Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member. On those detentions: our advice is that, while the Racial Discrimination Act prevents discrimination on the basis of colour, or racial, ethnic or national origin, the Federal Court of Australia has determined that making assessments—as we are in the case of our suspensions—on the basis of nationality is not equivalent to making a determination on the basis of national origin. We are in fact looking at the circumstances existing in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in light of the state of hostilities in those countries, and at the re-engagement of the democratic system in Sri Lanka after the cessation of hostilities, and looking to receive that updated in-country information.

I would also point out that in contradistinction to the government’s policies of these people remaining in detention during the period of suspension, as I understand it, on the basis of the opposition’s temporary protection visa arrangements these people would actually be released into the community, assuming that they satisfied the assessment criteria. More broadly, the figures quoted in the media about a $1 billion blow-out in processing are wrong. It seems that the media has referred to outcome 4, rather than outcome 4.3 dealing with the processing of irregular maritime arrivals. The total estimated cost for the detention and management of immigration arrivals in 2010-11 is $440 million. That includes Christmas Island and also onshore facilities. The estimated cost in respect of Christmas Island is $213.1 million. These estimates are agreed between the department of immigration and Finance. They are agreed on the basis of an averaging process of numbers, which I understand were the same budget and forecast arrangements that were used under the previous government.

In respect of that, the previous government experienced again a very substantial peak in the costs that they incurred during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 years, which the honourable member spoke of the other day. There was a substantial influx of arrivals into Australia during the period of the former government. I recall that the figure was then an additional $1.5 billion over those three years. These things are not unknown, and the arrangements between Immigration and Finance accommodate that potentially occurring.

I note, for example, that the former government had estimated in its budget in 2002 that the construction cost of the Christmas Island facility that it eventually built would be $153 million. That blew out to $400 million. I also note that the opposition’s proposed arrangements for detention of persons at an offshore place or in another country would necessarily involve a very substantial expense. Indeed, from my observations, I doubt that the opposition has factored in that cost. For instance, it is my understanding that the costs of Nauru were well over $315 million. Again, considering how the opposition is explaining its policies, I wonder how those contingencies would be factored into its costings.

See this speech in context