CANBERRA—The federal government concedes plans to almost double the capacity to house asylum seekers on Christmas Island will take a toll on the local community.
But it maintains the planned expansion—from around 1,200 beds to up to 2,200—is a necessary and prudent measure to counter an expected surge in asylum seekers headed for Australia.
The government confirmed on Saturday it will spend up to $40 million on upgrades to the Christmas Island detention centre and other facilities on the island.
The latest action on asylum seekers comes as the stalemate aboard the Oceanic Viking continues off the Indonesian coast.
The Australian crew on the customs vessel were replaced overnight - a sign the government was preparing for a long wait in persuading the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to disembark, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said on Saturday.
Arrivals from Sri Lanka was a key reason behind the need to increase capacity "in the order of 2,000, 2,200 at the end of all the arrangements", he said.
"The government is very much committed to ensuring there is mandatory detention of unauthorised boat arrivals," Senator Evans told reporters in Perth.
"What we're doing is ... making a contingency arrangement - prudent contingency arrangements - so we can accommodate more people if needed."
The government earmarked expansion plans some months ago following a flood of arrivals.
Some 81 demountables from the Northern Territory are already on their way to the island to increase bed capacity by around 200, and are expected to be installed within the next few weeks.
The extra capacity should be in place by the end of the year, Senator Evans said.
But the announcement has prompted criticisms it will stretch Christmas Island to breaking point.
The detention centre itself was already struggling to deal with its current numbers, Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul said, pointing to long queues for computers and phones.
Basic food supplies, such as milk and toast, had been withdrawn from communal areas.
"In every conceivable way, the higher the number the greater those difficulties are going to become," he told AAP.
Detainees were feeling the long-term effects of being penned up, with one Sri Lankan deemed not a genuine refugee climbing a light pole and threatening to throw himself off on Friday, before he was persuaded down.
The government would not confirm the incident.
"The idea of expanding (the detention centre) is lunacy," Mr Rintoul said.
"The detention centre already dominates the island—they're turning it into a penal colony."
Locals, while welcoming the centre as an economic boost, have long called for additional funding to improve public infrastructure such as roads.
Senator Evans conceded the new upgrades would put even more pressure on the island.
"It's no doubt going to put some more pressure on the island, we've already seen that.
"What we're doing is working with the Christmas Island community to try and ensure that we improve the infrastructure to allow them to cope."
Senator Evans maintained Christmas Island would remain Australia's processing site, but did not rule out using mainland detention centres in future if necessary.
"We do have some options on the mainland if we need them, including the Darwin Detention Centre, which has a capacity of 400 and I made it clear if we need to we'll use it," he said.
Meanwhile, he said the government continued to work on the situation aboard the Oceanic Viking and was hopeful the asylum seekers could be coaxed off the boat voluntarily.
"People are complex and obviously they are in a heightened state of anxiety," he said.
"We've just got to make sure everyone stays calm and we talk them through the issues and we try to get them to disembark voluntarily."
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