Amid the row over the accuracy of a translation, the Governor-General weighs in on the importance of transparency. Janet Pelly with the story.
Last month, a translation of a speech by President David Adeang, made in February this year, revealed that Nauru believes “the people sent to Nauru are not refugees”. Penny Wong dismissed it as an issue of inaccurate translation, yet refused to publish the official translation. When asked about it by Senator David Shoebridge, Wong fobbed it off as an issue for the Department of Home Affairs.
When Shoebridge confronted Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster with an “unofficial” translation of the speech made by the ASRC, ‘Winky’ referred it back to Wong.
Thank you to @DavidShoebridge for once again shining a light on the Albanese Government’s dodgy Nauru deal in Senate Estimates this week.
We can’t let our government rip people out of the community and deport them to a country where their safety and human rights are not upheld.… pic.twitter.com/MzyxLJfPzT
— ASRC (@ASRC1) December 4, 2025
Meanwhile, in an event at Admiralty House this week, Governor-General Sam Mostyn marked the 10th anniversary of one of Australia’s leading public interest law firms – the National Justice Project (NJP) with some timely comments about transparency.
When NJP began its work in 2015, Australia’s Pacific Solution was on steroids. Peter Dutton had just become Immigration Minister. The Border Force Act — with its controversial character test and two-year jail terms for insiders who spoke out — was being legislated.
And in the offshore camps in Nauru, children were collapsing into resignation syndrome, withdrawing from life in conditions the government insisted were “appropriate.”
Ten years after…
Not much has changed, and the NJP’s experience is starkly at odds with the Department of Home Affairs’ recent insistence that its frameworks have “significantly matured over the past decade”.
Also, our current Prime Minister claims that the latest Nauru Deal is still “entirely appropriate”.
While the Border Force Act was getting its sea legs, the NJP started litigating on behalf of children left to die unless a court ordered their evacuation from Nauru. And our government fought them all the way.
From Tampa to Nauru. Billion-dollar refugee deal to be scrutinised at last.
With a Senate inquiry into the latest chapter of multi-billion-dollar business (2022-25) going live, NJP case studies and findings from the UN through to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre provide a window into what could be exposed:
- secretive contracts,
- systemic medical neglect,
- a culture of secrecy enforced by legislation,
- billions spent with minimal accountability,
- “operational reasons” used as an excuse for every abuse of people and process.
The more things change…
It might be old news, but a couple of case studies speak volumes:
Paladin — $423m to a beach shack
When the government handed a $423m contract to Paladin — a company registered to a dilapidated beach shack on Kangaroo Island — the contract was rushed through without competition, and justifications were redacted.
What followed was predictable: eye-watering daily rates, inexperienced staff, chaotic oversight, and millions flowing through a corporate structure that made transparency impossible.
Canstruct — $1.6B without a tender
The mid-sized family business was signed up under “emergency” provisions, then rolled over and over — more than $1.6B in public money from 2017-22 — without a single open tender.
What followed is now the subject of very senior whistleblower claims about graft, corruption, terrible contract management and fees for no service.
With a Senate inquiry on the way, Sam Mostyn’s words “about the importance of transparency in Australian democracy, and how she’s working to provide clarity on her role and responsibilities” are significant.
She didn’t single out offshore detention and resettlement, but her message applies absolutely.
No trust deed. Billions of tax dollars to be spent without oversight by Nauru
Janet Pelly is a Melbourne-based refugee and detention rights advocate. She has worked with Human Rights 4 All since 2019.