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EXCLUSIVE by Simon Benson The Daily Telegraph October 04, 201112:00AM
BUYING cigarettes and tobacco for immigration detainees is costing taxpayers more than $1.4 million a year. While the federal government spends millions on anti-smoking campaigns, the cost of keeping up detainees' habits costs about $4000 a day.
The Opposition accused the government of providing its own "mini-stimulus" package for the tobacco industry.
Detainees earn points in the immigration detention system worth up to $50 a week by participating in education and activity programs. They then use points to purchase items, including cigarettes and tobacco products or phone cards.
The tobacco costs were released in an answer provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to a question asked by Liberal senator Michaelia Cash in senate estimates hearings.
It revealed the company that manages the detention centres, Serco, has spent on average $1.4 million a year on tobacco products for detainees since the 2009-10 financial year when the number of detainees began to steadily increase. It provided a list of the favourite brands of cigarettes preferred by detainees.
They included Winfield Red and Blue, Peter Jackson Original, Marlboro, Longbeach, Champion, Gudang Garam, Ventti rolling papers and filters and tube machines.
"The products stocked at each facility vary slightly depending on the cohort of people detained at that facility," the department said.
"It is important to remember that immigration detention is administrative, not punitive. People in immigration care are not being punished and have access to everyday items that are available to the public. Quit information and support products are available."
The government, under pressure over the blow-out in costs of holding people in detention, has warned the bill will continue to rise if the Coalition maintained its refusal to support legislation allowing the government to pursue off-shore processing - the revival of the Malaysia people swap deal.
The bill to overturn the High Court decision to rule off-shore processing illegal is expected to be voted on next week in Parliament but will be rejected by the Coalition.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has warned detention centre costs will blow out by another $1 billion over the next four years if the government is forced to continue mainland processing of asylum seekers who arrive by boat.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said no one was to blame other than the government and the tobacco costs were just a symptom of the blowout of running detention centres and the number of people in them since Labor came to power.
"Labor's four years of border protection failure has created their own mini-stimulus package for the tobacco industry," Mr Morrison said.
"The chaos and cost blowouts in our detention network is a constant reminder of why Labor just can't be trusted on border protection.
"Now Labor wants a blank cheque in the parliament for their already failed Malaysia agreement," he said.
There are currently 5780 people in detention and a further 900 in the community.
