People smugglers will send boatloads of unaccompanied child asylum seekers to thwart the government's Malaysia people swap deal, the opposition warns.
Liberal backbencher Josh Frydenberg said the government could forget about "trying to break the people smugglers' business model".
"The people smugglers are going to break the government's model by sending unaccompanied minors," he told Sky News.
Under the plan, signed by Australia and Malaysia last week, Australia will send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in return for 4000 processed refugees.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has said there will be no blanket exemptions but an individual's vulnerability would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
On Tuesday, he would not confirm reports there was one child among the 54 asylum seekers aboard the first boatload destined for Malaysia.
Mr Bowen also refused to say if he would send the boy and his family to Kuala Lumpur.
Labor backbencher Ed Husic played down the people smugglers' new sales pitch that children would get through.
"It demonstrates how desperate people smugglers are," he told Sky News.
"They're trying to build false hope in people."
Mr Husic said being part of a joint inquiry into the Christmas Island asylum seeker boat tragedy had cemented his views on the issue.
"We got to go to Christmas Island and I stood on those rocks where so many people perished," he said.
Mr Husic said nobody should be enticed to get on boats and undertake the perilous journey and that the Malaysian deal was the best solution.
Share
