$3m a month for asylum seekers hotels

$3 million a month for asylum seekers hotels
Samantha Maiden, National Political Editor
The Sunday Times May 21, 2011

JULIA Gillard is spending $3 million a month to house asylum seekers in hotels.
And the Prime Minister is facing an investigation into Australia's detention centres following revelations of violence and communicable diseases among asylum seeekers.

It comes as Australia's asylum seeker policy is expected to dominate Parliament when MPs return to Canberra this week.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison will announce today the Coalition's plans for a parliamentary select committee with the power to call witnesses and demand government documents.

It will consider evidence including hotel bills of $3.1 million to house 673 detainees at an estimated cost of $4,500 per person per month.

Between September 2010 to February this year, the cost of accommodating people in hotel-style accommodation also rose from $2.36m to $3.1 million a month.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
.In Perth, asylum seekers have been put up in the leafy Banksia Tourist Caravan Park in Hazelmere and at a Jandakot hotel.

The inquiry would also consider other evidence of a crisis within the detention centre including:

COMMUNICABLE diseases reports of tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Chlamydia, Syphilis and Whooping Cough rising to 121 cases.

SEX ABUSE allegations and claims of assault against detainees and incidents of self-harm and violence within the overcrowded centres.

LEGAL costs of $10 million since July for lawyers and litigation costs, including challenging visa decisions.

OVER 20 babies born in detention and the 1,000 children currently in Immigration detention as of May 6.

"With an average of more than three critical incidents being reported every day in the detention network, ranging from self harm and serious assaults to riots, fires and even deaths , the Government must now be held to account," Mr Morrison told The Sunday Times.

"Violent riots, a cost blow out of more than $3 billion, a detention population at record levels, more than 60 per cent of detainees having been there for more than six months, cannot go unnoticed by this parliament."

A spokesman for the Immigration Department said low-cost hotel-or-motel style accommodation had been used as alternative detention facilities for several years under successive governments.

"The department is currently using a number of commercial accommodation sites as low-security detention facilities for IMA families and vulnerable clients," he said.

"They included the Virginia Palms Hotel a "4-star" hotel in Brisbane, the Asti Hotel in Darwin, the Darwin Airport Lodge, Leonora in WA and Jandakot in WA.

"When the minister announced expanded use of community detention and also new and expanded detention accommodation, he also said the department would progressively cease the use of the Virginia Palms and the Asti as other facilities and arrangements come online. This is ongoing."

The Coalition will seek the support of the Greens and the Independents to investigate the treatment of children in detention, the riots, and reports of violence, self-harm and even sexual abuse against detainees.

Mr Morrison said over 3,400 reportable incidents have occurred in detention centres this financial year including 850 critical events ranging from escapes to suicides, assaults and riots and 794 major incidents.