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CANBERRA - The Australian government has denied a claim it plans to use a new high-tech refugee detention centre on Christmas Island to hold suspected terrorists.
Christmas Island shire president Councillor Gordon Thompson recently toured the detention centre site which he said was "most definitely being set up" as a place where people could be isolated very securely.
"Within the complex there are different sections, each of which can be separated very simply and very quickly by bringing down electronically controlled gates," he told ABC Radio.
"The electronic surveillance is going to be totally intrusive, the control of information from the outside will be total."
Asked if the prison would be used to house suspected terrorists Cr Thompson said: "absolutely".
He said US defence officials had recently visited the Indian Ocean territory.
"They tell us it's so they can do good humanitarian work in our area in the event of natural disasters," he said.
"We think that maybe they're looking at Christmas Island from the point of view of how useful it might be in a logistical sense for their military efforts around the world, but also have got an eye for what they might want to do in the Guantanamo Bay style operation."
However, a spokesperson for the department told the ABC there was no plan to hold anyone but unauthorised arrivals in the prison.
The government says the centre is a deterrent to illegal entrants and smugglers, and will be useful if arrivals start to increase.
The 800-bed complex is believed to have cost more than A$240million ($367 million).
- AAP
