The Department of Immigration accidentally tabled an erroneous statement to Senate Estimates that accused some asylum seekers of being recalcitrant.
The statement also sought to overstate the benefits of the Department’s contentious pay offer that was rejected by staff in November and incorrectly described the Workplace Determination that has been proposed by the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) as part of the Fair Work Commission arbitration.
Department of Immigration Secretary Mike Pezzullo tabled the false statement to the Senate Estimates Committee shortly after 9am on Monday. Two hours later, he tabled a second, amended statement.
The initial version did not include a qualification around the Department’s pay offer to staff, claiming that pay increases of between 6.4 and 10.7 per cent applied to all staff.
Mr Pezzullo said he did not believe there was a "major difference" between the amended and the “penultimate” versions.
The second statement also claimed that the proposal from the CPSU to the arbitration would lead to staffing reductions of “close to 2000 FTE" (full-time equivalent staff). The second version changed this figure to “more than 1900 FTE”.
And it removed parts of a sentence that was critical of people who are currently in Australia as part of the “legacy caseload” of asylum seekers.
The original statement accused some asylum seekers of demonstrating “ongoing recalcitrance” and sought to highlight the “significant investment of time and resources” required to manage them.
