Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton address the media.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
When asked if he was prepared to accept the NZ offer to secure Senator Lambie's support,Mr Morrison said on Monday:"Our policies on those matters haven't changed."
A report to be released on Tuesday,commissioned by Save The Children,GetUp! and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre,reveals the economic cost of not resettling the remaining cohort of asylum seekers and refugees - about 263 on Nauru and 221 in Papua New Guinea - will balloon to about $1.2 billion over the next three years.
It estimated offshore processing is costing the Australian government more than $573,000 per offshore person annually.
Senator Jacqui Lambie walks past Senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The report,At what cost?,found detaining the same person onshore in Australia would save about $200,000 for each person annually,with onshore mandatory detention costing $346,000 on average,compared with $10,221 for those living in the Australian community on bridging visas.
"The cost of keeping these 535 people offshore after six years is enormous - both economically and morally,"the report said.
"A solution should be found urgently - to the benefit of both these people and the budget bottom line."