Coalition seizes on Nauru uncertainty

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says Labor's asylum seeker deal with Nauru has unravelled and the PNG deal is also in doubt.

I've been upfront on Toll trip: Morrison

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has defended his privately funded trip to Nauru.

The federal opposition says the Rudd government's asylum seeker resettlement deal with Nauru has fallen apart in less than 48 hours.

Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has seized on a report in which Nauru appears to cast doubt on the resettlement deal Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed with his Nauru counterpart on Saturday.

Under the deal, similar to Labor's hardline agreement with Papua New Guinea, asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat will be processed in Nauru and those found to be genuine refugees may be resettled there.

But a spokeswoman for Nauru has told Fairfax Media that none of the asylum seekers will get citizenship or be considered permanent residents.

"These people are coming here and they will be staying here and in transit," Nauru's official spokeswoman, Joanna Olsen, told Fairfax.

"It is not permanent settlement. It is considered long-term stay. It is still temporary in the government's view and they will eventually be moved on."

Mr Morrison said Mr Rudd's deal had unravelled already.

"This is a government that's great on big announcements but when it comes to the practical implementation of policies on border protection it all falls apart," Mr Morrison told AAP on Monday.

"The Nauru proposal was always impractical and showed that the government simply didn't think this through."

Nauru's comments also cast fresh doubt on the PNG deal, he said.

"The unravelling of Nauru just underscores the reality that there is no compulsion on Papua New Guinea to resettle everybody who is sent there. That is just one big bluff from the government."


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Source: AAP


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