Petro Georgiou had commenced drafting a Private Members Bill to amend the Migration Act. Once the drafting was complete, the group met with the Prime Minister to advise their intentions. To avoid the embarrassment of a split on the benches, the Prime Minister asked for time to speak to his cabinet colleagues. 46 During the hiatus, the mistaken and unlawful detention of two Australian citizens, Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez Solon, aroused considerable public disquiet and sympathy. Cornelia Rau was erroneously held in immigration detention for ten months and Vivian Alvarez Solon wrongly deported and ‘dumped’ at the Manila airport in a wheelchair. Inquiries into both cases led to a damning exposé of inadequate care, lack of openness and scrutiny in the system and the pervasive culture of ‘denial and self justification’ within the Department of Immigration. 47 48 Public alarm over detainees covertly held indefinitely heightened with the case of Peter Qasim, a stateless person detained for seven years. Qasim’s case became a cause célèbre when it was taken up by prominent businessman Dick Smith. The Sydney Morning Herald revealed the government’s decision to soften its hard line on mandatory detention. Under a headline Free at last, but a prisoner still of his tortured mind, it disclosed that Mr Qasim would be one of 50 people locked up for more than two years, who would now be summarily released on bridging visas.49 Intense pressure from church, non-government organisations and a growing number of web-based social media commentators exerted growing pressure on government to change the policy. The threat of a private members bill was a crucial element in the The government government’s turnabout. 50 announced that ‘a child shall only be detained as a matter of last resort.’51 The Ombudsman was to review cases of detainees who had been in detention for more than two years and make recommendations about their release. The Minister was required to report the recommendations to Parliament within 15 days, but could not be compelled to act on them.52 Other elements of the changes forced by the 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 20 backbenchers included an agreement to place time limits on the processing of protection visa applications and offer the existing 4000 refugees on TPVs permanent protection within 90 days.53 Winding Forward, Winding Back In 2007 the Rudd Labor government was elected. As the boats slowed, the new government made good its election promise to dismantle the ‘Pacific Solution’.54 It ended TPVs and abolished detention charges.55 Mandatory detention and ‘excision’ of the migration zones remained firmly in place. Two years later, boat arrivals bounded from 7 in 2008 to 60. A deepening sense of panic gripped the government. A withering attack was unleashed by the Opposition accusing the government of not protecting the borders and encouraging smugglers. The government suspended processing refugees from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka claiming that the situation in both jurisdictions was evolving and that [the] ‘Taliban’s fall, durable security in parts of the country and constitutional and legal reform to protect minorities’ rights have improved their circumstances.’ This led to increased periods of detention, overcrowding and outbreaks of violence. Incarcerated children became a resurgent issue. Flagging polls, further boat arrivals and a relentless campaign by the Opposition were among the issues which led to a change of leadership from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard on June 24, 2010. With an election imminent, the new Prime Minister cast about for her own version of the ‘Pacific Solution’. Senior political journalist Michelle Grattan reported ‘the dog whistle is sounding like a wolf howl’ and quoted part of Gillard’s speech announcing the latest proposal: ‘Hardworking Australians wanted to know refugees settled here weren’t getting special treatment. People like my own [migrant] parents who have worked hard all their lives can’t abide the idea that others might get an inside track to special privileges.’ 56 A month later the Prime Minister’s plan to send asylum seekers to East Timor had been rejected by their Parliament.57 Ross Peake, National Affairs writer, PM in bid to head off rebels, Canberra Times, June 13, 2005. Commonwealth Ombudsman, Inquiry into the Circumstances of the Vivian Alvarez Matter, 2005 Australian Parliament. Mick Palmer, Inquiry into the Circumstances of the Immigration Detention of Cornelia Rau, Report, Commonwealth of Australia, 2005. Joseph Kerr, Sydney Morning Herald, June 21, 2005. Samantha Maiden and Michelle Wiese Brockman, Howard to Free Families and Limit Detention. The Australian newspaper, June 14, 2005. Migration Amendment Regulations 2005 (No 2) Australian Parliament. The changes allowed the Minister to make a residence determination to allow people awaiting the outcome of an asylum claim to reside in the community. The Ombudsman also had the power to make recommendations into the management of the detainee caseload. Petro Georgiou MP, Speech, Hansard Australian Parliament 2005. The Hon Chris Bowen Minister for Immigration, Speech to Australian National University July 29, 2008 New Directions in Detention – Restoring the Integrity to Australia’s Immigration System . It also distinguished all outstanding debts, arguing that the policy was ineffective as only 4% of the ‘debts’ had ever been recovered. Michelle Grattan, It is Not a Good Time to Seek Asylum, The Age, July 2010. Paul Toohey, Prime Minister Julia Gillard Backs Away From Plan for East Timor Processing Centre for Asylum Seekers, the Advertiser, July 14, 2010. Prison Service Journal Issue 205