Exclusive: Opposition wants Senate inquiry to ‘investigate the serious allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers’ in wake of Guardian series

Labor is to call for a wide-ranging parliamentary inquiry into the Australian government’s response to allegations of abuse and assault at the Nauru detention centre.



On Thursday Labor will introduce a motion into parliament to initiate a Senate inquiry, following the Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files. Labor will also propose examining the effect of laws that gag immigration detention whistleblowers.

We want this to be a serious inquiry, not just a tick and flick Shayne Neumann, Labor immigration spokesman

The 2,116 leaked reports set out as never before the assaults, sexual abuse, self-harm attempts, child abuse and living conditions endured by asylum seekers held by the Australian government. The have thrust into the spotlight the response of the Australian government and the private companies that manage the centres to reports of abuse and assaults, and have drawn strong international and domestic condemnation of the state of the Nauru detention centre.

The terms of the inquiry proposed by Labor are broad, and cover the Australian government’s response to the allegations and the response of the private companies that manage the detention centre. They also cover the support provided to the Nauruan government, and scrutinise the government’s attempts to resettle asylum seekers on Nauru.



The inquiry would also examine the effect of the Australian Border Force disclosure offence, a controversial new measure that could lead to whistleblowers who disclose or record specific information about the detention system facing up to two years in jail.

Shayne Neumann, Labor’s immigration spokesman, told Guardian Australia: “We want this to be a serious inquiry, not just a tick and flick. We want to make sure that witnesses can be called and people have the opportunity to give submissions.

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“Australia has an obligation to treat these people with decency and humanity. The government’s response so far has been that the reports have been hype and fabrication.”

Neumann added: “It’s timely we support this, and we want to do this by the end of March. That gives us enough time for a proper inquiry that will examine what has gone on here.”

He said he had given a copy of the motion to the Greens and crossbench senators, and had requested their support for the inquiry.

“We’re asking the crossbench to support this,” he said. “These are very serious allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers.”



The prospects of the motion succeeding appear to be likely. The Greens have already given their in-principle support for a parliamentary inquiry, and other crossbench senators expressed backing for an inquiry but reserved their decision until a formal motion was put.

The motion will be introduced in the Senate by the Labor senator Murray Watt. The motion will ask the Senate to “investigate the serious allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers in relation to the Nauru regional processing centre”.

It will include “the obligations of the commonwealth government and contractors relating to the treatment of asylum seekers, including the provision of support, capability and capacity building to Nauruan authorities”, as well as the provision of support services to asylum seekers.

It will also seek to “examine additional measures that could be implemented to expedite third-country resettlement of asylum seekers and refugees within the centre”.