As U.S. President Lyndon B Johnson put it:

“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is a master of the same strategy. He combines racism with xenophobia and Islamophobia and runs concentration camps for asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island and Nauru.

But sometimes their lies catch up with them. And that is the case with Dutton, a failed health minister and possibly the next prime minister.

Let’s look at Manus Island. You may remember that 12 months ago the Papua New Guinean Supreme Court ruled that holding refugees in a camp on Manus Island was illegal and unconstitutional.

Yet a year later the camp is still there and the wider imprisonment on Manus itself continues. The PNG and Australian governments are awaiting the outcome of the rotten deal with Obama to resettle some of the Manus refugees, a commitment reaffirmed by the comparatively sensible one in the Trump administration (god help us!), Vice President Mike Pence, in Australia on the weekend.  

It will do nothing to save many of those illegally imprisoned there. Bringing them here would.

The latest outrage occurred on Good Friday. Drunk Papua New Guinean soldiers fired on refugees on Manus Island.  The Prime Minister claimed the soldiers shot into the air. 

According to asylum seekers there, this is not true, with the bullet holes in their accommodation to prove it. According to the local police commander, two people, including one senior PNG immigration officer, were treated for injuries.

read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/australian-va...

A Papua New Guinean politician, whose account of a shooting at the Manus Island detention centre was rejected by Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, has been reinstated as a Member of Parliament by the PNG Supreme Court.

• Ronny Knight disagreed with Mr Dutton over what led to shooting
• Mr Dutton labelled Mr Knight a "discredited witness"
• PNG Chief Justice questions allegations levelled against Mr Knight

Manus MP Ronny Knight was dismissed last week for misconduct in office over the purchase of a boat for the island.

This week, his comments about what led to the Good Friday shooting at the detention centre were at odds with Mr Dutton's view.

The Immigration Minister said Mr Knight was a "discredited witness" and incorrectly said he had been "convicted of fraud".

Mr Dutton demanded an apology from media outlets— including the ABC — that had interviewed Mr Knight.

But PNG's Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia found there were no allegations Mr Knight obtained a personal benefit from the boat purchase and said there were serious concerns with how he had been cited by the PNG Leadership Tribunal.

"There is no question that the motor vessel was purchased for a good cause," he said.

"The appellant [Mr Knight] did not stand to benefit personally from the decision of the committee [to purchase the boat]."

The Chief Justice ordered the decision to dismiss Mr Knight be stayed pending an appeal, and that Mr Knight remain in office and be allowed to contest the upcoming election.

read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-26/manus-island-shooting-mp-reinstate...

Asylum seekers who alleged they endured physical and psychological harm on Manus Island between 2012 and 2016 say they "are finally being heard" after the Federal Government agreed to pay $70 million in compensation.

• The plaintiffs alleged their time on Manus Island caused them physical and psychological harm
• They also claimed they were falsely imprisoned after PNG's Supreme Court ruled their detention was illegal
• The in-principal agreement is yet to be approved by the court

The group alleged the Commonwealth breached its duty of care by holding them in conditions that did not meet Australian standards.

During the period of their incarceration there was also a riot that resulted in the death of an asylum seeker and serious injuries to other detainees.

They also claimed they were falsely imprisoned after Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ruled their detention was illegal.

A Victorian Supreme Court trial against the Commonwealth and security companies Transfield and G4S, which had been delayed for several months, was due to start today and had been expected to run for six months.

read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-14/commonwealth-agrees-to-pay-manus-i...

See also:

http://www.dw.com/en/australia-agrees-to-pay-a70-million-to-manus-island...

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