Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has accused Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of dishonesty over his pledge to transfer all boat people to Papua New Guinea after it was revealed the government is planning a new detention facility in NSW.
Friday's economic update from the government showed $43.5 million allocated to providing 1000 detention places at a Singleton defence site in the Hunter Valley.
Mr Abbott said the detention plan "just exposes yet again Kevin Rudd's dishonesty", coming so soon after the prime minister announced his tough policy of transferring all boat arrivals to PNG.
Asylum seekers who arrive by boat have been told they have no chance of resettlement in Australia.
"Kevin Rudd said a fortnight ago every single person who arrives illegally by boat will go to PNG, and none of them will ever come to Australia," Mr Abbott told reporters in Melbourne.
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"Well hang on a minute - how can he be telling us that they're all going to go to PNG when at the same time the word slips out yesterday that they're building a new detention centre at Singleton."
