Philip Ruddock's detention regret: kids
John Lyons
13 August 2008
The Australian

THE man who was in charge of Australia's immigration policy in the Howard government, Philip Ruddock, has expressed regret about how long it took for the government to release children from detention.

In an interview about his legacy, Mr Ruddock said: "If I have any regrets, it's not so much the question of the policies but the question of the speed and implementation."

He told The Australian that lack of funding for alternative detention arrangements meant children were not able to be released "sooner and earlier".

As immigration minister from 1996 to 2003 and attorney-general from 2003 to last year, Mr Ruddock was a central figure in many of the most divisive debates of the Howard years.

He was vilified by the Left and championed by the Right, first for the government's border security policies and then for the dramatic strengthening of the powers of ASIO and the Australian Federal Police to counter terrorist threats.

"While I defended Port Hedland and Curtin and Woomera (detention centres) ... did I want to see improvement in amenity? Well, obviously, if you look at what happened over time, infrastructure that was built, we were seeking to do that," he said.

"Would I have been happier if I'd had more money to be able to do it sooner and earlier and to put in place alternative detention arrangements for kids? Yes, of course, I would have been."

Mr Ruddock also said the US did not give ASIO intelligence as to the whereabouts of Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib when he was taken from Pakistan to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured.

"The circumstances about his rendition - I think that's the word that's used - we were aware that he was no longer in Pakistan, but were never informed about where he was or what had happened to him and we did make inquiries about those matters.

"And my understanding is (then ASIO director general) Dennis Richardson formed a view that that's where he might be but not on the basis of any advice but simply I think on the basis of supposition."

On another case, despite having been attorney-general at the time and therefore responsible for ASIO, Mr Ruddock said he had no evidence that Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef was a security threat.

But he said this did not mean the AFP did not have such information. "There was a criminal investigation going," he said. "I don't know that ASIO goes in and second-guesses criminal investigations. I think Paul O'Sullivan (ASIO director-general) ... made it very clear that they were making inquiries against their remit and that they had no evidence through their inquiries that he was a security threat.

"That was known at the time - it was certainly known to me.

"But the Police Commissioner (Mick Keelty) had one view based upon the evidence that they had and the evidence that they believed needed to be further examined and the security agents said we have none. That doesn't surprise me."

Mr Ruddock said Mr Keelty was in a difficult position because Dr Haneef was "the beneficiary of the Australian legal system - the capacity to be able to test matters relevant to the handling of him and his circumstances".

One area Mr Ruddock sees emerging as difficult is in the different roles of Australia's intelligence agencies such as ASIO and police agencies such as the AFP.

He says it has already emerged that when a security agency has questioned an individual for security purposes and later law enforcement agencies need to conduct their own inquiries, courts are taking the view that the intelligence questioning has compromised what can later become a law enforcement matter.

This shows what an opportunist is Philip Ruddock. His previously held mongrel racist views were very useful while John Howard was Prime Minister, who duly rewarded Ruddock by making him Attorney General. But now that John Howard is out on his arse — and even lost his own seat — Mr Ruddock can afford to resume the position he possibly prefers, which shows how much value he places on his own beliefs. He'll end up in a home for the permanently bewildered, that guy. RAC-Vic