Six more detention centres to close

The Abbott government is set to save $280 million by closing six more detention centres on the Australian mainland and Christmas Island.

The outside of the Northern Immigration Detention Centre in Darwin

The Abbott government is closing six more immigration detention centres, saving the budget $280m. (AAP)

The Abbott government is closing six more immigration detention centres, saving the budget $280 million.

The Northern and Darwin centres in the Northern Territory will shut mid-year.

The Inverbrackie centre in the Adelaide Hills and two sites on Christmas Island are set to close by the end of the year.

And the Curtin detention centre in Western Australia will close mid 2015.

These closures come in the wake of four others earlier this year - Scherger in Queensland, Port Augusta in South Australia, Leonora in WA and Pontville in Tasmania.

The federal government says its pledge to stop asylum seeker boats is not only saving lives but is also improving the budget bottom line.

However, government policy to process asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea and Nauru will continue to be a drain on the federal budget.

It costs more than $400,000 a person to detain asylum seekers in overseas detention centres a year, compared to $239,000 in Australian detention centres, a graph in the Commission of Audit report shows.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison trumpeted the end of the Inverbrackie facility in particular.

"Prime Minister Gillard imposed this facility on the Adelaide Hills community, without any consultation," he said in a statement.

"For over three years, we have promised that a coalition government would close this facility and we are now delivering on this promise."


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Source: AAP


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