Labor Waste

 Labor’s failed border protection policies have cost Australian taxpayers as much as $1.4 billion:

IMMIGRATION Minister Chris Bowen yesterday confirmed the government is facing a budget blowout for the processing and detaining of asylum-seekers, as the Coalition claimed Labor’s failed border protection policy has cost as much as $1.4 billion. Mr Bowen said the Gillard government would need to find more money from the budget coffers — beyond the extra $239 million earmarked for asylum-seekers in additional estimates earlier this year — to cope with the influx of new arrivals.

“Well that’s right, but the budget will outline what the implications are, and the budget will outline various measures that the government has proceeded with,” Mr Bowen said yesterday on Sydney’s 2GB radio.

According to documents from last year’s budget, the government attributed a spike in the expenses of the Immigration Department in this financial year to increased costs associated with the accommodation and processing of irregular maritime arrivals.

Read the rest here: Detention costs blow out: Bowen | The Australian.

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