A top public servant has apologised for a “regrettable” and “significant” lapse that meant Nauru was not approved for Australia’s offshore immigration processing for a period of four months.
The home affairs secretary, Michael Pezzullo, on Monday revealed that the department was aware as far back as January 2021 that the designation allowing offshore processing at Nauru would need to be renewed, but failed to alert the home affairs minister, Claire O’Neil. This was despite O’Neil asking on “at least seven” occasions if legal requirements for Operation Sovereign Borders were in place.
