Speaking to reporters while campaigning in Cairns Mr Abbott said asylum seekers could be sent to the Pacific nation within weeks of the coalition winning the election.
The plan to recommission the detention centre on Nauru is central to Mr Abbott's pledge to stop the boats.
However, Labor has refused to consider Nauru as an option because unlike East Timor the island nation is not a signatory to the United Nations convention on refugees.
Mr Abbott also says legislation wouldn't be needed to re-introduce temporary protection visas another key plank of the coalition's asylum seeker policy.
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