Gillard concludes PNG asylum agreement

8 Sep 2012, 7:31 pm   -   Source: AAP
Australia and PNG have signed an agreement to allow asylum seekers to be processed in PNG. (AAP)

Australia and PNG have signed an agreement to allow asylum seekers to be processed in PNG. (AAP)

Prime Minister Julia Gillard met the leaders of Malaysia and PNG before she cut short her visit to Vladivostok because of her father's death.

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard has left the APEC summit prematurely, because of her father's death, but not before completing some important diplomatic business.

On Saturday morning Australia and Papua New Guinea signed the formal agreement that will allow Ms Gillard's government to send asylum seekers to Manus Island for processing.

Ms Gillard and PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill watched as the memorandum of understanding was signed ahead of the APEC summit in the Russian city of Vladivostok.

The agreement means work on rehabilitating the Howard government-era processing centre on the island can begin immediately.

The memorandum is founded on the principle of 'no advantage' set out in last month's report by former defence chief Angus Houston's expert panel on asylum seeker policy.

"Our message to asylum seekers is, do not risk your life on a boat. Do not pay a people smuggler. Stay where you are," Ms Gillard told reporters shortly after the signing.

The first transfers to the processing centre on Nauru would occur "within weeks", she said.

But it is likely to be some months before anyone is taken to Manus Island.

"The memorandum is clear. The no advantage principle is there," Ms Gillard said.

"They (asylum seekers) should wait the same amount time for a resettlement opportunity as if they hadn't moved."

But Mr O'Neill appeared to contradict that when he spoke with Australian reporters.

"I think it's important that we process these people as quickly as possible," he said.

"The quicker they are processed, the better it is."

Mr O'Neill says PNG did not insist Australia meet any preconditions for the re-establishment of the centre - except to "improve conditions" on the island.

"We are not interested in making money out of the issue," he said.

Ms Gillard also met Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Saturday for talks on topics including the controversial Malaysian people swap proposal.

Labor has put the policy on hold while it seeks to negotiate improved human rights protections with Malaysia, as recommended by Mr Houston.

But the current state of the Australian parliament means it is still unlikely to proceed.

Ms Gillard had intended to use the APEC summit, which began later on Saturday, to push for an accord to further open up the region's higher education market.

She was also aiming to shore up support for an agreement among APEC's 21 nations to slash tariffs on environmental goods to no more than five per cent by the year 2015.

These efforts will now be undertaken by Trade Minister Craig Emerson.

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