The decision by the Nauru government to prevent Australian lawyers from entering the country to present a case of behalf of hundreds of asylum seekers has been described as corrupt by the Australian Democrats.
Democrats Leader, Andrew Bartlett, who has twice visited Nauru to meet with detainees and Nauruan officials, says the fact that Nauru is bankrupt should not be used as an excuse for them to be able to flout the rule of law.
Senator Bartlett said the Australian Government is aiding and abetting corrupt behaviour by the Nauru Government by continuing to fund the detention centres, "Australian taxpayers have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to enable Nauru to imprison asylum seekers, an act that has quite likely been illegal from day one.
"Australia is supposed to be encouraging Pacific Island Nations to respect the rule of law, not paying them to undermine it. But it is in the Howard Government's interests to allow this breach of domestic and international law to continue, which is why the Government has sent its own lawyer to the proceedings.
"The Nauru Government has allowed in the Australian Government lawyer, whilst keeping out the lawyers who are representing the asylum seekers and who initiated the case in the first place.
"Preventing Australian lawyers from arguing a case on behalf of hundreds of asylum seekers is simply corrupt and the Australian Government should be expressing outrage, not sitting by continuing to heavily fund a regime that allows the rule of law to be so blatantly undermined.
"The excuses the Nauru government is using to keep Australians out are so ludicrous they would make Robert Mugabe blush. It is utterly unacceptable that the Australian government is party to such a show of contempt for the rule of law and for Australians.
"Closing the borders of a neighbouring island nation, to Australian lawyers representing asylum seekers, is about as dictatorial and dishonest as it gets.
"The ongoing turmoil in Iraq is a reminder of the need for the Federal Government to provide immediate help to those Iraqis who have been left in limbo on Nauru for years," he concluded.
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