IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison dismissed calls for his sacking after having to correct claims a deadly riot occurred outside the Manus Island detention centre, saying people-smugglers won’t “be so lucky” to see him out of the job.
Mr Morrison is under fire after releasing a statement on Saturday night saying the majority of the “riotous behaviour”, which led to the death of one asylum seeker, in fact took place inside the Papua New Guinea facility.
Labor has accused Mr Morrison of “losing his grip” on the detention centre, while the Australian Greens have called for Prime Minister Tony Abbott to sack his minister.
In an about-face on the original explanation for Tuesday’s riot, Mr Morrison also questioned the role of the security firm which runs the centre, G4S.
Defending his initial version of what happened at the facility, Mr Morrison said it was important to providing a briefing in the immediate aftermath because of the “tragic death” of Iranian Reza Berati, 23.
“Information is rarely perfect so soon after the event,” he said on Sunday.
“Any early reports are always qualified along these lines, as my report on that morning was.” The mistake was “regrettable”, he said, but the information had been provided in “good faith”.
He received the updated information on Saturday, and released it at 9pm (AEDT) as soon as he was confident of its accuracy.
