The cost of housing immigration department staff on Christmas Island has blown out by $11 million since December, despite the number of asylum seekers detained on the island falling by more than 430 people in that time.
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Staff working at the Christmas Island detention centre and ''alternative places of accommodation'' - lower-security facilities where families are held - are housed at the Christmas Island Resort, owned by Soft Star.
The resort, which boasts a fine-dining restaurant and nightclub, charges $285 a night for a single room, although the Immigration Department is charged a bulk rate for staff staying at the facility.
Owner David Kwon declined to comment.
While the cost of housing staff has blown out, the number of asylum seekers on the island has fallen since the Abbott government came to power.
When the government's Operation Sovereign Borders came into effect in September, the centre was at bursting point with 2592 people held, many in temporary tents.
In December, the government raised the cost of its existing Soft Star contract from $21.6 million to $32 million. Since then, the number of asylum seekers detained at Christmas Island has fallen from 2157 people to 1719.
The government's contract with Soft Star - which was not put to tender - was signed in April 2012, as the number of boats arriving under Labor surged. At the time, the Gillard government counted on spending just $7.5 million on staff accommodation between February 2012 and February 2013.
But in December last year, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection almost tripled the value of the contract, preparing to spend $21.6 million on hotel bills for staff between February 2012 and February 2014. It again raised the cost of staff accommodation on February 17, budgeting $24.1 million for hotel bills between February 2012 and May 2014. Last week, the contract's value was increased to $32 million.
A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison did not respond to questions about the reasons for the cost blowouts, but said the contract would now cover a three-year period between February 2012 and February 2015. ''This is an extension of an existing contract between the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and Soft Star Pty Ltd,'' she said.
