The Guardian 14 September, 2005
Vanstone: "ciggie salaries" for detainees
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has backed paying asylum seekers in cigarettes for work in detention centres.
Vanstone said the system, which has asylum seekers on worse conditions than convicted criminals, allowed detainees to make a "real contribution".
"Allowing people to do something productive is a necessary response to the common human need to remain active — it’s a good thing", she said.
Detainees are being paid as low as $1 an hour to work in areas such as catering.
This can be cashed out in cigarettes and phone cards.
Unions NSW Deputy Assistant Secretary Chris Christodoulou says detainees seem to be treated worse than prisoners.
"In NSW we have a set of standards for prison labour and a monitoring committee that ensures everything is above board", he said.
Christodoulou said the arrangement may be in breach of the government’s own Migration Act.
The act bans "unlawful citizens" from undertaking work for "reward or otherwise".
Unions and refugee groups are calling for a full review of working conditions within detention centres.
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