On Tuesday Dutton claimed the government should not have released people from immigration detention on the basis there was “another” – unspecified – “option available” to prevent their release and still comply with the court ruling.
Asked if those released were in “taxpayer funded accommodation”, Giles responded that detention was also “taxpayer funded” and defended expenditure of commonwealth funds as an important measure to “maintain community safety” because it gave “some control over where an individual lives”.