In Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's throw-away economy taxpayers are funding the return of asylum seekers to Indonesia by orange lifeboats.
The Sydney Morning Herald 20 March 2014:
The Abbott government has tripled the amount of money spent on the large orange lifeboats used to tow back asylum seekers breaching Australian waters to Indonesia to $7.5 million as part of its tough border control policy.
The figure, to be revealed at an estimates hearing on Friday, is $5 million more than the initial $2.5 million allocated to purchase lifeboats in January.
It is believed each lifeboat costs about $200,000, which means the lifeboat fleet has increased from 12 boats to about 37 boats, each of which are only used once...
Some of the more persistent intercepted asylum seekers will have been twice returned in these expensive lifeboats.
"When I saw the orange boat, I understood that all of that will be repeated again. ... I was just screaming. I kept saying, "This boat of yours is not suitable for me to board again."
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