Immigration Detention: Bad For Your Health

I was surprised that yesterday's reports that Villawood Detention Centre has a serious asbestos contamination problem didn't get more attention, especially on a day which, until the annoucement of the Telstra sale, was the epitome of a slow news day (Channel 7 News led with a pilot doing a successful crash landing, while one of the hottest stories on the Sydney Morning Herald's website was the revelation that Osama Bin Laden has a crush on Whitney Houston. Ay, ay ... ). Villawood inmates were already relocated after an asbestos cleanup operation earlier this year.

This sort of pollution at a site with a history like Villawood's is hardly a surprise. Prior to its redevelopment as a detention centre in 1976, the centre was a migrant hostel. Unlike its current incarnation, new migrants - many of whom had escaped from war-torn regions following WWII - were encouraged to travel the local area and get to know the Australian people and lifestyle. Prior to this, the area was used as army barracks. It is ironic that the detainees were moved to Holsworthy Army Barracks, given that it is alleged that this area is also being investigated for asbestos contamination.

Long-term contamination is common on former army sites, from sources such as asbestos, but also including heavy metals, chemicals such as arsenic, pesticides, lead and mercury. Given that the Villawood site has been in almost continuous use since 1952, and serious concerns about substances such as PCBs were not widespread until after its 1978 redevelopment, it is unlikely that the sort of remediation that usually takes place on former army land has taken place at Villawood. The centre is about to undergo a major redevelopment - let's hope that detainees and workers end up with a site that is safe for all. Given past reports of GSL's regard for detainee amenity (not to mention the government's - but, yet again, privatisation has allowed them to claim that it's Not Their Fault), I'm not optimistic that they'd do it for any other reason than not getting sued.