Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Attorney-General, representing the Prime Minister. Attorney, today Save the Children and UNICEF revealed that the cost since 2013 of Australia's failed and inhumane asylum seeker policies is $9.6 billion; of course, the human cost is much higher. This includes: the policy of turning boats around; the illegal detention centre on Manus Island, where people are now being held in limbo; and the keeping of people in appalling conditions on Nauru, where allegations of abuse and assaults against men, women and children seeking Australia's protection are widespread and are not being adequately addressed. If the government is not going to dispute the figures released by UNICEF and Save the Children by releasing its own costs based on a transparent methodology, isn't it reasonable for Australian taxpayers to conclude that the $9.6 billion figure is accurate?