By NNN-PTI
Melbourne : Australian Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd today demanded an "independent" judicial inquiry into the Mohd Haneef episode, saying questions "hanging in the air" about the government's treatment of the Indian doctor can only be answered by such a probe.
Rudd said he did not know what Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews was referring to when the minister cited compelling evidence for cancelling the visa of Haneef, who returned to India yesterday after being cleared of terror charges.
"What has formed the basis of his decision to change the form of incarceration of Dr Haneef, and what then became the basis of his decision to order the deportation of Haneef and other actions taken… I do not know," the Labour leader said.
"That is why we need to have all information on the table," Rudd said adding "I have no confidence in the government conducting its own internal administrative review." "We need to have that independent judicial inquiry first to establish all the facts that are currently in the private possession of a number of minister" Rudd added.
"What I have learnt from my long and bitter experiences with the Howard government is the facts only have a prospect of being established if you have an independent judicial inquiry," Rudd was quoted by a media report here.
"Once the facts are established, what we have then is the full terrain of information and advice provided to the attorney general, immigration minister and the action taken on their behalf at each stage of the process," he said.
Based on the facts, the Australian people can reach their own conclusion, Rudd said.