After last night’s bombshell 4 Corners report that alleged, via Amnesty International, that Australia’s treatment of refugees constitutes systematic and deliberate ‘torture‘, Malcolm Turnbull has popped up on Radio National to address the concerns.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull walks into ABC studios for an interview. pic.twitter.com/MjSL5t9mGL
— Henry Belot (@Henry_Belot) October 17, 2016
After being played a clip from the program, Turnbull dismissed the allegations, and brought it back to Labor‘s own policy on borders:
We’ve heard from this young lady…it’s a very sad story she tells. But there are 1,200 people, many of them young women no doubt, from whom we can never hear because they drowned at sea under Labor’s reckless failure to keep our borders safe.
Turnbull said that the Australian Government categorically denies claims that they deliberately torture refugees.”Absolutely not…that allegation, that accusation, is rejected by the government.”
The secretary of the Immigration Department, Mike Pezzullo, addressed Senate estimates last night having not actually read the Amnesty report, automatically rejected the claims.
I refute categorically, both on behalf of my own department and by way of explaining government policy in this regard, that it’s not the Australian Government’s position, nor the position of this department, that we flout any laws, international or otherwise.I understand both the legal as well as philosophical definition of torture and that is not a practice that’s been engaged upon at all.
Pezzullo also suggested to Senator Nick McKim that he “might be visiting different islands, and we might be living in alternate, parallel universes.”
“I don’t think so,” Senator McKim responded.
The Immigration Department has said they will follow up on any new info in the report.
Source: ABC.
Photo: Getty Images.
