Australia's government has refused a senate request for information on contractor services for refugees held on Papua new Guinea's Manus Island.
The refugees when they were detained on Manus Island Photo: supplied
According to the Guardian the government said it would "cause damage to Australia's international relations with PNG" for the details of the offshore immigration regime to be made public.
The senate has been seeking some transparency over the contracts signed by the government with contractors on Manus such as Paladin, JDA Wokman, and International Health and Medical Services.
Paladin's contract has been the subject of controversy.
The security firm is earning US$57m for providing security on Manus Island for four months - or about US$466,000 a day.
In the past week, Paladin staff were expelled from the refugee facilities on Manus by a PNG security firm, Kingfisher, which says as a local entity it should have the contract.
Australia's Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that disclosing the documents could jeopardise cooperation with PNG on people-smuggling matters.