Yep -  that's right one billion of our taxpayer dollars is headed to Serco over the next 4 years to run Australia's immigration detention centres. That's just to run them, it doesn't account for building new facilities should the Government get such a whim. It doesn't include the costs of the Department of Immigration, their staff and resources that are also expended within the centres and it doesn't include the years of ongoing costs once people are deemed to be refugees and released to the Australian community suffering from even more trauma than when they first arrived. 

Running, even building and running community detention facilities would be a far cheaper option. The Opposition has come out, not with any positive alternative but a slam about how this is evidence of a failed border protection issue. When will they stop? People seeking asylum are not a national security threat. There is no border issue here. We are an island, people seek asylum all over the world every day by whatever means they can. Do we need to close Tullamarine and Kingsford Smith airports for reasons of national security because around the same number of asylum seekers come here by plane as by boat? 

The costs of maintaining this broken system are ridiculous. There is no security, economic or humane argument to keep this system going. Get people in and out of immigration detention centres in 14 days (as many countries dealing with far greater numbers than Australia seem perfectly able to do), keep children in suitable environments not locked centres, get people in the community where they are able to start contributing and costs will drop enormously. I know it won't win points in the political game of asylum football but surely it will score a few for economic sanity. 

(Sophie Peer -  ChilOut Campaign Director)

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