Christian Kerr writes:

The actions of government officials in the case of Vivian Alvarez demand a much more detailed explanation than we have been given.Yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald report that “an immigration official mysteriously did something only the minister for finance has the power to do” and cancelled Vivian Alvarez’s debt for her custody and deportation isn’t the only strange outstanding matter about the case.

“The move is so far outside normal practice it raises questions about whether someone realised the mistake of her deportation and got rid of the debt so as to avoid embarrassment if Ms Alvarez tried to return,” Herald journalist Joseph Kerr wrote.

Vanstone’s office declined to comment for the Herald story. An investigation of the Alvarez matter is still proceeding. And the details of discussions between Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone’s chief-of-staff, John Nation, and Alvarez’s former husband, Robert Young, and their impact on the case are yet to be explained.

Read the full story on the site here.