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The biggest human rights payout in Australian legal history is a powerful statement about the cruelty inflicted on vulnerable people who sought protection in Australia – and who is responsible for it.
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The Federal government has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit brought by 1905 men detained on Manus Island who claimed they were mistreated.
It is an indictment of the treatment of almost 2000 men by this government and the service providers it engaged to supervise and care for them, and vindication for those who have suffered and fought to have their voices heard.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton can assert there is no admission of liability, but you don't agree to a payout of more than $90 million if you are confident you can defend your position in open court.
He can call it a "prudent outcome for the Australian taxpayer", but there wouldn't have been a case in the first place if the human rights of the Manus Island detainees had been respected.
He can blame Labor for losing control of Australia's borders before losing power in 2013, but he can't absolve his government over the harm done over almost four years - harm that continues every day.
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The decision to settle the case is prudent in just one sense: it avoids the most forensic, public examination of the treatment of those who were sent to Manus Island against their will after the Gillard government reopened the centre in late 2012.
Had the case proceeded, more than 70 witnesses were expected to give evidence and 200,000 documents would have been examined.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has blamed Labor for the payout. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Dutton suggests the decision to settle was pragmatic, avoiding an action that would have run for six months, cost tens of millions in legal fees, and had "an unknown outcome". This is hardly a statement of confidence in the Commonwealth's ability to refute the claims of human rights violations on a huge scale.
Rather than continue to blame Labor for creating the problem, Dutton should be focussed on bringing this sordid chapter to an end.
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