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Tasmania, April 7, 2011 – Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, defending the opening of a new detection centre in Tasmania, stated that its opening is not a sign of the Government’s asylum seeker policy failing.

The new asylum seeker detention facility is located at Pontville, about 30km outside Hobart, and it can accommodate up to 400 single adult men.

Mr. Bowen also added that the construction of the two new detention centers at Wickham Point in the Northern Territory and Northam in Western Australia still continues.

Mr. Bowen told reports in Sydney that as a part of prudent contingency planning, he has announced a site at Wickham Point and Northam which he believes are appropriate contingency sites.

Mr. Bowen did not answer journalists who inquired about whether the announcement of the new site signified the failure of the government to stop the flow of asylum seekers.

He also reported that the Pontville site completion will cost $14.8 million.
Consisting mostly of dormitory buildings, the Pontville centre will open in May and will initially house 250 people and is expected to stay open for six months.

The announcement occurred as the government attempts to relieve the overcrowding at the Christmas Island detention center as a result of the increase migration to Australia and the stricter Australian visa requirements.

Mr. Bowen stated that the government has recognized the strains on its detention facilities and this new detention centers will help to relieve the tension on the system. He also said that after the loss of the detention capability at Christmas Island, Pontville provides a suitable contingency option for detention accommodation.

However, Federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie voiced his concern about the location of the newly opened center being just outside his electorate.

According to Mr. Wilkie, this facility which is located just outside his Hobart-based electorate of Denison was no different from mandatory detention which he had long opposed.

Mr. Wilkie said in a statement that it is wrong for these people who have knocked on Australia’s door looking for asylum to be caged behind wire, whether it will be in Pontville or in Christmas Island. He added that the rise of new detention centers was more an indication that the government’s asylum seeker policy was broken.

Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings has written to Mr. Bowen about her concerns about the treatment of asylum seekers at the centre especially on how the asylum seekers would be looked after during the region’s notoriously cold winter.
Premier Giddings told reporters in Hobart that she wants to make certain that the principles that are expressed by the Commonwealth Government in relation to the care of asylum seekers are properly upheld.

She also wrote to Mr. Bowen regarding her concerns about the additional strain the detention centre may place on local resources especially the cost of health and mental services.

source:
au.news.yahoo.com