Asylum medivac transfers will cost $1.4B in five years

It would cost almost half a billion dollars in two years to manage the sudden influx of asylum seekers to Australian shores expected under Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps’ bid to make it easier to bring detainees to the country on medical grounds.

It would cost almost half a billion dollars in two years to manage the sudden influx of asylum seekers to Australian shores expected under Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps’ bid to make it easier to bring detainees to the country on medical grounds.

Within five years, that figure would balloon out from $466.2 million to $1.4 billion, government costings show.

It comes as Labor yesterday left the door open to softening its support for Dr Phelps’ bill amid mounting pressure over its risk to the nation’s borders.

Urgent government modelling has been done to assess how much it would cost Australia immediately to accommodate the 1000 asylum seekers Home Affairs Departmental advice says will begin arriving on Australian shores within weeks if the parliament passes a bill to make medical transfers easier.

Labor yesterday left the door open to softening its support for Dr Phelps’ bill.

Under the modelling, the Christmas Island Detention Centre would be reopened, with costs including detainee transfer costs to Australia, Home Affairs staffing, costs relating to the reopening and management detention centre as well as its staffing and administration.

The new member for Wentworth’s medivac bill – which Labor, the Greens and other crossbenchers indicated late last year they would support - would give doctors the power to sign off on asylum seeker transfers to Australia on medical grounds.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would do everything in his power to block the bill.

“What I know is this; we opposed that bill and we will oppose that bill,” he said.

“We will do everything we can to ensure that bill - which is acceptable in no form, no form - because it will undermine our border protection. This bill is an attempt to undermine that and anyone who is supporting this bill is not for stronger borders.”

Under the modelling, the Christmas Island Detention Centre would be reopened.

Concerns have also been raised – first revealed last year in The Daily Telegraph – that the bill would allow asylum seekers with criminal backgrounds into the country.

It was revealed this week that advice from the Home Affairs Department to the government was that the bill would see at least 1000 detainees arrive in Australia within weeks, and the people smugglers back in business.

Legal advice prepared for the government states that up to 1000 asylum seekers would be placed and held in detention or community detention with a residence determination if the bill was given royal assent.

“Placing up to 1000 people in held detention will put pressure on the detention network and with risk assessments, some, but not all may be suitable for community detention,” the advice states.

“Those not suitable for community detention would be placed in held detention, likely necessitating the stand up of the Christmas Island facility and removing our hot contingency fall back for Operation Sovereign Borders.”

There are concerns the bill will allow asylum seekers with criminal backgrounds into the country.

The advice states that if only 20 per cent of people were approved for community detention, residences provided by the Department of Home Affairs would increase by a “minimum of 100 new locations”, impacting cost.

“Costs offshore would translate to onshore costs limiting any savings from downsizing of regional processing services.”

In some of his softest language recently on the bill, Labor Leader Shorten said he would “listen to the facts”, saying that if there was a “middle ground” on the issue “we should try to find it”.

The costings are only for current detainees in PNG and Nauru. The modelling assumes no new boat arrivals, which the government considers unlikely, meaning real costs could be greater.