The head of Australia's immigration department Mike Pezzullo has released a fiery 1200 word defence of controversial offshore detention policies and criticised the media for recent reports on camps on Nauru.
But in the third paragraph of the personal media release/opinion piece, Pezzullo has included a bizarre "allegedly" in reference to experiences felt in Nazi Germany.
Pezzullo was referencing a Fairfax Media story from last month which quoted a psychiatrist comparing Nazi Germany's "public numbing and indifference" to that enabling Australia's immigration detention centres.
The errant "allegedly" was jumped on quickly by people.
@workmanalice pretty sure the details of world war two are operational matters, we will not be confirming the holocaust at this stage.
And really close readings probably made it clear the Australian Border Force was not denying the Holocaust.
to be fair, it's pretty clear that ABF release doesn't ~deny the Holocaust~ it says German people's numbness to suffering was "alleged"
But that's a terrible position to even be defending.
Border Force proving the rule that you should never ever reference Nazi Germany in a press release
Pezzullo was forced to put out a clarification on the Nazi claims and was furious for being "willfully taken out of context".
It's definitely not the first time Immigration has run into trouble with media releases. Last year, it was forced to apologise and cancel a Melbourne visa-checking operation after a media release stoked public outcry.
Perhaps we can help and fix Pezzullo's release.
Done.
