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Detention centre like a motel

News Clippings James Massola, Canberra Times, February 02 2010

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Family First Senator Steve Fielding has described the Christmas Island detention centre as a “motel’’ and said Australians needed to realise that asylum seekers were being treated “extremely well’‘.

The comments come after Senator Fielding got himself in a tangle on social networking site Twitter last week after he tweeted “just been using a nice new Apple Mac inside the detention centre. Not bad at all!’‘

Dozens of users condemned the Senator for the comment, but today he said he did not regret it. “They have access to gyms, they have access to computers, they have access to health, their accommodation is very good, they are fed well. We have to realise we are treating people on Christmas Island extremely well and we should be proud of that,’’ he said.

Senator Fielding said he had thought that conditions on Christmas Island were “appalling’’ before he visited the centre last week. “It’s more like am motel than a detention centre. I spoke to some of the asylum seekers last week, directly. They have made it quite clear that Australia is the destination because within three months of hitting the Australian shores you will be resettled in Australia with a gold pass and you will be a resident,’’ he said.

Senator Fielding said he did not regret voting in support of the Rudd Government’s changes to mandatory detention, which the Opposition blames for a rise in the number of boats coming to Australia.

Australians should be ``proud’’ that asylum seekers were being treated so well - but the changes had had unintended consequences. “You have to realise there are 900 residents and 1500 asylum seekers [on Christmas Island]. This is only going to get worse before it gets better,’’ he said.