Tasmania's Greens are backing a radical call to house asylum seekers on the island state, with a letter to the prime minister and a motion in parliament.
Outspoken barrister Julian Burnside QC proposed a Tasmania solution for asylum seekers during an address in Hobart last week.
Mr Burnside said boat arrivals could live in the state's regional communities, stimulating the economy with Centrelink payments.
Even if the Tasmanian government was compensated with $1 billion a year it would still be cheaper and more humane than offshore processing, Mr Burnside said.
State Greens leader Nick McKim has written to Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott with an invitation to discuss the idea.
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"Adoption of this proposal with policy and funding support from your government would be a massive economic, skills and jobs boost for Tasmania, which you recently acknowledged was necessary," Mr McKim's letter reads.
Mr McKim has asked Labor premier Lara Giddings and opposition leader Will Hodgman to support a tripartite approach to the plan, which he conceded would need refining.
But he said Tasmania's history of welcoming refugees after World War II had resulted in contributions such as the state's huge hydro-electric schemes.
"Our current refugee processing system is extremely costly in human and economic terms," Mr McKim said.
"Tasmania can lead the way by adopting a commonsense and caring approach to treating vulnerable people who arrive in Australia from around the world."
The Greens leader will move a motion in the state's parliament calling on the lower house to support the proposal.
