Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has again urged the government to pick up the phone to Nauru to try and solve the issue of where asylum seekers should be processed.
"Nauru has a centre, it was built by Australia, with Australian taxpayers' money," Mr Abbott said in Sydney.
"There's no reason why it can't be used again.
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"I call on Julia Gillard to pick up the phone to the Nauruan president now.
"If she won't do that she's not fair dinkum about protecting our borders."
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith is travelling to Indonesia for talks about establishing a regional processing centre for asylum seekers.
But the government was still at this stage focused on setting up such a centre in East Timor, immigration minister Chris Evans said earlier on Wednesday.
Mr Abbott said he had not telephoned authorities in the tiny Pacific island of Nauru himself to discuss the issue, saying it was not the opposition's role.
"But I know the president of Nauru is keen to get a call from senior levels of the Australian government," he said.
Mr Abbott said he would pursue offshore processing of refugees if the coalition won power at the federal election and noted that public statements made by Nauru indicated it was willing to reopen its centre.
