#PRO: Inverbrackie Detention Centre

[Mants]

Not sure whether or not to put this in metropolitan or regional...i think the Adelaide Hills can still be classified as metro.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces new detention centre for Adelaide Hills


THE Federal Government will build a new detention centre for asylum seekers in the Adelaide Hills, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced.

Ms Gillard today announced Inverbrackie, near Woodside in the Adelaide Hills, would become the site of a new detention facility.

The Federal Government also announced plans for a new facility at Northam in Western Australia.

Do you think a detention centre should be built in the Adelaide Hills? Have your say in the comment box below

Ms Gillard said the Government would partner with community organisations to transfer unaccompanied minors and families who are awaiting the outcome of their applications for asylum into community-based accommodation.

The commissioning of two new detention facilities at Inverbrackie and Northam will help to relieve the current pressures on existing facilities, she said.

The Darwin Airport Lodge will also be expanded to enable accommodation for 400.

The Government has also identified contingency sites that may be developed in the future, should further capacity be required. These are the use of the 11 Mile Antenna Farm outside Darwin and the further expansion of the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation.

The Inverbrackie facility, located near the Woodside Army Barracks, about 35kms north of Adelaide, will accommodate up 400 people, consisting of family groups.

The Northam site is situated approximately 80 kilometres north-east of Perth and will be used to accommodate up to 1500 single adult males.

The Department of Defence has confirmed that the sites are not required for operational purposes, and no defence families will be moved.

Tents currently in use on Christmas Island will be decommissioned.

Today's announcement balances mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals with the humane treatment of people fleeing persecution, Ms Gillard said.

The Government will enforce curfews and requirements for people released into the community to live at a certain address.

There will also be obligations to check in regularly with authorities.

The Government says it intends to progressively move several hundred children and families into community-based accommodation by June 2011.

All unauthorised arrivals will continue to be mandatorily detained when they first arrive in Australia for the management of health, identity and security risks to the community.

Individuals will only be granted residence determinations if they are not considered a risk to the community and are assessed as unlikely to abscond.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the department would move more children and families into community facilities run by churches and charities under departmental supervision.

Priority would be given to vulnerable families assessed to have experienced torture and trauma, who were at risk of mental health problems, and where a mother was pregnant.

Children would be made to attend school to lead a more normal life.

"I've come to the view there's a better way with dealing with detention for many children and families," he said.

"It would be imprudent to have a blanket release of all families without taking into account those security concerns."

Ms Gillard denied the decision had been made in consultation with the Australian Greens over the weekend.

"These decisions have been made by the government today," she said.

"The decisions have been made by the government and the government alone."

[Omicron]

And men are expendable because......?

[jk1237]

all this for after school detention

[rhino]

Well hasn't this sent the white Anglo-Saxon neighbourhood of the Onkaparinga Valley into a state! My house looks over Inverbrackie from a couple of km away - I can see the lights of the village at night, but very little during the day, so I feel I am within my rights to make comment on this issue.

I don't like the way this came about - I feel that it was very unfair to the government of this state to give such chort notice before going public. Having said that, I really don't have a problem with having these refugees living in my district. Port Augusta has a similar centre for refugee families, and by all accounts (that I have heard) they keep to themselves and do not bother the community at all. Today the Federal Government has come out and said that they will be footing the bill for the services required (education, health, transport, etc), and I'm sure that there will be continuing funding "argy-bargy" (did you like that?), but overall I don't see there being a huge problem with the refugee community being at Inverbrackie.

The Onkaparinga Valley is very mono-cultural, and could do with some multi-culturalism. In recent years a Vietnamese community has been growing at Lobethal, and integrating quite well with the community there. They work in the strawberry fields and vineyards in the valley, and are lovely, friendly people.

[monotonehell]

NIMBYism at its most base.

[iTouch]

I wish Shuz was here.

[metro]

I wish Shuz was here.

dont worry i'm sure Shuz is out there dressed up in his white robes protesting the new centre with the rest of the nimby's

[rev]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to expand existing detention centers, and provide more funding to process these people faster and send home those who aren't legitimate refugees?

[Wayno]

would also seem appropriate to place these centres in remote townships (where less job opportunities exist)...

[AtD]

The problem with rural centres is any specialist staff will need to be shipped in and accommodated at great expense. This would be everything from councillors to communication technicians. It would be a huge part of the cost of running the centre.

[Aidan]

The problem with rural centres is any specialist staff will need to be shipped in and accommodated at great expense. This would be everything from councillors to communication technicians. It would be a huge part of the cost of running the centre.

If staff accommodation costs are the problem, why not build it one of those towns near the Murray that the locals say won't survive if irrigation allocations are cut?

[AtD]

That's not what I meant by accommodation costs. Remember we're talking Federal Government here so costs pile up quicker than you think. When an APS (Aust Public Sector) employee is required to temporary or permanently relocate for work purposes, they're entitled to a generous amount of compensation as relocation assistance for themselves and their immediate family (spouse, children). Depending on the department this can include:
- Allowance for fuel
- Travel time as paid time as if you were in the office
- Airline/etc tickets paid for,
- Temporary accommodation for 3-4 weeks, typically a serviced apartment
- Fully paid room-to-room removal service for all personal belongings, full insurance
- Fully paid shipping of vehicles and pets, full insurance
- Meal allowances that pay for a heck of lot more than two minute noodles
This can easily cost in excess of $30,000 per employee.

Likewise, visiting staff (generally specialists) who must travel for work are entitled to travel, accommodation (hotel) and meals either paid for or via an allowance. Having to bring in people from Adelaide would cost a huge amount of money.

Welcome to the Federal Government.

[iTouch]

I anticipate that this is going to be recieving a lot of political jargon in the next few months.
But for once, I kind of agree with some of the NIMBY's points.
There really didn't seem to be much time consent to the community and the fact that it's in a metro area is kind of cheap. I don't know much of the facts, theres just way too much media spin.

[rhino]

I can't see any problem with housing these people at Inverbrackie that can't be overcome. My main gripe is the way the Government dropped the bombshell on the community. An announcement in stages, (e.g. "We think we may be able to use the disused facilities at Inverbrackie for a temporary residential community for families and children who are currently awaiting processing in our detention centres - there are a lot of issues that need to be adressed first, we'll look into it", and every week or so, give a bit more information) would give the community time to get used to the idea, and also not give the impression that it's a done deal and the community is just going to have to deal with it.
As for the people themselves - there seems to be a lot of disinformation going around about what the facility will look like (with regard to razor wire and such) and about what the refugees are like ("these people's children grow up carrying guns in the streets! I don't want that in my community!"). As if! Maybe, just maybe, that's what these asylum seekers are trying to get away from?

[SRW]

As for the people themselves - there seems to be a lot of disinformation going around about what the facility will look like (with regard to razor wire and such) and about what the refugees are like ("these people's children grow up carrying guns in the streets! I don't want that in my community!"). As if! Maybe, just maybe, that's what these asylum seekers are trying to get away from?

Exactly! And that's why refugees, once settled, become some of the most upstanding members of the community -- because they have more an appreciation for the good of this society than any of those ignorant, frothing-at-the-mouth types at these 'community' meetings.

Of course, then there's the irony that many Adelaide Hills towns were founded by Germans who were themselves essentially refugees. But let not history or fact get in the way of good ol' bigotry...