The federal government has put Australians' security at risk by allowing five Tamil asylum seekers, who have been rejected by ASIO, onto Christmas Island, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.
A Tamil woman and three men involved in the Oceanic Viking standoff with Australian and Indonesian authorities, as well as the woman's husband who earlier travelled to Australia by boat, have had their claims for asylum in Australia rejected on national security grounds.
Australia will now work with the United Nations to find a country that will take them, but the government has offered no indication of how long that will take.
Immigration Minister Chris Evans has said there is no suggestion the five Tamils are "hardened terrorists", and the government is looking to find a "durable" solution for the group.
But Mr Abbott says that when the federal government made a deal with the Oceanic Viking people, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave them written agreements that they would be resettled, and Australia is still the most likely option.
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.
"The Oceanic Viking people left the boat on a promise, a written promise by Australian officials that they would be resettled in Australia or in another country," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
"Australia is the default option and presumably as Oceanic Viking Tamils they have ultimately, from Mr Rudd, a promise that they would be resettled in Australia.”
"On the strength of what we now know, I think people are entitled to suspect that the government has put Australians' security at risk.”
"I think that people are entitled to think that the prime minister has dudded them when he assured us that Australia's security would be safeguarded by his government."
Mr Rudd had "a lot of serious explaining to do" and must tell Australia what he knew about the five Tamils, when he had discovered it, and what he proposed to do with them, Mr Abbott said.
Mr Abbott declined to say whether he believed the Tamils should have been left in Indonesia, saying it was not a matter of what he thought, but of what the government had done.
