ELIZABETH JACKSON: Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has sought legal advice, following allegations that she was spied on by Wilson Security guards inside her hotel room during a visit to the Nauru Detention Centre.
The Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Richard Marles, today is demanding to know whether the Australian Government authorised the alleged covert spying operation.
The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, has called for a Federal Police investigation into the incident.
Mandie Sami reports it all comes as the Government denies separate damning claims by an Australian guard that asylum seekers at the Nauru detention centre have been water-boarded.
MANDIE SAMI: The Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Richard Marles, says he's deeply disturbed by allegations that Senator Sarah Hanson-Young was spied on during her visit to Nauru in December 2013.
RICHARD MARLES: We need to hear from the Minister straight away about what has occurred here. This is an appalling state of affairs.
And what we're talking about here is an Australian senator who has gone to these facilities, and there is an account coming out of Wilson's itself, saying that she was the subject of surveillance. Of course, if this was in any way authorised by the Government, it is an absolute disgrace.
MANDIE SAMI: Australian company Wilson Security is engaged as a subcontractor.
The allegation is Wilson Security organised a team to spy on the senator, who's an outspoken opponent of immigration detention.
The company's submission to a Senate Inquiry into conditions on Nauru strongly rejected the allegation that it organised a team to spy on the senator.
But that's been contradicted by the guards, who say that surveillance involved up to eight members of the Emergency Response Team and continued for the senator's full three-day stay on Nauru.
Richard Marles is demanding the Government get to the bottom of what really happened and disclose it to the public.
RICHARD MARLES: Did surveillance of Senator Hanson-Young occur? If it did, did they authorise it? And if they did not, what do they intend to do in respect of Wilson's if this has occurred?
That's what we need to hear from the Government right now. All we are hearing is a deafening silence and it's simply not good enough.
MANDIE SAMI: Jacob Varghese from Maurice Blackburn is the principal lawyer representing Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. He says she's contemplating taking legal action.
JACOB VARGHESE: The main concern is to get to the facts of the matter because there are significant discrepancies between what we're being told by anonymous whistleblowers and what we're being told by the Government and Wilson Security.
So the main concern at the moment is to get those facts straight, work out what is the right story, what did go on. And then there'll be a range of legal remedies that Senator Hanson-Young might want to consider and that's something we'll advise her on at that time.
So we can't just take their denials and assertions that things didn't happen at their face. I mean, that's not just the case with this issue: that's the case with a lot of things that have happened on Nauru.
There's been a sort of pattern of denial and assertions that turn out not to be true in relation to the treatment of asylum seekers as well. So I think everyone has a right to be concerned to make sure that the facts come out.
MANDIE SAMI: How has the senator been affected by this? Obviously, I mean, is it taking a personal toll?
JACOB VARGHESE: Oh, look, I don't think there's any doubt that it's pretty alarming to find out that people have been spying on you and that it's even stranger to not know how far it went with different stories going around about how far it went.
So I'm dealing with Senator Hanson-Young as her lawyer, not as a confidante or friend. But I think from my own experience, she'd have every right to feel very concerned and upset about what happened.
MANDIE SAMI: When the spying allegations first emerged, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton rejected them as complete nonsense.
Saturday AM contacted his office to see whether he stood by that statement in light of the new allegations by former Wilson Security staff.
It hasn't yet received a response.
Separately, a spokesman for Mr Dutton did respond to allegations that asylum seekers at the Nauru Detention Centre have been water-boarded.
The unnamed Australian whistleblower, who works for Wilson Security, made the torture allegations in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry examining abuse at the centre.
Here's the written response from Mr Dutton's office:
STATEMENT FROM PETER DUTTON'S OFFICE (voiceover): No claims of this type have been made to the Government or brought to its attention.
The submission to the Senate Committee makes numerous, unsubstantiated assertions.
MANDIE SAMI: Both Transfield Services and Wilson Security have also denied the allegations.
The Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Richard Marles, today is demanding to know whether the Australian Government authorised the alleged covert spying operation.
The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, has called for a Federal Police investigation into the incident.
Mandie Sami reports it all comes as the Government denies separate damning claims by an Australian guard that asylum seekers at the Nauru detention centre have been water-boarded.
MANDIE SAMI: The Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Richard Marles, says he's deeply disturbed by allegations that Senator Sarah Hanson-Young was spied on during her visit to Nauru in December 2013.
RICHARD MARLES: We need to hear from the Minister straight away about what has occurred here. This is an appalling state of affairs.
And what we're talking about here is an Australian senator who has gone to these facilities, and there is an account coming out of Wilson's itself, saying that she was the subject of surveillance. Of course, if this was in any way authorised by the Government, it is an absolute disgrace.
MANDIE SAMI: Australian company Wilson Security is engaged as a subcontractor.
The allegation is Wilson Security organised a team to spy on the senator, who's an outspoken opponent of immigration detention.
The company's submission to a Senate Inquiry into conditions on Nauru strongly rejected the allegation that it organised a team to spy on the senator.
But that's been contradicted by the guards, who say that surveillance involved up to eight members of the Emergency Response Team and continued for the senator's full three-day stay on Nauru.
Richard Marles is demanding the Government get to the bottom of what really happened and disclose it to the public.
RICHARD MARLES: Did surveillance of Senator Hanson-Young occur? If it did, did they authorise it? And if they did not, what do they intend to do in respect of Wilson's if this has occurred?
That's what we need to hear from the Government right now. All we are hearing is a deafening silence and it's simply not good enough.
MANDIE SAMI: Jacob Varghese from Maurice Blackburn is the principal lawyer representing Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. He says she's contemplating taking legal action.
JACOB VARGHESE: The main concern is to get to the facts of the matter because there are significant discrepancies between what we're being told by anonymous whistleblowers and what we're being told by the Government and Wilson Security.
So the main concern at the moment is to get those facts straight, work out what is the right story, what did go on. And then there'll be a range of legal remedies that Senator Hanson-Young might want to consider and that's something we'll advise her on at that time.
So we can't just take their denials and assertions that things didn't happen at their face. I mean, that's not just the case with this issue: that's the case with a lot of things that have happened on Nauru.
There's been a sort of pattern of denial and assertions that turn out not to be true in relation to the treatment of asylum seekers as well. So I think everyone has a right to be concerned to make sure that the facts come out.
MANDIE SAMI: How has the senator been affected by this? Obviously, I mean, is it taking a personal toll?
JACOB VARGHESE: Oh, look, I don't think there's any doubt that it's pretty alarming to find out that people have been spying on you and that it's even stranger to not know how far it went with different stories going around about how far it went.
So I'm dealing with Senator Hanson-Young as her lawyer, not as a confidante or friend. But I think from my own experience, she'd have every right to feel very concerned and upset about what happened.
MANDIE SAMI: When the spying allegations first emerged, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton rejected them as complete nonsense.
Saturday AM contacted his office to see whether he stood by that statement in light of the new allegations by former Wilson Security staff.
It hasn't yet received a response.
Separately, a spokesman for Mr Dutton did respond to allegations that asylum seekers at the Nauru Detention Centre have been water-boarded.
The unnamed Australian whistleblower, who works for Wilson Security, made the torture allegations in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry examining abuse at the centre.
Here's the written response from Mr Dutton's office:
STATEMENT FROM PETER DUTTON'S OFFICE (voiceover): No claims of this type have been made to the Government or brought to its attention.
The submission to the Senate Committee makes numerous, unsubstantiated assertions.
MANDIE SAMI: Both Transfield Services and Wilson Security have also denied the allegations.
No comments:
Post a Comment