The federal government has been attacked from both the left and right over a massive increase in asylum seeker costs
As Immigration Minister Chris Bowen introduced into parliament tough new laws against detention centre violence, the coalition and Australian Greens went on the attack over the government's budget blowout.
The government last year budgeted just $239 million for offshore asylum seeker management in 2011/12, but the government now estimates the cost will actually exceed $1 billion.
The government has budgeted a total of $2.5 billion over the next four years. Coupled with a $290 million blowout in 2010/11, costs have gone over budget by a total of $1.75 billion.
These costs could be forced up even further if the government moves to resurrect part of the Howard government's Pacific Solution by reopening the mothballed facility on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the blowout had exceeded all expectations.
"In just four years, Labor's border protection failures have taken the costs of managing asylum seekers from less than $100 million per year under the coalition to more than $1 billion a year under Labor," Mr Morrison said.
"This year's budget takes these cost blowouts to a whole new level of failure.
"Labor have lost control of our borders, our detention centres and now, inevitably, the budget."
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the increase provided further evidence the Christmas Island Detention Centre should be closed.
"While the government is cutting payments to single parents, they're still spending $2.5 billion on offshore processing," Senator Hanson-Young said.
"This is a waste of taxpayer money." Federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie on Wednesday rose in parliament to attack the government's Manus Island plans and its refugee swap deal with Malaysia.
Under the deal announced last week, the government will send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 people judged to be genuine refugees, at a cost to Australia of $292 million.
Mr Wilkie said the deal was in some ways even worse than the Howard government's Pacific Solution.
"Sending people to Malaysia for Malaysian authorities to deal with abandons even that last skerrick of care, and will effectively throw to the wolves some of the world's most disadvantaged and vulnerable people," he said.
A Greens' motion calling on the government to dump the Malaysian deal later passed the Senate with Coalition support.
Earlier, Mr Bowen delivered on a pledge to introduce new laws designed to counter detention centre violence in the wake of riots at the Christmas Island and Villawood centres.
Under the main provision, anyone convicted of a criminal offence while in immigration detention may be refused a visa or have a visa cancelled.
If any convicted people can't be sent back because of a well-founded fear of persecution, they may be given temporary visas until it's safe to return them.
The legislation also increases the penalty - from a maximum three years to five years jail - for an immigration detainee who makes, possesses, uses or distributes a weapon.
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