A Senate committee has heard the federal government will have to find extra cash in the mid-year budget review to keep the offshore detention centres running on Nauru and Manus Island.
Immigration Department Secretary Martin Bowles told the estimates hearing, the current budget allocation of $900 million would not last until the end of 2013/14.
Mr Bowles declined to propose a specific financial amount, but said some hundreds of millions of dollars would be needed.
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Meanwhile, Scott Morrison has been accused of treating the Senate with contempt after defying a call for papers on the government's border operations.
Source
AAP
The Australian Greens are threatening to block all immigration legislation in the Senate after the government defied an order to provide detailed information about Operation Sovereign Borders.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has been accused of treating the Senate with contempt after he tabled a folder full of media transcripts.
The Senate had wanted all communications about "on-water operations" since the September 7 election, as well as email and other correspondence between the minister, his office and the Department of Immigration and Customs.
But Mr Morrison - who has been mocked for the lack of information he provides at a weekly briefing - instead handed over the folder and offered a private briefing on border operations.
The Greens are now threatening to block all immigration legislation in the Senate unless Mr Morrison provides the requested information.
Greens leader Christine Milne said the minister had defied a "clear" Senate order.
"What Scott Morrison has done is essentially showed considerable contempt for the Senate," she told reporters in Canberra.
