Peter Dutton is not telling the truth about why #Manus & #Nauru refugees were released from The Park Hotel #ParkonSwanston. Costs have never been a consideration when Home Affairs has chosen detention onshore or offshore for refugees. Here are some 2020 figures: /1
https://twitter.com/DrRonBaumann/status/1352109999493771265
•This year’s budget reveals that costs will increase by more than $300m in 2020-21 despite significantly declining numbers of refugees & asylum seekers. Australia will spend roughly $4 million for each of fewer than 300 people remaining detained in PNG (ex #Manus) & #Nauru. /2
•This year the average cost of holding just one person offshore is significantly more than it would cost to allow everyone remaining in PNG and Nauru to live in the community in Australia. /3
•Other comparisons bear consideration. This financial year, Australia will contribute $27m to the UNHCR, an amount that equates to 2% of the funding it will spend on offshore detention. /4
•Senate estimates: officials revealed that 2017/18 it cost $10,221 a person a year to live in the community on a bridging visa. Community detention costs $103,343 a year each person & onshore immigration in facilities such as Villawood costs $346,660 a person a year. /5
Note: #Medevac refugees on bridging visas don't have any govt financial support except Medicare. The costs per person would be much less than the costs of $10,221 stated above. Yet Dutton kept those refugees prisoners in detention for 2 years at $1/2 mil per year. /6
The government has been prepared to pay almost any price to prolong offshore processing. In 2017 an audit of the home affairs department’s contracts revealed $1.1bn had been spent without any record of authorisation and a further $1.1bn had been authorised by officers. ... /8
... who didn't have permission. The department had made contract variations totalling over $1bn without a documented assessment of value for money.
Peter Dutton didn't release refugees from The Park Hotel #ParkonSwanstonout to save on costs. Home Affairs never considers costs. /9
Peter Dutton didn't release refugees from The Park Hotel #ParkonSwanstonout to save on costs. Home Affairs never considers costs. /9
@threadreaderapp please unroll.
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