THE HON RICHARD MARLES MPSHADOW MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTIONMEMBER FOR CORIO

E&OE TRANSCRIPTPRESS CONFERENCEMELBOURNESATURDAY, 21 MARCH 2015SUBJECT/S: The Moss ReviewRICHARD MARLES, SHADOW MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION: In the last 24 hours, the handling of the Moss review represents an appalling low even for this Government. The Moss review details serious allegations of sexual assault within the detention facilities on Nauru. The Moss review finds that the testimony of asylum seekers is convincing and it concludes that the degree of sexual assault within these detention facilities is being under-reported. This is quite evidently shocking. Now when these allegations first surfaced last year, the then Minister for Immigration, Scott Morrison, in typical style, sought to shoot the messenger. He said, and I quote "the public don't want to be played for mugs with allegations being used as some sort of political tactic". Without properly speaking to Save the Children, 10 of its staff were removed from Nauru, the implication being that they had been involved in inciting protest. And all of that was provided to editors of newspapers here in Australia before the Government sat down with Save the Children itself. The Moss review makes perfectly clear that these actions of the Government were a disgrace. And what the Moss review really shows is that this is a Government more concerned about the potential for protest than it is about the sexual assault of minors. This is a Government which has lost its moral compass and then to seek to bury this review, yesterday afternoon, effectively in the dead of night, after what that morning had become a solemn day for our nation, is a disgrace. When the Minister accompanied the release of this review with the words "that this Government has a good story to tell", it shows that this Minister has lost any connection between the difference of right and wrong. Now Labor supports offshore processing because we wanted to see an end to the tragedy of people losing their lives at sea. But that does not mean that asylum seekers are the enemy and if we owe asylum seekers anything, and we do, it is that the facilities that we provide afford asylum seekers with safe, dignified and humane refuge. And so long as there is sexual assault going on within them, then that is an obligation which Australia is failing to meet.What the Moss review really shows is that it is this Government which is actually playing the Australian people for mugs and I think any fair minded Australian would expect that this Government would sit down with grave respect and listen to the allegations of sexual assault which are being made by asylum seekers and then to act and that is precisely what the Australian people expect this Government now to do. Are there any questions?JOURNALIST: The policy of secrecy over Asylum Seekers is something that Labor has abided by too. Would you contend to that? MARLES: We have been complaining about the secrecy which has shrouded this whole area of policy since the beginning of Operation Sovereign Borders. And in that respect there was a stark difference by the way in which this Government has gone about managing this area of policy compared with the way in which Labor went about the way of managing this area of policy.It is really important that when allegations of this gravity are being made that rather than seek to bury them, to walk away from them, the Government actually takes responsibility for them and stops trying to blame everybody else.JOURNALIST: Do you believe that the Government coincided the release of the Moss report with the death of the former Prime Minister?MARLES: This report has been on the Ministers desk for the better part of a month. In that period of time, we have had a number of weeks of Parliamentary sitting. It was expected by all in the sector that this report was going to be released a couple of weeks ago. Then we see it being released yesterday afternoon, after that morning and yesterday had become a most solemn day for our nation. I will let you draw your own conclusions in respect of that question.JOURNALIST: The Government commissioned this independent review and promised to implement all 19 recommendations. Isnt that good enough? MARLES: We would expect nothing less than the Government to implement the recommendations of this review. But we need for the Government to give the Australia people a sense of confidence that every person within these detention facilities is safe, that every child in these detention facilities is safe and to ensure that we do not see sexual assault occurring within this detention facility. And I would make this point what the Moss Review makes clear is that the fact people are living in tents, almost 18 months after this government took office because of a decision, a punitive decision, that the former Minister for Immigration took in respect to this facility goes to the heart of the question of security of people within the facility. Now I want to hear what the Government intends to do in respect of that.JOURNALIST: Labor of course, reopened the camps in Nauru in 2012, how much responsibility do you think the Party bears for the failings identified in this report?MARLES: Let me be perfectly clear, this report is difficult reading for any party which has been involved in the establishment of the facility on Nauru, Im perfectly happy to say that. But Labor is not standing here saying that there is nothing to see here, which is effectively