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PM spoke to Nauru president

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed Opposition leader Tony Abbott has accepted her offer for a briefing on the legal situation of offshore processing.

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Source: AAP


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Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed Opposition leader Tony Abbott has accepted her offer for a briefing on the legal situation of offshore processing.

She says Mr Abbott will be briefed by bureaucrats on the implications of last week's High Court ruling that scuttled the Malaysia people swap deal in Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon.

"Earlier this week the leader of the opposition made a broad statement about working with the government to ensure that the government can make the decisions necessary on the transfer and processing of asylum seekers," Ms Gillard told reporters in Auckland for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

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"I believe it's also important the leader of the opposition has the facts and he will be able to get the facts at briefings directly from officials later today."

Ms Gillard says she is not at the forum in New Zealand to discuss people smuggling.

"That would be premature; we will work through in Australia our response to the High Court case," Ms Gillard told reporters.

"It would be premature to have discussions with New Zealand or anybody else on these questions.

The prime minister said she spoke to the president of Nauru at a leaders' function on Tuesday night and indicated she may meet him formally later this week.

The government has legal advice stating the High Court decision has made all offshore processing unlawful but the opposition insists that reopening a processing centre on Nauru would be possible.


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