At $416 per week accomodation for a family plus $216 per week living allowance for a single person it sounds cheaper than holding people in detention. To hold a criminal in jail costs around $80000 per year. Asylum seeker costs may not be that high but I'm sure they're significantly higher than the arrangement outlined in the article. From memory total asylum seeker costs per annum are a little over $1 billion or 1/3 of 1% of the annual budget. Very pleased to see these people receiving such a civilised outcome courtesy of the Australian taxpayer. That 1/3 of 1% of my tax dollars couldn't be spent any better.
