Australia has ruled out resettling any of the thousands of refugees stranded at sea in the South East Asia asylum seeker boat crisis.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said offering resettlement in western countries would encourage more people to risk their lives on leaky boats.
"If we do the slightest thing to encourage people to get on the boats, this problem will get worse, not better," he told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday.
His view is at odds with the United States which has vowed to help countries in the region bear the burden and will consider resettlement requests.
On Wednesday, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand agreed to stop towing and shooing away boats.
Instead, Indonesia and Malaysia will provide temporary shelter to the refugees so long as the international community provides resettlement within a year.
Nearly 3000 refugees already have swum to shore or been rescued off the coast of the three countries over the past 10 days after a Thai crackdown disrupted long-established smuggling routes, prompting some to abandon their human cargoes at sea.
An estimated 7000 people are still stranded in boats.
Fifteen countries will meet late next week to discuss the next step.
Australia is sending its ambassador for people-smuggling issues.
"We want to be a good neighbour to our friends and partners, and obviously if we are asked to help, we are happy to do so," Mr Abbott said.
But he took a swipe at Myanmar (Burma) over the crisis.
"The culprit is Burma because it is Burma where there is an issue," he said.
Rohingya Muslims are fleeing the country in droves because they do not have citizenship, suffer violence and discrimination and their access to education and health care is limited.
Also aboard the boats are economic migrants from Bangladesh who are trying to escape extreme poverty.
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