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Refugees will be Qld's problem: premier

Queensland's premier says Papua New Guinea nationals come across a "porous" border for medical treatment and asylum seekers will follow them.

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Source: AAP


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Queensland Premier Campbell Newman claims the federal government's new asylum seeker policy has created a problem for his state.

Mr Newman claims Papua New Guinea doesn't have the resources to take on asylum seekers from Australia and won't be able to cope with an influx.

He says many PNG nationals already come across the "porous" Torres Strait border for medical treatment and claims that asylum seekers will follow them.

"Right now the taxpayers of Queensland are spending 10 million each year ... on treating PNG nationals who've come across the state into Queensland and some even made it all the way to Cairns to be treated for diseases there that they cannot be treated for in PNG," the premier said at the Liberal National Party Convention in Brisbane on Saturday.

"What Kevin Rudd is doing is creating a launching pad for a wave of additional ongoing immigration from PNG into Queensland, either legal or illegal."


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