Last night I was made aware of a concerning incident that took place yesterday morning at the Villawood Detention Centre where Ranjini is currently detained.

A fire, which was not noticed due to a non-functioning smoke detector, badly damaged part of the detention centre. Thankfully Ranjini and her children are safe, however, the reports i’m hearing suggest that this is more through good luck than good policy – had the fire started at night, this could have been a very tragic outcome.

Even if we ignore the injustice of detaining a person indefinitely without them having committed a crime, this incident further underscores the fact that Villawood is an entirely inappropriate facility for a Mother and her children.

Please, Minister Bowen and Minister Roxon – use your Ministerial power to release Ranjini and her children – next time they might not be so lucky.