Staying with Tony Burke, the home affairs minister said his department had provided information to Nauru about alleged corruption in Australia’s offshore detention system.
Asked about the allegations – including contracts being awarded to bikies – revealed by this masthead, Burke said the responsibility for those contracts lay with Nauru but the government was taking the situation seriously.
Loading
“The contracts… [are] contracts independently taken as a decision of the Nauruan government. Australia is not party to the contracts in any way, but … as any Australian taxpayer would want, anything involving criminal associations, or anything that my security agencies can help with, we provide that information,” Burke told ABC’s Radio National.
“I can simply assure you that when that information is provided, as it has been and was part of that discussion [with Nauruan President David Adeang], it’s taken very seriously by the government of Nauru.
“What they then do with it though – we’re not a party to the contract – is a decision that they will take, but I have no doubt that they’re taking those issues very seriously.”
The offshore detention centre in Nauru.Credit: AP
Asked whether there was any legal barrier to releasing details of the bilateral agreement, Burke said it would need to be done with permission of both countries, or through the courts.
“It may well be these documents are likely to be provided during the course of different legal actions that take place… unless there is an agreement between Australia and Nauru,” Burke said.
Read the full article here
