Australian taxpayers fork out $1458 a night for each person held at the Christmas Island detention centre – equal to luxury hotel rooms in Sydney and Melbourne boasting glittering city views and Steinway grand pianos.

Some 167 men were held at the facility at the end of February, costing the public purse a staggering $243,000 a day.

The figures have emerged a fortnight before the federal budget, in which Turnbull government has warned of restrained spending as it seeks to return to surplus.

The expense is on top of spending on mainland detention centres, and the $1.2 billion cost of running offshore detention centres last financial year.