In February last year, Andrew Wilkie introduced a Private Members Bill, seconded by Zali Steggall, calling for an end to the immoral, illegal, and extremely expensive practice of indefinite and arbitrary immigration detention. In presenting the Bill, Wilkie drew attention to the staggering cost of this irrational cruelty. It costs approximately $346,000 to hold someone in immigration detention in Australia for one year but it costs only about $10,221 for a refugee or an asylum seeker to live in the community. In fact, the budget for our offshore detention is still running at about $1 billion per year. These figures are breathtaking and almost unbelievable.

Source: The atrocity of indefinite and arbitrary immigration detention must stop – support Andrew Wilkie’s Bill – » The Australian Independent Media Network