Michael Madigan and Malcolm Cole

12feb02

LABOR has backed away from its pre-election hard line on boatpeople, leaving the way open for community release.

Labor's new leader Simon Crean has put his stamp on the leadership with a move to soften mandatory detention, introduced by his own party.

The new direction came as the issue caused the only dissent yesterday in the Coalition's first joint party room meeting for 2002.

Liberals Petro Georgiou, Chris Pyne and Bruce Baird questioned Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock on the need to lock up boatpeople.

The Federal Government also decided at the meeting to allow United Nations Commissioner Mary Robinson to inspect facilities at Woomera Detention Centre.

Mr Crean last night announced Labor's new approach based on four planks:

• Mothballing the Woomera Detention Centre.

• Putting the Commonwealth back in charge of all detention centres.

• Greater transparency and more media access to detention centres.

• Extending the Government's relocation allowance to all Afghan asylum seekers, including those on temporary protection visas.

The extension of the relocation allowance would immediately quadruple the bill.

Prime Minister John Howard offered the allowance, believed to be around $3000 plus an air ticket home, to about 1100 Afghans in detention.

Mr Crean said Labor could also extend the allowance to other nationalities.

"If it helps the resettlement of other nationalities then consideration should be given to extending it to them as well," he said.

Further debate was required to firm up policy on mandatory detention and the Pacific Solution, Mr Crean said.

Initial mandatory detention was required for health checks and to screen criminals, Mr Crean said.

But a new approach was needed including "some form of community release".

Release into community hostels is one area being examined by Labor.

The 14-week period of detention recommended by a parliamentary committee could also be shortened.

Mr Crean said MPs including Tasmanian Duncan Kerr, who made an impassioned speech in the party room on the need to dump the Pacific solution, would not be silenced by the new approach.

"This is not a debate about silencing people," he said.

"This is a debate about trying to find constructive solutions."

Mr Crean welcomed the announcement by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer that Ms Robinson's personal envoy could examine conditions at Woomera.

Mr Downer said pressure for the visit, expected to take place mid-year, resulted from lobbying from the ACTU.

But he said the UN had every right to the visit provided it was conducted in an orderly manner. "We have nothing to hide," he said.

Ms Robinson's envoy will work with a UN working party on arbitrary detention which will visit detention centres throughout the year.

A Coalition spokesman said the one area of dissent in the first party room meeting of the year was mandatory detention.

"There were three members who were basically asking about the mandatory detention of asylum seekers policy and the thrust of the comments was whether or not there might be some changes now to the policy," he said.

One dissenter pointed to overseas experience where countries manage similar illegal immigration problems without mandatory detention.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock responded to the criticism, telling members of both parties the Government would not change its policies.

"He indicated that these are matters in which the Government is endeavouring to balance competing considerations but doing so in a way which recognises not only the broader border protection issues . . . but