On June 9, 2014, the SMH published an article revealing that a secret recording of a security meeting showed processing of asylum seekers on Manus Island was frozen in the lead-up to the February 2014 violence, despite Immigration Minister Scott Morrison's public claims to the contrary [1].
During a January 30, 2014 security briefing, the acting regional manager of security provider G4S, John McCaffery, told senior staff that no refugee status determinations would take place "for the foreseeable future" because of lack of funds.
This directly contradicted Minister Morrison's public statement in January 2014, when he claimed that processing had recommenced on Manus and had been underway for "three or four weeks" [1].
The riots that led to the death of 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati occurred on February 17, 2014 - approximately two weeks after the secret briefing revealed processing had been frozen [2][3].
**Labor's PNG Solution Context:** The claim omits critical context that the Manus Island detention centre and the policy of offshore processing was not a Coalition creation.
The Manus centre was reopened by the Gillard government in November 2012 [4].
**Timeline of Events:** The secret recording revealed that G4S had repeatedly raised with the department the need to tell asylum seekers when their claims would be assessed.
Political Failure:** The freeze appears to have been an administrative issue (lack of budget allocation to PNG authorities) rather than a deliberate policy decision to halt processing.
The recording revealed confusion and poor coordination between Australian and PNG authorities rather than intentional deception by Morrison [1].
**Senate Inquiry Findings:** A December 2014 Senate inquiry found that the Australian Government had failed in its duty to protect asylum seekers and that the riots were both "caused by a failure to process asylum claims and foreseeable" [5].
**Did Labor do something similar?**
The Manus Island facility itself was a Labor government creation.
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The centre was reopened by the Gillard government in November 2012, with Immigration Minister Chris Bowen stating "family groups are best accommodated on Manus Island, as opposed to Nauru" [4].
The PNG Solution - the policy of sending asylum seekers to Manus Island and never allowing them to resettle in Australia - was announced by Kevin Rudd on July 19, 2013 [4].
Reza Barati arrived in Australia on July 24, 2013 - just five days after the PNG Solution announcement - and was sent to Manus Island in August 2013 [3].
When the Coalition won the September 2013 election, they continued Labor's offshore processing policy under the name "Operation Sovereign Borders" [6].
The key difference was the Coalition's military-led approach and secrecy around operations, but the fundamental policy architecture - including the Manus Island centre and the no-resettlement policy - was inherited from Labor.
**The Processing Claim Issue:**
The evidence supports that Morrison made claims about processing recommencing that were contradicted by the secret recording.
McCaffery's statement that there was "no money in his budget" suggests an administrative failure to transfer funds to PNG authorities rather than a deliberate policy decision to halt processing while publicly claiming otherwise [1].
**The Riot Context:**
The February 2014 riots were complex events involving multiple factors.
However, the violence also involved tensions between detainees and local workers, inadequate security infrastructure, and poor management by G4S (which was replaced by Wilson Security in March 2014) [4].
**Comparative Context:**
The fundamental issue - offshore processing and long delays - was not unique to the Coalition.
The transition from Labor to Coalition government in September 2013 did not fundamentally change the situation at Manus.
**Conclusion:**
The claim that the Coalition "lied" about processing is PARTIALLY TRUE based on the evidence.
The claim also omits crucial context that the Manus facility and offshore processing policy were Labor government creations that the Coalition inherited.
The claim also omits crucial context that the Manus facility and offshore processing policy were Labor government creations that the Coalition inherited.