Bail has been granted for a Nepalese national and convicted rapist who escaped detention centre staff during an excursion to Darwin's Crocosaurus Cove.
Amit Hamal, 27, appeared in the Darwin Local Court on Tuesday to face a charge of escaping from detention.
He fled on Monday morning during a daytrip for detainees from Wickham Point detention centre to an aquarium in the CBD, but was recaptured by police several hours later.
Hamal, who claimed to be a member of the Nepalese royal family, had come to Australia on a student visa and was working as a delivery driver for an Indian restaurant when he raped a 44-year-old woman who was asleep in her Sydney home in 2010.
He was convicted in 2011 and his visa was cancelled, but he has remained in detention while he appeals his deportation.
On Tuesday he was bailed to be returned to Wickham Point, and will reappear in court on May 31.
Federal Member for Solomon said all non-essential excursions for detainees have been cancelled and an investigation into the circumstances of the man's day release is underway.
She said Hamal was "an unsavoury character" and that she and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton were "horrified" he had escaped.
"If your visa has been cancelled you should not be going out of the facility because the risk of absconding, as we saw yesterday, is significantly increased," she told AAP.
"I believe there's probably not the level of security that we would expect."
It took security staff 10 minutes to realise Hamal had fled, a witness told News Corp Australia: "They were watching the animals and didn't realise he had run away."
Chief Minister Adam Giles used the incident as an opportunity to call for more federal funding to keep Wickham Point open, and for Canberra to pay for more police officers, suggesting that if it did not more escapes could occur.
Federal funding ended in 2014 for 94 officers who were employed following 2010 riots at detention centres.
"Darwin is the front line of defence of northern Australia, and at the time when the federal government is closing detention centres around this nation they must keep the Darwin detention centre open, they must keep the financial agreements with the police force of the NT so that we can provide the appropriate policing services for the right security measures at the detention facility," Mr Giles said.
Opposition Leader Michael Gunner said he understood community anger.
"We've seen it before, with the community getting extremely upset with the escaped axe-murdering rapist in Nhulunbuy" who was on the loose for two days in November, he said.
"You've got to be very careful and cautious about what you do as a government and how you work with the community."