the stance of this Government. We see that people are living in tents almost 18 months after this Government came to power. It was absolutely the intention of Labor that those facilities which were in tents would be hard walled standard so that security could be put in place. It was this Government which put the brakes on that in a punitive decision to try and create an act of deterrence and that was an appalling decision to take. But what we actually need to see now from this Government is them taking responsibility for what is occurring on Nauru and to do something about it, rather than to point the finger and to blame everyone else.JOURNALIST: Would Labor give more access to the centres to media and independent monitoring, it previously didnt give access to media? MARLES: We would be doing everything we could within our power to make these facilities and their operation as transparent as possible to the Australian public and obviously the media is completely involved in that. JOURNALIST: Given the cost of responding to these 19 recommendations is it time to close Nauru do you think?MARLES: Nauru and Manus offshore processing has played a critical role in saving lives at sea, thats why we support it. But the real issue here is about ensuring that these facilities are facilities which are affording those people within them safe, dignified and humane refuge. What we need to see from this Government is steps that they intend to take which can give every Australian a sense of confidence that that is the way in which these facilities are operating. JOURNALIST: What should be immediately done? Whats the first point?MARLES: Well I think we all want to know that everybody in those facilities are safe. It is really for the Government now who I might say have had this report on their desk for the better part of a month to come out and detail how they intend to give the Australian people a sense of confidence that people within those facilities are safe. JOURNALIST: Do you think the Government of Nauru has the capacity to properly investigate the allegations of sexual assault and child abuse? MARLES: The report details a number of ways in which there can be better coordination between the authorities within the detention facility and the authorities, including the police of the Government of Nauru. I think better coordination between those authorities and the Government of Nauru will help enhance the capacity of the Nauruan Police to investigate allegations of this kind and indeed that is a finding of the Moss Review. JOURNALIST: The Government have said that the AFP and the Department will work with Nauru to build capacity. Isnt that good enough? MARLES: The Government should absolutely be working with the AFP and the Government of Nauru, the Nauruan Police Force to make sure the coordination is as best as it can possibly be, and to help build the capacity of the Nauruan Police Force. They need to do that. But right now, we need to have a sense of confidence that this Government is going to take steps to ensure that everyone in that facility is safe and Ive got to say attempting to bury this report as the Government did yesterday afternoon does not inspire that confidence at all. JOURNALIST: Have you read Mark Cormacks comments to New Matilda? MARLES: Im aware of the comments that hes made?JOURNALIST: What do you make of them?MARLES: I think the comments he has made to New Matilda raise very serious questions. There are questions now about why those comments arent contained within the Moss Review. This is a government which has a track record of shooting the messenger, of not taking responsibility itself and blaming everybody else that it can absolutely find. Lets be clear, if were talking about what occurred on Manus Island just over a year ago with the death of Reza Barati, the key finding of the Cornall Report was that it was a failure of timely processing which built up a sense of disconsternation amongst the detainees on Manus. Now that was all about this Governments failure to engage with the Government of Papua New Guinea around the question of resettlement. It was the Governments actions, not those of service providers specifically, but the Governments actions which were at the heart of what happened in respect of Manus Island. And if we go to the question of Nauru what the Moss Review shows is the fact that people are still living in tents 18 months after is a real issue. Thats a decision of this Government. Its their actions, not those, particularly of people from Save The Children, and I think the comments that you refer to bear out the fact that this is a government which is looking everywhere else other than itself to resolve its problems and we need to hear from the Minister now about his response to the report and to the comments that youve just referred.JOURNALIST: Yesterday the Prime Minister was asked on 2GB about the Moss Review and said occasionally things happen. What do you make of that?MARLES: This Prime Minister needs to think before he speaks. To dismiss what has occurred here as being the proverbial happening as he has done in the past is to utterly miss the point. Rather than to seek to blame everyone else, rather than to say there is nothing to see here, the Prime Minister and his government need to take responsibility for what is going on, to listen to these allegations and then to act. I think thats what the Australian people would want to hear this Prime Minister display rather than making the ridiculous comments which he did yesterday.Thank you. ENDS