Jacqui Lambie announced on Friday that she would oppose a bill proposed by the coalition that would effectively ban access to mobile phones in immigration detention centres.
The announcement came after Lambie revealed the results of a poll she put to the public, where she asked whether or not she should oppose the mobile phone bill.
I had so much feedback, and it took me ages to work through it, but here’s what I’m doing on the immigration detention phone ban bill. https://t.co/gWQTquPVtp
Here’s a thread as well:
— Jacqui Lambie (@JacquiLambie) October 2, 2020
Lambie who holds the balance of power in the decision, created the poll to put the power back into the hands of the people. “I’m trying to use the balance of power to be as representative as I possible can be,” she said on a Facebook post.
The poll attracted over 100,000 responses, with the overwhelming majority (96%) voting that she should oppose the bill.
“Don’t give the government the power to do something you don’t want them to do. It’s as simple as that,” Lambie wrote on Twitter.
“I’m not comfortable banning the phones of people who aren’t doing anything wrong with them. Most of the people in immigration detention came to Australia legally. They’re stuck in detention because they don’t have a visa anymore,” she added.
Most of them are using their phones to text friends. They’re using it to watch videos about cats or whatever. They’re not using it to organise bloody riots. They’re using it the same way I’ve been using mine. I’m not going to stop someone calling their dad on his birthday.
— Jacqui Lambie (@JacquiLambie) October 2, 2020
The bill that Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge wants to pass would give the Australian Border Force (ABF) more power to confiscate mobile phones and perform strip searches in detention centres.
However according to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, they already have sufficient powers to cease phones, this would only give them unchecked powers to do so.
Lambie outlined that there were four main reasons that the majority of people decided to oppose the bill.
- The government already has powers to confiscate mobiles if found to have terrorist or child porn material.
- This would prevent media scrutiny of what’s happening in immigration detention
- Phones are a lifeline to family, friends and the outside world. I couldn’t get through COVID lockdown without one.
- We’ve mistreated refugees for too long, and this would breach their basic rights even further.
Thanks to the public providing these reasons, Jacqui Lambie will oppose the mobile phone ban bill now. Woohoo.
