Mohammed Haneef, who won the right to return to Australia after a court quashed the government's decision to cancel his work visa, could be re-registered to work in Queensland as early as next month.
Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson, whose department sponsored Haneef to work at the Gold Coast Hospital, said he would be happy to have the Bangalore doctor back.
Haneef's lawyers, meanwhile, released the full transcript of a secret second interview with the Australian Federal Police. His solicitor Peter Russo said the transcript was made public on Haneef's request to counter the selective release of information by the authorities.
Robertson said, "We've made it clear that we are prepared to accept Haneef back if that is the outcome of the extraordinary processes that he's been put through by an increasingly incompetent federal minister.''
Robertson was quoted by The Australian on Wednesday as saying that he understood Haneef could be reregistered in September.
Russo was quoted as saying, "He (Haneef) wants all the matters raised with him by the Federal Police and his answers to those questions put into the public arena, because of the continuing attempts being made to slander his name by innuendo and selective release of information by the authorities."
"The police translation of the chat room conversation between Haneef and his brother appears at the very end of the interview when Haneef and the police officers were all fatigued," he said.
"It should be noted that Haneef's attempts to correct the translation of the chat room conversation had been brushed aside by the sleuths with a promise that those corrections could be made at the end," he said.
"The police say the chat room conversation commenced at 4.13pm on 2 July 2007. By that time, Haneef had spoken to Cathy Bosworth at the hospital and arranged leave, spoken to his father-in-law to buy a ticket to Bangalore, and received telephone advice from his father that the tickets were ordered and would be emailed to him," he added.
"The last item occurred about 4.00pm. This can be seen from question and answer 849 in the first interview," Russo said.
"Haneef tried ringing up London detective, Tony Webster, to ask him some questions about his SIM card, three times, before the chat room conversation and tried to do so again after or during the chat room conversation at 4.32pm on July 2," Russo added.
"Importantly, Haneef specifically said that he was calling up to explain his position. He also wanted the police to know that he was not absconding, but leaving," Russo said.
The solicitor said the transcription released was provided, eventually, by the police.
"Despite selective parts of the chat room translation being used to attack my client's reputation, the police did not think the second interview important enough to transcribe for some weeks after the interview. People may well wonder why the police took so long. Perhaps, it was because the transcript of the second interview clearly shows what we have said all along. Haneef was at all times trying to assist police," he said.
