Fed: PM under pressure after Costello says sorry of Rau case

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2005
Fed: PM under pressure after Costello says sorry of Rau case

Eds; Reissuing, adding second par



By Denis Peters

CANBERRA, Feb 13 AAP - Prime Minister John Howard is under increasing pressure today
to apologise to Cornelia Rau after Treasurer Peter Costello said he was sorry the mentally
ill woman was locked up as a suspected illegal immigrant.

Mr Costello is the government's first minister to offer his apologies.

He said that he, and the federal government, were sorry for what happened to 39-year-old
Ms Rau who was detained for ten months.

But Opposition Leader Kim Beazley demanded the apology come from Prime Minister John
Howard because, he said, the starting point for blame in what went wrong with Ms Rau's
case was the federal government.

His call was supported by the Australian Democrats who also want a wider inquiry than
that set up to examine Ms Rau's case.

The federal government announced last week that former police chief Mick Palmer would
conduct a private inquiry into the mix-up that placed the German-born woman who has schizophrenia
in immigration detention for 10 months.

There has been widespread criticism of the closed-door inquiry's lack of judicial powers
and the narrowness of its terms of reference - it is only looking at the case of Ms Rau.

The Democrats want a broader inquiry to look at the issue of mental patients detained
in jails and immigration centres.

Mr Costello said today the system failed Ms Rau.

"I am sorry that it happened. I think the government is sorry that it happened.".

"The system failed Cornelia Rau and it's regrettable.

"I'm sure all those that are responsible will say to themselves it should never have
happened and we should never let it happened again."

Mr Costello said it was important to ensure no similar mistake happened again.

German-born Ms Rau is being treated in an Adelaide psychiatric unit for schizophrenia
after being released from South Australia's Baxter immigration detention centre less than
two weeks ago.

The Australian resident, who came to Australia with her family when she was just 18
months old, spent six months in a Queensland jail after being found in north Queensland.

She was sent to Baxter in October, where she was held for a further four months.

Mr Beazley was unimpressed with Mr Costello's apology.

"Sorry for what happened? I'm sorry for what happened but the starting point is, who's
responsible is the federal government and that requires an apology," he said.

"So if that's as close as their going to get, then I guess that's as close as they're
going to get to it, but it's not enough.

"It's an extraordinary story and one which, at a starting point in its resolution,
requires a direct apology from the Prime Minister to the poor person who has suffered."

A brief statement released later by Ms Rau's sister Christine Rau and brother-in-law
John Macdonald said:

"We appreciate the gesture but now await the outcome of the Mick Palmer inquiry before
commenting further."

Australian Democrats leader Lyn Allison said Ms Rau's family had said it would welcome
an apology and she believed all would feel better with an apology from Mr Howard.

"I would ask him to," she said.

"I would add my encouragement to (Mr Howard apologising) but I also think we need to
have serious inquiries into what's gone on.

"The Democrats have terms of reference before the Senate which would set up a Senate
inquiry and that would look at the more general ways in which people with very serious
mental illness are now in prisons and immigration centres apparently.

Human Rights Commissioner Dr Sev Ozdowski said Australia's immigration detention centres
were traumatising detainees.

"What immigration detention does, especially long immigration detention, (is that)
it is traumatising people ... there are many people in detention who are traumatised,"

Dr Ozdowski said. "

AAP dep/arb/bwl

KEYWORD: CORNELIA NIGHTLEAD (REISSUING)

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