Ministerial Statement

INVERBRACKIE DETENTION FACILITY

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:03): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: On Monday 18 October, while I was at a community cabinet meeting in the northern suburbs, I received a phone call from the Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, informing me of the federal government's intention to open a low security detention facility at Inverbrackie in the Adelaide Hills. I am told that up to 400 asylum seekers—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! We will listen to the Premier in silence, please.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —assessed as low risk and therefore assessed by the commonwealth to be of no threat to the community, will be housed at Inverbrackie for a short time, during which officials will determine whether they qualify for settlement in Australia. The new facility will utilise the former Woodside Army barracks housing precinct—a commonwealth-owned facility.

A number of unaccompanied minors and 'at risk' families, including some of those initially housed at Inverbrackie, will be placed into community-based accommodation run by churches and charity groups, under the supervision of the federal Department of Immigration. The Inverbrackie detention facility is one of a number being planned across Australia as part of the Gillard government's long-term strategy on immigration detention. Other facilities include a new detention facility for 1,500 people near Perth, contingency plans for a facility near Darwin, and the expansion of the Melbourne transit accommodation facility. I am told that the Inverbrackie detention facility will be run by the private company, Serco.

I agree that a lack of notice, a shortage of detail and uncertainty about how the facility will impact on the local community in this area of the Adelaide Hills is fuelling community concern, and I have had discussions just a short time ago with the Minister for Immigration (but I will get onto that in a moment). That is why I have requested the Department of the Premier and Cabinet to convene a high-level group to coordinate and oversee the state government's position for discussions with both the commonwealth and the Adelaide Hills Council. All relevant government agencies have nominated senior representative to support the group, and its first meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow. Representatives of the commonwealth and Adelaide Hills Council will be present at the meeting.

I am informed that the commonwealth will have a particularly keen interest in the state providing services in schooling—and I will come back to that issue—along with services related to health, policing, English language classes, family support and, later, housing, disability and community integration services. I can assure the house that the full cost of all state services provided to these families will be borne by the commonwealth. There is much that must be discussed and negotiated before the asylum seekers begin arriving in December. Consultation with the local community should and must be an ongoing process.

I am informed that up to 200 children will be housed at Inverbrackie. The length of their stay at the facility could, I understand, range from between 12 months to as short as six weeks. This poses special challenges in the provision of education for the children, especially given that most of them, as I understand it, will not speak English. At a meeting between our state's education and federal immigration department officials on 22 October, we were informed that all children up to the age of 16 should be schooled and that those above that age should be provided with education support. The commonwealth has made it clear that it would fully fund the cost of extra teachers, equipment, school support officers' time, travel, demountable buildings and uniforms—whatever is necessary. However, I am told that schools would not be forced to take students.

It is especially important that while the children at Inverbrackie are provided with an education it should not be to the detriment of local school students. To that end, I spoke with the federal Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, earlier this afternoon, and he told me that there were a number of options being considered for the children's schooling. The federal minister said that the commonwealth government has been approached by a number of independent schools in South Australia that are generously offering to take Inverbrackie students, and so federal officials are happy to sit down and talk with them. There is also the possibility of other public schools with excess capacity that could be considered.

If none of those options is suitable, the federal minister told me earlier this afternoon that the commonwealth will pay teachers to come to the facility so that students can be taught on site. Whichever option is settled on, my view is that the local community should be fully consulted while being provided with accurate and timely information in a clear manner. Minister Bowen told me that, in addition, the commonwealth will arrange all necessary medical support that will have—and I quote the minister, just an hour or so ago—'zero impact' on the local community, with medical attention by doctors, specialists and nurses occurring on site, paid for entirely by the commonwealth.

In terms of Inverbrackie being in a bushfire zone, the minister also told me today that emergency management plans were put in place, just as they have across other parts of Australia for detention centres, in consultation with local authorities. I am informed that all applicants whose claims to settle in this country are rejected will be returned to their country of origin.

I have made no secret of the fact that I was disappointed that the federal government did not properly consult the state government before making its announcement to commission the Inverbrackie detention facility. But I will make this point: in South Australia we have a tradition of welcoming refugees, including those who have been desperate enough to climb aboard leaky boats and arrive in Australian waters seeking re-settlement in our country. In South Australia we have had asylum seekers living in communities before, including Kosovo refugees at the Hampstead Army barracks and Afghan women and children living in houses at Port Augusta.

Several decades ago, our own highly respected Lieutenant Governor, Hieu Van Le, was one of a small group of people from Vietnam who risked their lives to climb into a small unseaworthy boat and steer it in the direction of Australia to arrive in Darwin with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Mr Le and his wife, who was also on board that boat, have gone on to make an enormous contribution to our community in South Australia.

I am proud of the fact that he has become the nation's and the Commonwealth of Nations' first ever Queen's representative of Vietnamese descent. Yesterday, Hieu Van Le issued a statement reminding us that in the last 175 years South Australia has had a remarkable and enviable record of welcoming new arrivals from all corners of the world. He said he was confident that the asylum seekers will benefit from the same generosity of spirit that all new arrivals have enjoyed. He said this:

Our ability to welcome people from around the world, whether as migrants or refugees, has made our community richer; economically, socially and culturally.

I agree with Hieu Van Le, as I believe every member of this house would as well.