Greens commit to fighting Coalition censorship of refugee boat information

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/24/greens-fight-refugee-boat-censorship

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The Australian Greens have committed to forcing the government to dispense information about boats arriving and being turned back, claiming the immigration minister's decision to stunt the flow of updates is "rank hypocrisy".

The Greens' immigration spokeswoman, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, said she would use her position to force an order for the production of documents in the Senate, which she claimed would force the government's hand into revealing the information automatically.

"The 'hide the facts, hide the boats' policy is nothing more than rank hypocrisy from the Abbott government and shows contempt for the public," Hanson-Young said.

She added: "Boat turnarounds are dangerous and life-threatening, particularly for our Australian navy personnel and the parliament, and the public, have a right to know whether lives have been put at risk."

The Greens have said they will move for a full parliamentary inquiry into Australia's immigration detention network when parliament resumes.

The immigration and border protection minister, Scott Morrison, held the first "weekly briefing" press conference on Monday to update the media on the Coalition's hardline immigration deterrence policy, Operation Sovereign Borders. During the conference Morrison indicated he would not fully disclose operational details, meaning boat turnbacks could go unreported.

Former defence personnel have criticised Morrison's decision to censor the information.

Retired vice-admiral David Shackleton, the chief of the navy under John Howard between 1999 and 2002, called on the Coalition to keep the public informed of boat turnbacks.

"The government said before it was elected that it was going to do all these things," he told the ABC. "A measure of their success is keeping the Australian public informed and giving the public confidence that they're achieving what they said they were going to do."

A former defence department secretary, Paul Barratt, told the ABC there is "absolutely no operational reason not to inform the public" of boat turnbacks.

"The public should know when people have arrived, how many people have arrived and should know when boats are being towed back," he said.

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