Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

When the Howard government left office in 2007 there were four people in immigration detention. Not one of those persons had arrived here illegally by boat. Australia's detention network was costing the Australian taxpayer approximately $85 million—not billion, million—per year. Under the former government the Australian taxpayer is now faced with a cost blow-out of in excess of $11 billion. When the former Howard government left office in 2007 there were no children in detention. This is the legacy caseload the Abbott government has picked up. By July 2013 there were over 3,000 children being cared for by the department, with over 2,000 children locked in detention. That is the extent of the failures of winding back the Howard government's policies. (Time expired)