Australia's Government Kept Secret Deal with Nauru from Public: No Official Translation Available for Decade
A new revelation has come to light regarding the secret deal between the Australian government and Nauru over the country's offshore detention regime. In a shocking turn of events, it was discovered that the Australian government had taken a hastily-translated interview between Nauruan President David Adeang and officials from Australia's high commission in February 2023 without proper verification.
The translation notes were deemed too sensitive to be released to the public and were instead subject to a decade-long suppression order by both federal and high courts. The decision came after one of the asylum seekers set to be deported to Nauru, TCXM, launched a challenge against his removal in court.
According to internal government correspondence tabled in the Senate, officials discussed Adeang's comments with each other in the weeks following the interview. However, the foreign affairs and home affairs departments were advised not to release the transcript of the interview at a Senate estimates hearing in March.
In a recent statement, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong explained that the translation notes had been taken hastily by an unaccredited staff member for internal purposes only. The Nauruan government has confirmed that it will not provide any official translation of the interview, citing concerns over the accuracy and potential harm to bilateral relations.
The secrecy surrounding this deal is nothing new, as Australia's governments have repeatedly imposed secrecy around their offshore detention regime. Even the visit of Nauru's President Adeang to Canberra earlier this month was met with controversy, raising questions about the true nature of the country's contracts on Manus Island.
It remains unclear how many members of the NZYQ cohort will be transferred to Nauru and under what conditions. The Australian government has been tight-lipped about the details, citing concerns over damage to international relations. As one of the asylum seekers who challenged his removal in court awaits an appeal hearing in December, it is clear that transparency around this deal is severely lacking.
A new revelation has come to light regarding the secret deal between the Australian government and Nauru over the country's offshore detention regime. In a shocking turn of events, it was discovered that the Australian government had taken a hastily-translated interview between Nauruan President David Adeang and officials from Australia's high commission in February 2023 without proper verification.
The translation notes were deemed too sensitive to be released to the public and were instead subject to a decade-long suppression order by both federal and high courts. The decision came after one of the asylum seekers set to be deported to Nauru, TCXM, launched a challenge against his removal in court.
According to internal government correspondence tabled in the Senate, officials discussed Adeang's comments with each other in the weeks following the interview. However, the foreign affairs and home affairs departments were advised not to release the transcript of the interview at a Senate estimates hearing in March.
In a recent statement, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong explained that the translation notes had been taken hastily by an unaccredited staff member for internal purposes only. The Nauruan government has confirmed that it will not provide any official translation of the interview, citing concerns over the accuracy and potential harm to bilateral relations.
The secrecy surrounding this deal is nothing new, as Australia's governments have repeatedly imposed secrecy around their offshore detention regime. Even the visit of Nauru's President Adeang to Canberra earlier this month was met with controversy, raising questions about the true nature of the country's contracts on Manus Island.
It remains unclear how many members of the NZYQ cohort will be transferred to Nauru and under what conditions. The Australian government has been tight-lipped about the details, citing concerns over damage to international relations. As one of the asylum seekers who challenged his removal in court awaits an appeal hearing in December, it is clear that transparency around this deal is severely lacking.
Australia just admitted to keeping a secret deal with Nauru from the public for over a decade!!! 
and now they're saying its all because of some hastily-translated interview notes 
that are too sensitive to be released 
i mean what even is going on here? why can't they just be honest about it? 
this whole thing just screams secrecy & corruption 
and now we're left wondering how many people are being affected by this deal 
like, whats the harm in releasing the translation notes anyway? 
they're saying its for accuracy, but what's to stop 'em from just makin' up some BS translation? 
meanwhile, nauru's president is gettin all upset about it... like, chill dude, its just a bunch of papers and words on a page 
transparency is key, fam 
, this just shows how out of touch our government is 
. I mean, come on, a decade-long suppression order over some translation notes? It's not like it's classified info or something 
. They're literally hiding stuff from us and citing concerns over bilateral relations as an excuse 
. It's so frustrating when you think about all the other issues they should be focusing on instead of covering their tracks 
. And now we don't even know what's going to happen with these asylum seekers being sent to Nauru? 
Not good, not good at all 
They're just trying to sweep everything under the rug because they don't want anyone to question their human rights record on Manus Island 
It's not just about the asylum seekers, it's about accountability and transparency 
. The fact that translation notes were kept under wraps for a decade is just mind-boggling 
The secrecy surrounding this deal is a big red flag 
. We need to know what's really going on with our offshore detention regime 
. Can we please get some answers from our government? 
#TransparencyMatters #AccountabilityNow #HumanRightsForAll
The secrecy surrounding this deal isn't new, but it's still super suspicious. It raises so many questions about human rights and the treatment of asylum seekers. We need transparency and accountability here. This whole situation just reeks of a lack of trust in government. Can we get to the bottom of this? 