Australia knew about mistaken deportation

Vivian Alvarez

CANBERRA - Immigration Department officers knew in 2003 that a woman deported to the Philippines was an Australian citizen who had been reported missing, the federal government said last night.

The revelations came at the end of an intense day of parliamentary questioning of Immigration Department officers during Senate estimates hearings.

It emerged that mid-level departmental officers became aware in 2003 that Vivian Alvarez, who was deported in 2001, was Vivian Solon Young who had been reported missing for a number of years.

During the Senate hearings, Immigration department deputy secretary Ed Killesteyn admitted that immigration officials knew in 2003 that it had deported an Australian citizen.

"Officials within the department knew (of the deportation)," he said.

The officers relayed the information to Queensland police, who had the woman on its missing persons list, but did not convey the information further up their chain of command.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone told ABC TV it did not appear the officers were trying to hide the mistake that had been made because they had informed the Queensland police.

"That's inconsistent with the information apparently not being passed further up the line," she said.

"How could someone recognise this problem, not hide it, not cover it up ... and yet it not go up the line."

Ms Vanstone said this was the issue being pursued by the closed-door Palmer inquiry into immigration bungles.

Ms Vanstone said the officers, who were at the APS 6 or EL1 level within the public service, worked in an area of the department that dealt with the movement of people.

"It's a section that has ... 30,000 queries a year as to the movement of people," she said.

Ms Vanstone said from investigations to date, it did not appear any supervisors had been informed of the mistaken deportation.

"We've accessed the paper records and the paper records do not indicate that anyway was passed up but that doesn't mean there wasn't a verbal conversation," she said.

"That's one of the issues that Mr Palmer will be looking at."

Ms Vanstone rejected suggestions that Immigration Department head Bill Farmer should resign over the raft of mistakes uncovered within the department in recent months.

"He hasn't (offered his resignation) and I haven't sought it," she said.

"I've got confidence in Bill Farmer."

Ms Vanstone said there was no point trying to apportion blame before the inquiry reported on exactly what had happened.

"There's no point in looking around for blame before you've got the facts," she said.

The minister said she was more interested in fixing the problems.

The government has offered to fly Ms Alvarez back to Australia, and pick up the tab for accommodation, counselling, welfare payments and medical costs on her return.

She was found in the northern Philippines earlier this month, four years after her wrongful deportation.

- AAP