Abandoned mining camp in Western Australia to house 80 refugees

AN abandoned camp in a remote old gold mining town is to be used to house 80 asylum seekers because of overcrowding on Christmas Island.
Thirty families will be flown to Leonora, north of Kalgoorlie, and will be under 24-hour detention in self-contained lodge-style accommodation.
The Federal Government will also reopen the disused Curtin Detention Centre in the next few weeks to take single men from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka whose claims have been frozen.
The shifting of people around the country came as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd launched a passionate defence of his position on asylum seekers after Labor MPs told the PM the issue was being raised with them by voters.
Mr Rudd said an Opposition "scare campaign" was promoting fear and based on untruths. "It is a rolled gold bucket of fear and invariably, in fact almost exclusively, based on myth," he said.
The Government would not rush to the Right with rhetoric or substance.
"We are not going to engage in some sort of race to the bottom," he said.
Refugees had made huge contributions to Australia, he said, and mentioned Westfield boss Frank Lowy, who is now Australia's richest man.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott faced fire from his own side with one MP telling a private meeting that he would not be able to live up to the expectation being created that he would turn boats around.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison told the meeting turning boats back would happen only in "limited circumstances" and not if it was unsafe.

Source:http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/abandoned-mining-camp-in-western-australia-to-house-80-refugees/story-e6frf7jo-1225874232393