Article flawed and inaccurate

Letter to the Editor - The Canberra Times
3 June 2003

Dear Sir/Madam

The Jack Waterford article ('Demeaning days for desert detainees', 3/06/03) is contradictory and factually flawed.

On the one hand he accuses the department of being "highly politicised" but then acknowledges the department would work just as effectively with a Labor Government - recognition of a modern public service department appropriately administering the policy of the day.

Even following a visit to our website Mr Waterford makes elementary errors. He perpetuates tired and outrageous claims used time and again by advocates seeking to undermine the Government's detention policies.

We do not detain refugees and our detention facilities have a full range of health and psychological services - commensurate with that found in the community.

Your readers should visit our website to see for themselves the range of information, including letters to the editor which often go unpublished, presenting the facts on a range of issues surrounding immigration detention. Sadly this information is often disregarded by the media in favour of running untested allegations.

Visitors to this website will see that this information is regularly updated and later this week we will be publishing a new series on migration facts with which Mr Waterford might like to familiarise himself.

Stewart Foster
Director
Public Affairs
DIMIA