Wong, Burke admit to secret meetings with Nauru president

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have both met the Nauruan president in Canberra this week after this masthead revealed fresh allegations of corruption inside the federal government’s offshore detention regime in the Pacific nation.

Wong’s office said she “raised recent media reports” with Nauruan President David Adeang on the sidelines of a Pacific Security College leadership program on Monday, but this was not made public until he was photographed by ABC News entering Parliament House on Tuesday.

This masthead and 60 Minutes have detailed allegations of rorting, graft and bikie gangs infiltrating critical border security operations in the Pacific island nation, which struck a $2.5 billion deal in September to take Australia’s foreign-born criminals.

This payment over the next 30 years comes on top of a $100 million treaty signed between the two countries last year, and is separate to the hundreds of millions that Australia pays Nauru annually to run its offshore detention regime.

Burke confirmed he had met the president, in a post on X shortly after photos of the president at the doors of Parliament House were published on the ABC.

“I had a productive meeting with Nauru’s President Adeang today in Canberra – the relationship between our countries is critical on a range of issues,” Burke posted.

No public announcement had been made about the president’s visit, as is common for visiting foreign leaders.

Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam called on the government to explain the unannounced meeting.

“It is bizarre to have a head of state from one of our closest neighbours visit without any prior notice or proper diplomatic protocol,” Duniam said in a statement.

The Nauruan contracts are set to be referred to the national anti-corruption watchdog after a senior department whistleblower alleged Australian taxpayers paid millions of dollars for nonexistent or unnecessary offshore asylum seeker services as part of a system that “enabled” corruption by Nauruan politicians and Australian companies.

A former Australian soldier recruited to support the controversial government deportation plan has also demanded answers after discovering a bikie gang had infiltrated the operation.

The Department of Home Affairs wrote to Oisin Donohoe on Monday after he went public with his concerns on the weekend, after he first wrote to them in August, insisting the department had no responsibility for what happens in Nauru.

“Contracts that Nauru engage in are a matter for the Government of Nauru”, operational policy director Alex Yang said in a letter to Donohoe seen by this masthead.
“The Department of Home Affairs has no direct or subcontracting arrangement with Nauru Community Safety. Nauru Community Safety is not involved in any way with regional processing activities on Nauru.”

Transparency International Australia has called for the National Anti-Corruption Commission to urgently investigate the allegations.

Chief executive Clancy Moore said that “taxpayer funds lining the pockets of companies owned by bikie gangs to provided security services, and millions of dollars on insurance payments for fast cars, art and a luxury yacht owned by government contractors are just some of red flags that need to be examined”.

“The fact that President Adeang is visiting Australia two days after these allegations were raised in the media puts further fuel on the fire and stresses the need for accountability.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, when asked about the corruption claims on Monday, said the relevant minister would respond but added, “I note that those issues, as I read them, come from a period before we were in government.”

Duniam said the secret meeting raised questions over the 30-year, multibillion-dollar agreement with Nauru to accept the convicted criminals who had to be released from detention following a landmark 2023 High Court ruling, but who could not be deported to their country of origin.

“Silence, obfuscation and a lack of transparency have been hallmarks of this government, including in its dealings with the dangerous NZYQ cohort and the secretive agreement struck with Nauru,” he said in the statement.

Adeang confirmed the first deportees had arrived in his country just two weeks ago after Burke secretly rushed through laws to strip foreign-born criminals of their right to fair process to expedite the deportations.

Adeang had been invited to Monday’s leadership conference alongside representatives from other island nations including Palau and Kiribati.

The offices of Burke and the prime minister declined to comment.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.