Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works I present the sixth report for 2009 of the committee relating to the proposed redevelopment of the Villawood Immigration Detention Facility.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—The sixth report for 2009 of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Public Works addresses the Villawood Immigration Detention Facility project, jointly sponsored by the Department of Finance and Deregulation and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship at an estimated cost of $186 million.

The Villawood Immigration Detention Facility is an essential component of Australia’s immigration detention infrastructure and is in urgent and critical need of an upgrade. The committee found that the current centre is largely inappropriate for housing people who are under administrative detention. It looks and feels like an antiquated prison, offering little recreation space or individual privacy. The committee is well aware of the importance of this facility to Australia’s migration system and was concerned to ensure that the redeveloped centre would both be operationally effective and respect the rights of detainees. The report’s nine recommendations focus on this outcome.

The committee has recommended that the works proceed, with some recommendations to be implemented immediately, including providing a lockable space for each detainee and ceasing use of the loudspeaker paging system, as it breaches detainees’ privacy. However, the committee has reserved its judgement over certain elements of the project, recommending that the final designs and costings be brought to the committee prior to construction commencing. This is because the committee is not confident that the existing buildings can be adequately retrofitted to afford dignity to detainees or cope with surge conditions. In addition, the committee was concerned that no decision has been made on the stage 1 high-security facility, which will be phased out of use. This facility is so inappropriate that the committee has recommended that it be demolished. The committee has also recommended that, in line with the centre’s being renamed the Villawood Immigration Detention Facility, accommodation sections within the facility be renamed—less formally—to help break down some of the institutional culture of the facility.

The committee was pleased to note that as a result of its 2005 inquiry into the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Facility the department now has written standards for the design of immigration facilities. In recognition of the importance of this document the committee has recommended that it be accredited by Standards Australia to ensure that all future facilities are of the highest possible standard.

The committee received submissions from local residents concerned about security and site management and has recommended that the proponent agencies work more closely with the local council and residents throughout the redevelopment. The committee met with a group of detainees at the centre. This meeting informed much of the committee’s deliberations on the state of the current centre, and the committee is grateful for the detainees’ input.

On a personal note, I find some satisfaction in this report as I was involved in the review of detention centres by the Human Rights Subcommittee of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. I say to all senators that I think it is high time that the eight hours of in camera evidence from the department and from detainees should finally be released. I thank the members and senators on the committee for their work in relation to this inquiry and commend our very professional committee secretariat staff, who have done a wonderful job. I commend this report to all honourable members.

On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works I present the seventh report for 2009 of the committee relating to referrals made August to October 2009.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—The seventh report for 2009 of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Public Works, Referrals Made August to October 2009, addresses six works located from Queensland to Afghanistan and from Sydney to Paris—although I did not travel to those locations, I point out. Together these projects represent $1.7 billion worth of infrastructure investment. In each case the committee has recommended that the House of Representatives agree to the works proceeding. The works in this report are: defence housing at the Gordon Olive Estate in McDowall, Brisbane, for Defence Housing Australia, at an estimated cost of $27.2 million; defence housing at Larrakeyah Barracks, Darwin, also for Defence Housing Australia, at an estimated cost of $52.4 million; Midlife Engineering Service’s refurbishment of the Australian Embassy in Paris for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, at an estimated cost of $28.3 million; enhanced land for a stage 2 facilities project for the Department of Defence at 12 defence bases and training areas of Australia, at an estimated cost of $1.457 billion; redevelopment of Tarin Kowt in Afghanistan, also by the Department of Defence, at an estimated cost of $86.4 million; and tropical marine research facilities in Townsville and Cape Ferguson for the Australian Institute of Marine Science at an estimated cost of $49.5 million.

This report demonstrates the breadth of projects regularly considered by the committee, and the committee is pleased to table a report that is so diverse in both subject matter and geography. The works approved by the committee in this report will help protect Australian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, develop internationally unique marine research facilities, provide housing for members of the ADF and their families, ensure the viability of one of Australia’s best-known embassy buildings and provide the Army with facilities for its expansion.

The committee was pleased throughout the inquiry process to have a number of submissions from members of the public about projects under consideration. The committee was particularly pleased to note that practical solutions to some project issues were developed through discussion amongst witnesses at the hearings. The committee will continue to promote broader community consultation and discussion as an essential part of all projects as members have seen repeatedly how this leads to tangible results. In respect of the enhanced land force stage 2 project, for example, the committee has recommended that the Department of Defence develop a consultation protocol to ensure that it mirrors the consultation required under routine local planning procedures. This is particularly important for Defence given the constraints imposed increasingly on established bases by growing urban areas. There is sometimes a tension between competing priorities and, whilst everyone demonstrates considerable interest in working towards a practical and workable solution, the committee felt that Defence needs to be more explicit as to how it intends to consult.

Given the obvious diversity of projects considered by the committee, it is worth noting some of the common threads running through the proposed works. In each case the committee has sought to ensure that agencies plan and design facilities with reference to local climate and weather conditions. The committee has also placed an emphasis on the environmental sustainability of each project as a whole including demolitions, adaptive re-use, new construction and the ongoing use of facilities. The committee inquired about the flexibility of projects and the capacity for future expansion of planned facilities as well as their impact on the nearby community. The committee was pleased to note that agencies are attentive to these considerations throughout the planning, design and construction process. Again I would like to thank the serving members and senators for their work in relation to these inquiries. Again I would like to commend our very highly professional and competent staff that serve the committee so well. I commend this report to the House.