Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to speak to Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2009-2010 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2009-2010 because my examination of these bills reveals some very interesting things in terms of the expenditure which has been incurred in the area of offshore asylum management by this government.

Before I do that, I would just associate the coalition with the comments of the member for Werriwa in relation to the family of the policeman who was killed in the line of duty. My father is a policeman and has served his entire working life as a policeman. So I am very pleased to associate the coalition with those comments.

Returning to the matter of the bills before the Committee: within Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2009-2010 there are changes to the appropriations set out in the additional estimates which were released with MYEFO late last year. They contain two major changes. In the area of the Immigration and Citizenship portfolio, there is a change to outcome 4 of the appropriation for that department which deals essentially with offshore arrangements for the processing of asylum seekers. That involves an increase of $86,264,000. Also, in Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2009-2010, there is an increase in expenditure of $34 million for capital works at Christmas Island. They are large increases which the government is asking for—$86 million and a further $34 million. But when we break it down and look at how the government actually planned for this year’s budget and what they expected to happen, and when we look particularly at the area of outcome 4—and, in particular, under 4.3 for administrative expenses and departmental expenses relating to 4.3.1 and 4.3.2—the story gets even more concerning.

We have had, in the area of additional estimates, for offshore processing, an additional $132 million overall for that outcome under 4.3. That is an increase that this government is asking this parliament for of 106 per cent—a 106 per cent increase in expenditure in this area, over and above the budget. What that actually means in terms of how much the government will be spending this year compared to last year is an increase of $144 million—or an increase of 126 per cent over what was spent on these matters in 2008-09. Just to put that in total terms, the government is now asking to spend $257,429,000 this year on the issue of offshore processing, compared to an actual figure for 2008-09 of $113,778,000. This is the cost in financial terms of the government’s failed border protection policies. This is what happens when you create a highway on the sea to Christmas Island, which has become a visa factory under this government.

But let us go even further and look underneath. Let us look at some of the other increases, and look at what has happened in terms of departmental expenses. I was on Christmas Island last week and I had the opportunity of talking to a large number of people—those in the department and those working on the island—and I thank the minister for finally agreeing to allow me to go to Christmas Island and for facilitating that visit, having denied my predecessor on many occasions the same opportunity. But when I was there I became very aware of the impact on the broader Christmas Island community of the island’s carrying capacity for the detention population. It is not just how many beds are in the centres—it is how many other beds there are on the island to accommodate the absolute army of officials, assessors, health and other workers, and all of the attendant things that are necessary to provide a professional and humanitarian detention service on Christmas Island, which is necessary. But with the absolute avalanche of arrivals that we have experienced under the term of this government, these costs are now, just like the government’s border protection policies, completely out of control.

In terms of the service contractor, Serco—and I stress that Serco is doing an outstanding job on the island—the additional estimates being sought here by the government are a 58 per cent increase for this year. That is a 58 per cent blow-out, and $26.5 million in additional payments will need to be made to the contractor as a result of the explosion of the population on Christmas Island and of this government’s failed border protection policies. But what is more interesting is that when you look at the actuals for last year, 2008-09, and at what the government is now asking to spend this year you will see there is an increase of 245 per cent in payments to the contractors on Christmas Island to provide the services to meet the demand that is clearly out of control and unable to be managed by this government.

Also, there is $34 million extra in capital works. I have seen where that money is being spent. I have seen where the extra 400 demountables will be going in and where the accommodation for 212 people in demountables has just been completed. The extra 400 demountables will not be online until late April or May. Who knows? A further 88 beds in the area where it is intended to hold families in the future will not be on stream until possibly as late as May. Christmas Island is now at full capacity. As the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship confirmed yesterday in the Senate, there are around 1,800 beds and currently 1,800 people in detention on that island. That is one boat away from an overflow. It only begs people to ask the question: who is now determining how many people are coming to Christmas Island? It is certainly not this government.

An extra $34 million has been spent on providing further demountable accommodation on Christmas Island. That $34 million started flowing in December. So the government has been basically chasing its tail on this issue in trying to get as many beds as it possibly can on this island. That is necessary. No-one in the coalition is suggesting that people should be living in tents. No-one in the coalition is even suggesting that people should be living in demountables because, when we planned Christmas Island and the detention facility, we provided a capacity after noting the potential demand that may have existed in the future. In fact, the member who is currently the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration described the Christmas Island detention facility as a white elephant and a grandiose waste of money. That was prior to the facility being opened. This government did not want to open it but it was forced to do so. Within a year its population increased more than tenfold as a result of this government’s policies.

When you look at the forward estimates you will see the government has asked for an additional $132 million, as I said, from this parliament to deal with this issue for this year alone; next year it is forecasting that there will be a 38 per cent decline in the number of arrivals. If you look at the forward estimates and just assume that the number of arrivals that we will have to accommodate and deal with on Christmas Island over the next few years is just the same as it was this year then that will cost, over those forward estimates, an additional $370 million. Add $370 million to the $130 million and that is half a billion dollars, at least, because there is no sign that, under the policies of this government, the flow of boats will be stopping any time soon.

These estimates, which are set out in these bills, paint a picture of failure of the government’s border protection policies. In terms of the dollars that are being spent, the runs are on the board, demonstrating that it is a demand driven policy that the government are operating. They have effectively opened the doors, they have changed the laws and they are in complete denial about the impact—

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