There are calls for Australia to open its books and suspend payments to the Nauruan government after whistleblower allegations of corruption and bikie infiltration linked to offshore detention.
In an interview with 60 Minutes and Nine newspapers, Home Affairs acting assistant secretary Derek Elias alleged millions of Australian taxpayer funding has been paid for nonexistent or unnecessary offshore detention services in Nauru.
Dr Elias oversaw offshore procurement for Home Affairs between 2019 and 2021 and remains a department employee while on extended leave.
A 2024 review by former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson found companies suspected of bribery, money laundering and drug smuggling were given lucrative contracts tied to Australia's offshore immigration detention regime.
The system "enabled" corruption by Nauruan politicians and Australian companies and was established to ensure the regime was maintained, Dr Elias said.
The official was risking jail by speaking out to expose corruption carried out with the "tacit understanding" of the federal government, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre chief executive Kon Karapanagiotidis said.
"The great lie we've been sold as the Australian public is this is a sovereign nation, this is not our responsibility, we don't have control," he told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.
"We'll if we've built it, if we're paying for it ... it sounds like it's bloody ours and with that comes responsibility."
Former Australian soldier Oisin Donohoe also came forward to claim the Finks bikie gang has infiltrated a Nauruan security company contracted as part of a secretive deal struck with the atoll nation over the NZYQ cohort.
Mr Donohoe, an infantryman for four and a half years before quitting in 2013 for family reasons, said the infiltration ran "quite deep".
"The things that I saw with the group chats that I was involved with ... showed deceitful tactics being carried out by the criminal organisations," he said.
Independent Kooyong MP Monique Ryan said it was an "outrageous situation" for the Australian government to be accused of facilitating corruption and cover up of rorting.
She called for the federal government to "arc up" and suspend all payments to the Nauruan government, pending a greater public understanding of existing agreements.
"If they won't give us that transparency, then yes would should move for a Senate inquiry into this as a matter of urgency, Dr Ryan said.
Decisions about service provision to people on Nauru was a matter for Nauru, a Home Affairs spokeswoman said.
"The Australian government is engaging with the government of Nauru on the risks involved in the reported arrangements," she said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's office was also contacted for comment.
