Port Hedland fire safety concerns

Letter to the Editor - The Age
8 January 2003

Dear Sir/Madam

Your coverage on fire safety at the Port Hedland Immigration Reception and Processing Centre has misrepresented the report dealing with occupational health and safety.

The claim that the local fire brigade would not attend fires was not a finding of the inspectors, but an untested comment from an employee involved in an industrial dispute. That comment was not checked, but the facts are that the local fire brigade provides a very effective service and has attended fires at the centre.

A closer reading of the previous page of the report would have shown that fire safety standards have been upgraded, but these have been compromised by detainees damaging and interfering with fire safety equipment.

Roger Wheatley
Acting Director
Public Affairs
DIMIA