Extradition of Killick 'wasting tax money'

A push to extradite a man, who escaped from a Sydney prison in a helicopter in 1999, is a burden on taxpayers, a court has heard.

John Reginald Killick, 72, was granted parole earlier this month after serving 15 years for a number of bank robberies and for the brazen Silverwater jail escape by the helicopter hijacked by his then girlfriend Lucy Dudko.

The breakout sparked international media coverage and the pair spent about 45 days on the run before being captured by police at a caravan park in Sydney's west.

On the day Killick was released last week, NSW prosecutors sought to have him put back behind bars by extraditing him to Queensland for breaching a parole order in 1993.

Speaking at a hearing on Tuesday on the validity of the Queensland warrant, Killick's barrister Joseph Crowley said the whole exercise was "merely one of paper shifting".

"It is an incredible burden on the taxpayers of NSW and Queensland," he told the Downing Centre Local Court.

If extradited, Mr Crowley said Queensland authorities had indicated Killick would likely serve a "limited time" in prison.

"We are going up there to make an application for parole to have it accepted and then come back here," he said.

At the time of the alleged breach in 1993, Killick was on parole for an armed robbery he committed in Brisbane in 1983.

As part of his parole conditions, police prosecutor Sergeant Kellie Chessor said he was being supervised by NSW authorities and needed to report to them.

But she said he had failed to report and should now be extradited and taken to a Queensland prison.

"This man has been convicted of a serious offence," she said.

"The community expects that someone convicted of these offences serve their required time."

Magistrate Janet Wahlquist will hand down her decision next month.

Speaking outside court, Killick's lawyer Eidan Havas said the prosecution case was "petty at best".

"He has done his time, he just wants to get on with his life," Mr Havas told reporters.

Killick said he had been spending the past few days with his wife Gloria, who was supporting him in court.

"We had a quiet time ... it has been great," he told reporters.