The Point Piper solution

In the Fairfax press, contributor Madeline Gleeson reacts to legal news from Papua-New Guinea (emphasis added):

…the situation on Manus is not as simple as throwing open the front gates. The Manus centre is on an active naval base, at least half an hour’s drive from the town of Lorengau, in an area where land use and ownership are charged issues. Any proposal for completely unrestricted movement in these parts would likely trigger considerable concern on the part of Manus residents and the military.

And her solution:

Which leaves Australia as the only reasonable option. 

Gleeson, a professional hanky-soaker, is given to dark mutterings about “rumours” of an “uninvestigated” torture chamber in a “secret compound”. She also hints that, while Australia might well keep the uninvited arrivals behind fences for a spell, “international law” could serve as a useful wire-cutter in the hands of lawyers such as herself.

So, some 800 men who prompt “considerable concern” were they to be liberated in PNG should, sooner or later, be “released into the community” here. But what community?

Should our latest and for-the-moment PM take Ms Gleeson’s advice, the seat of Wentworth would make an unequalled site for a fresh detention centre. Point Piper in particular.

Her thoughts can be read in full via the link below.

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