Labor Waste

Media Release – Scott Morrison

Skyrocketing costs and reports of further ‘disturbances’ involving detainees in Darwin reveal a detention network in crisis, Shadow Minister for Productivity and Population & Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Scott Morrison said today.

 “It has been reported this morning that eleven detainees have been taken to the Darwin watchhouse after a ‘disturbance’ involving about 40 detainees at one of the city’s detention centres and that six asylum seekers had been hospitalised in the past three days as a result of several ‘scuffles’ between detainees at the Darwin Airport Lodge detention centre,” Mr Morrison said.

  “These latest ‘disturbances’ follow a similar incident at Curtin in Western Australia, and are becoming more common place as the detention population remains at record levels, with over 6,200 people currently in the network,” he said.

 “Our detention centres are full because this Government refuses to reverse their immigration and border protection policy failures to stop the boats.

 “The inability of Labor to manage our borders is equalled only by their inability to manage the federal budget.

 “Yesterday the Government asked the parliament for more than $290 million extra, on top of their standing budget blow out in this area of more than $1.1 billion.

 “Yesterday’s budget blowout for one year of $290 million eclipsed the total cost of running the Howard Government’s Pacific Solution over almost six years.

 “In February 2008, Labor’s then Immigration Minister Chris Evans stated ‘the Department of Immigration and Citizenship expended $289 million between September 2001 and June 2007 to run the Nauru and Manus OPCs’[1].

 “The other key difference between these two measures is that the Pacific Solution played a critical role in the Coalition’s strong border protection regime that stopped the boats.

 “To regain control of our borders and our detention network, Labor must end their denial and reverse their failed policies,” he said. 

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