In 2001, the Manus Regional Processing Centre (MRPC) in PNG was created as part of the Howard Government’s ‘Pacific Solution’ in the wake of the Tampa affair.

In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd closed the centre, and in 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard re-opened it.

The centre costs a fortune to run. In 2014, the Abbott govt paid Broadspectrum AUD1.22 billion dollars to run the place for 20 months; that’s 2 million dollars per day (‘Budget Emergency’?). Currently, it costs about $400,00 per year for each refugee.

However, the real cost of the centre can be measured in human suffering. Refugees in the MRPC have always been at risk. Many local PNG people don’t like the centre being on their island. PNG guards are known to allow locals armed with makeshift weapons to enter the centre and attack asylum seekers.

In 2014, there was a riot during which Reza Barati was bashed to death. He was a 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker. He was killed by a Centre security guard and a local Salvation Army worker. They hit him with lengths of wood and metal poles and stomped on his head and neck.

Last year, 27-year-old Faysal Ishak Ahmed tried for over 6 months to see a doctor at the centre medical clinic. He was consistently turned away by nurses at the clinic because they didn’t believe he was sick. On Christmas Eve last year he collapsed and died.
Refugee women who report being raped and sexually abused to Broadspectrum staff are essentially ignored.

Last New Year’s Eve , Medhi and Mohammed were bashed by PNG Immigration officials and PNG police for being outside the Detention Centre, even though they were allowed to be. One has a suspected broken jaw and wrist, the other a suspected broken nose. Graphic photos are available to see on the internet.

In 2015, the UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez reported that conditions on Manus violated the UN Convention Against Torture. Our then Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, responded by saying Australians are ‘sick of being lectured to by the UN’.

In 2016, the UN High Commission on Refugees reported that Broadspectrum has created an institutionalised and punitive environment that is wholly inappropriate for asylum-seekers and refugees. They made urgent and confidential recommendations to Malcolm Turnbull Govt. Turnbull chose to ignore the report’s recommendations.

So, that’s a short summary of Manus. The same can be said of Nauru. Remember, this is all being done in our name. Both the Coalition and Labour are actually authorising the torture refugees. Why? For votes. They are administering the torture and deaths of people in order to win votes. How can this be our Australia? Obviously in future this will become widely regarded as our national shame and disgrace. But for so many refugees who have suffered and died, that recognition will come all too late.

So, what can we do? So many things, but at the very, very, very least, don’t vote for the ALP or the Coalition. Don’t vote for parties that will torture people to get votes. Don’t vote for parties that think votes are more important than the death and torture of refugees.
Vote for a party that will stop the inhumane treatment of vulnerable people who have come to our country needing our help.

(Permission to use the incredible illustration of Tony Abbott sewing the lips of an asylum seeker was generously provided by the artist, James Fosdike, one of Australia's great illustrators. Check out his other amazing work here: (www.jackywinter.com/artists/james-fosdike)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtMvboJdhQw