly praised the quality of care at the Nauru detention centre. Over the past 18 months he has objected to the criticism levelled at the facility and stressed that it is safe.

From pleas to threats to harm: files reveal escalation of trauma on Nauru Read more

But how does the picture presented by Dutton compare with that shown in the official incident reports published by the Guardian in the Nauru files? Although the immigration minister could not be expected to know what was happening on Nauru as he was speaking to the media, it is revealing to compare his statements with the incident reports of the time. Here’s how his comments stack up.

25 February 2015, ABC interview with Fran Kelly

What Dutton said:

Well I think the Moss inquiry had a look at the issues at a particular point in time – some grave allegations – and we will be having more to say in relation to that. But do I think processes have changed? Yes. Do I think there are greater security measures in place? Yes. There is a very high level of professionalism in terms of the providers and my own staff who are overseeing some part of the Nauru operation. And I think also that some of the people that you have referred to; some of the children you have referred to, have come to Australia because there are complicated health needs for the child or with one of the parents and the child is travelling with them.

What the Nauru files show happened on the same day:

An asylum seeker girl under the age of 10 made an allegation of a serious sexual assault. She said a man in the camp had tried to pick her up “like a baby” and put her on his lap. He also tried to “touch her on the chest and bite her on the cheek”.

When the girl told her mother, her mother said she was going to kill herself and wrapped a scarf around her neck. She then slapped her daughter and told her she was not allowed to go out.

Another asylum seeker suffered a serious medical episode as a result of an asthma attack brought on by stress and mental health issues.

20 March 2015: press conference announcing the release of the Moss report into sexual assault allegations on Nauru

What Dutton said:

I’m confident that people are safe. We have a detention network here in Australia, in fact we’ve been able to close down 11 of those centres over the course of the last 18 months, which in and of itself is a significant achievement. We have a level of training within our detention centres here in Australia, the Nauruan government has a process in place.

What the Nauru files show happened on the same day:

An asylum seeker approached a Nauru government representative to say that he and many others were afraid to go into the community “because the local security guards make threats that they will ‘get them’”. He said they were afraid to leave and such threats were made often.

23 July 2015, ABC interview with Fran Kelly

What Dutton said:

Well, Fran, just a general comment because I am not going to comment on specific cases, but the general comment that I would give to you is that we provide millions and millions of dollars of support each year to people who need medical attention, who need support, psychological support. We allow people if they can’t get medical services in Nauru or Manus, for example, then we bring them back to Australia or a third country.

What the Nauru files show happened on the same day:

An asylum seeker reported that her husband had threatened to kill her because he was jealous. She reported it to the security company and said she did not feel safe.

'People have self-immolated to get to Australia' – Peter Dutton's response to Nauru files Read more

A Save the Children caseworker noticed a number of electrical cables were missing from three televisions.

28 October 2015, interview on PM Agenda Sky News

What Dutton said:

I’ve always believed and still believe very strongly that we should provide support to Nauru, to have a compassionate and lawful arrangement in terms of the way in which we provide support to people who are in regional processing centre arrangements until they can be returned back to their country of origin. So we’ve got a compassionate approach, but at the same time we’ve been very determined to make sure that people smugglers don’t get back into business.

What the Nauru files show happened on the same day:

A guard at the Nauru detention centre was reported to have spat on a child. A Save the Children worker wrote that the child said: “Big trouble, you were not here and teacher tell us go, so we go but we come back. Guard angry when we come back and tease us. He spit at [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] have cup of milk and throw it in guard’s face. Guard go crazy on fence (did shaking motion). Other guard take him away.”