Media must get access to offshore detention as suicide attempts continue

It is clear that the media must be granted greater access to Australia’s offshore detention centres, the Australian Greens said today after reports emerged from the Department of Immigration regarding regular suicide attempts in the Nauru facility.

"The government’s policy is all about being cruel and mean and it has nothing to do with saving lives," the Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said today.

“The reports we’ve heard about today are truly shocking.

"It is unacceptable that a humane nation such as Australia is putting refugees into these harsh conditions and then planning to leave them there for years on end.

“The media plays an essential role in our democracy and denying them access to the offshore detention centres, which Australian tax payers are shelling out billions of dollars for, is a blatant attempt to hide the situation from the public.

“The Department of Immigration had to be forced to release these documents and it makes you wonder what else they are hiding.”

Media Contact: Noah Schultz-Byard 0427 604 760