Immigration Minister Chris Evans has welcomed Nauru's move to become a signatory to United Nations refugee laws, but says the government is still focused on East Timor for processing refugees.
President of the Pacific nation, Marcus Stephen, has said his country would consider signing the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) convention.
"We would welcome the decision of Nauru to sign the refugees convention but they are not signatories yet," Senator Evans told reporters in Sydney today.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"Nauru is not being considered at the moment but we do welcome the fact that they are going to sign the convention.
"At the moment the government's priority is to pursue the processing centre with East Timor."
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith left for Indonesia today for talks about Australia's plan to establish a regional processing for asylum seekers in East Timor.
Senator Evans said East Timor remained the government's first choice for processing asylum seekers.
He denied the East Timor solution was similar to the Howard government's Pacific Solution.
He said there were three key differences.
"One, a country has to be a signatory of the refugee convention, two it has to be a regional model involving other countries, not just Australia...
"And three, we're looking for endorsement, encouragement and engagement from the UN high commissioner on refugees so we're not seen as the pariah of the situation, as Australia was when it used the pacific solution."
