The Christmas Island Shire President has again criticised the federal government's asylum seeker policy, describing it as shameful and disturbing.
Gordon Thomson says Australia's current asylum seeker policy does not abide by its obligations under international law.
“It denies asylum to asylum seekers, so clearly it’s in breach of our obligations under the convention that the country’s been party to since its inception. It’s a very disturbing policy and one that should be abandoned.”
He also said that the government's secrecy on asylum matters means there's greater potential for misconduct to occur.
“If you have a secret state then the potential for evil, for corrupt and morally reprehensible conduct, is much much easier to get away with. It is in our interests as a community to do everything we can for an open and transparent and democratic society, and that is why we oppose government secrecy.”
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Mr Thomson says despite the government providing only weekly briefings on Operation Sovereign Borders, he'll continue to regularly publish information about boat arrivals on Christmas Island via Twitter.
He's told Zara Zaher about the latest group of asylum seekers to land at the Australian territory.
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