Mickijo

John Howard is in charge of the government so while it may not be his personal "fault" it is certainly his responsbility.

For facts you could try reading the Palmer Report (although it is mainly about Cornelia Rau)
http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media_releases/media05/palmer-report.pdf
and the Comrie Report (which is specifically about Vivian Alvarez Solon).
http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/publications_information/Special_Reports/2005/alvarez_report03.pdf
although for some reason I can never get this to load properly so I haven’t been able to read it – very annoying.

Re the lawyers - if DIMIA hadn't stuffed up in the first place, Vivian Alvarez Solon wouldn't have been entitled to any compensation and thus her lawyers wouldn't have got any money. So to avoid those evil lawyers ;-) being able to get their hands on the moolah don't deport Australian citizens!

All- can you provide a reference for the comment Ms Alvarez Solon had a false passport? I'm prepared to believe I may have missed that one. I recall a false passport being involved in the Virginia Leong case, but not with VAS.

The recent spate of enquiries into the actions of DIMIA and the embarrassing disclosures, have focused public attention on the Department. The Carmel Rau story, followed by the “catastrophic” manner in which Vivian Salon was treated are but public peaks in the deplorable performance of that part of DIMIA that has been responsible for detention programs and the handling of asylum seekers. Another distressful case has been the handling of the 52 Vietnamese ‘Boat People’ of whom all but one, have now after two years mostly hidden away on Christmas Island, have been recognized as refugees. The one remaining has been maliciously pursued through continual legal action by the Department and its Minister.

Many, including the Minister Amanda Vanstone (trying to duck shove?), have referred to a ‘culture’ operating within the Department and have started to extract blood.

But why is there such a deplorable ‘culture’ operating? I would suspect that the answer is partly deep seated within some echelons of the Department going back to Australia’s restrictive immigration policies of the past and the xenophobia that is not far below the surface of the Australian psyche. However to lump all the blame on the bureaucrats in the Department is just political scape goating. In my mind there has to be always a connection between political decisions and values and the subsequent policy implementation in the development of a culture. What we have experienced over the last few decades are a series of behaviours by Governments of both political persuasions that have help shape a culture in a department

So is it surprising there is an unacceptable culture in DIMIA? Our politicians have a lot to answer for. Only a hand full can hold their head high, in particular I salute the courage of Liberals, Petro Georgiou and Judi Moylan .

All- I think you'll find that Anomie is correct. I’ve read the Comrie report (which is now loading properly – yay!) and Vivian Alvarez Solon did not have a false passport. Her birth name was Vivian Alvarez Solon. She married an Australian (Robert William Young) in 1984 and became an Australian citizen in 1986. They separated in 1990 and divorced in 1993. Vivian obtained a passport in 1992 in the name Vivian Solon Young with her birth name recorded as Vivian Alvarez Solon. In 2000 she applied for a passport in the name Vivian Solon and gave her mother’s maiden name as Alvarez. The passport was issued but not collected so it was destroyed.

What’s wrong with having more than one last name anyway? I’ve got a birth certificate last name, a professional last name and a married last name, but that’s hardly an excuse for me to be deported….

The Comrie report clearly shows that Vivian’s deportation was not her fault as that DIMIA officers made an amazing amount of mistakes and then did nothing for a year when they knew that they might have deported an Australian citizen. DIMIA officers didn’t know how to do a proper name check or they couldn’t be bothered. I can understand that you would never associate “Anna Schmidt” with “Cornelia Rau” but you would associate “Vivian Alvarez” with “Vivian Alvarez Solon” or “Vivian Solon Young” plus she always gave her correct date of birth.

bagsyl, I'll second that Georgiou, and Moylan, at least had the guts to give their honest opinion, which is more than can be said for the balance of the Liberals. To my knowledge "the buck stops at the top" Minister Vanstone occupies that position, need I say more.