Hotel Sues Australia for Unpaid Refugee Bills

0:00It's April 15th. I'm Cory with the story, and this is Sydney News today. Local news powered by AI. A hotel in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, is pushing to sue the Australian government for $11 million in unpaid bills from housing. Refugees moved off Monis Island. Lodge 10 took them in back in 2017 under a direct deal with Australian border force officials and everything ran smooth with payments, flowing for years. But in 2021, Australia shifted responsibility to the PNG government as offshore processing wrapped up, and that's when the checks stopped, even though the refugees stay put. The hotel owner first went after PNG immigration, but they pointed fingers straight back at Australia, saying it's their tab. Now folks are speaking out loud. The hotel's lawyer is calling on Australian taxpayers to demand answers on the big cash transfers to PNG for refugee care, questioning where at all, vanished. Queen Senator David Schuberidge sees this court fight as a shot at real transparency, forcing

1:02accountability after years of black box funding. This week in PNG's national court, a judge adjourned the push to drag Australia and its home affairs department into the lawsuit as defendants. Australian reps got served papers last month, but skipped the hearing, leaving the bench urging them to show up. This could crack open the books on billions poured into the Pacific solution, spotlighting who's really mining these refugees still stuck in limbo. With fading medical support, potentially settling through mediation or a full showdown down the line.