Does a change of government bring a brighter future?
Hundreds of detainees are optimistic, but Refugee Action Collective will believe it when it happens

Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained on Nauru since February have called on Australia's new Rudd government to quickly make a decision about their resettlement.

Australia accepted in September that 72 of 82 Sri Lankan asylum seekers intercepted on their way to Australia were genuine refugees.

Since then, the outgoing Coalition government has been looking for a third country to take them and they remain on the Pacific island nation of Nauru.

A spokesman for the Sri Lankans told AAP he hoped the incoming Labor government would soon decide on the matter.

"We hope the new government will make a decision about our resettlement ... as soon as possible," said one of the detainees who asked to be identified only as Pulendren.

He said things were getting worse for the Sri Lankans, with some in the group suffering from mental illness. In September, more than 50 members of the group staged a hunger strike to highlight their situation.

Mark Getchell from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which undertakes the care and maintenance of asylum seekers on Nauru, said that while the Sri Lankans were physically OK, they were very concerned about their futures.

"It doesn't help when you sit day by day and not knowing what will happen," Getchell said.

Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd has said his government will move quickly to shut down Australia's offshore immigration detention centre on Nauru, but hasn't given a timeframe.

Rudd has said "there will be no continuation of the Pacific solution" under his government, in which asylum seekers are processed offshore.

Australia will rely on its facility on Christmas Island, he has said.

Getchell called on the Rudd government to ensure that any changes to immigration policy did not send a message to people smugglers that Australia could again be targeted.

"If a Labor government is going to make a decision to replace Nauru with something then all I would say, and hope for, is that whatever it is replaced with does not in anyway motivate people to get on boats again," he said.

"Whatever Nauru has done, it has stopped that from happening," Getchell said.

Indonesians face interviewers

Meanwhile, sixteen Indonesians rescued from a leaking fishing boat in the Timor Sea have spent their first night in detention on Christmas Island.

Immigration officials say the three men, three women and 10 children were dramatically rescued by Australian navy ships last Tuesday.

The group spent the night at a community housing facility near the old detention centre on Christmas Island .. after being interviewed and assessed by immigration authorities yesterday.

The families, from the Indonesian island of Roti, say they have been suffering economic losses from Australia's crackdown on illegal fishing in the region and had no choice but to flee their homeland.

The group is undergoing health checks and will be interviewed by Immigration officers and interpreters about claims they were fleeing debt and hardship caused by Australia's crackdown on illegal fishing.

It is not known how long the process will take or whether they will be allowed to stay in Australia.

Source: SBS staff with agencies

The election of Australia’s new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after his Labor Party comprehensively beat the party of outgoing PM John Howard over the weekend, has been met with warmth in many parts of the Pacific.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has congratulated Rudd on his election victory, saying, “PNG has had a close and fruitful association with the Australian Labor Party, dating back to former prime ministers Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating and I’m confident we will progress this even further under Mr Rudd’s leadership.”

The Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare has written to Rudd, saying he would be well aware that relations between the two countries had not been as warm and cordial as they should be under the leadership of Howard.

He said he was confident of working closely with Rudd’s government towards the normalisation of bilateral and diplomatic relations.

Solomons Minister for Foreign Affairs, Patterson Oti says he trusts Rudd’s government would have a better understanding and appreciation of the development challenges facing small Island countries.

Fiji’s interim administration is hoping for better relations with Australia, including the easing of travel bans with Rudd’s election.

Fiji Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry says he hopes the new Labor government will move away from isolation to constructive engagement with Fiji

Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained on Nauru since February have called on the new government to quickly make a decision about their resettlement, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Australia accepted in September that 72 of 82 Sri Lankan asylum seekers intercepted on their way to Australia were genuine refugees.

The outgoing Coalition government has been looking for a third country to take them and they remain on the Pacific island nation of Nauru.

"We hope the new government will make a decision about our resettlement ... as soon as possible," said one of the detainees who asked to be identified only as Pulendren.

Rudd has said his government will move quickly to shut down Australia's offshore immigration detention centre on Nauru, but hasn't given a time frame.

The New York Times reports analysts as saying the election result was unlikely to bring a radically new foreign policy, although they expected a shift in emphasis in the relationship with the United States, Australia’s closest ally.

Authorities on Christmas Island are urging the new Labor government to abandon the policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

The Shire of Christmas Island has welcomed the placement of 16 Indonesians - rescued from a stricken fishing boat last week - in duplex housing instead of at the island's detention facilities.

The group of fishing families are believed to be seeking asylum and a creche is being provided for the children while their parents are questioned by Immigration officials.

Christmas Island Shire president Gordon Thomson says the arrangement is appropriate given a Human Rights Commission ruling that children should not be held in detention.

Mr Thomson says he will be urging the new Labor government to process all new arrivals within the community.

"There are two people who have been held in detention for a year and they are suffering because of that and we'd also like to see them released into the community," he said.

"They are no threat to the community and they could probably make a positive contribution."

Mr Thomson says the two are Vietnamese men who have been held on Christmas Island for a year.

"I don't know that I can comment too much - they don't want publicity about their case," he said.

"Just to suffice to say you or I in detention for over a year having committed no crime we'd become institutionalised.

"The regime is one of a prison, you become institutionalised, you become depressed."

The Labor MP, whose electorate includes Christmas Island, says the future of a new detention facility on the island will be decided by the incoming Federal Government.

The local shire has called for the $400 million centre, due to be opened next year, to be used in a more humane way.

The Shire President Gordon Thomson has also called for Federal Labor to end the policy of detaining asylum seekers.

Mr Thomson says the detention centre was a political project by the Howard Government and a colossal waste of money.

"They may now argue that they can use it for other purposes and we would like those who are making those sorts of decisions to tell us about that," he said.

"What is their planning? It is a very expensive white elephant at this stage."

The Member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, says the building's fate will rest with the incoming Minister for Immigration, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

"It's a very large facility. I think it houses somewhere between 800 and 1000 people potentially," he said.

"Now I'm uncertain as to what was proposed and how it would be used in the longer term. The Labor Party have a policy of ending the Pacific solution."

Mr Snowdon says the centre has been built for a specific use and to change the plans would increase the project's cost.

"We've, since this was established, questioned the motives of the government," he said.

"They've spent a hell of a lot of money to appease their own political interests and the problem we've got now is that we've got the Australian taxpayer being landed with this establishment and it's ongoing upkeep."