The West Australian government has declared it will no longer shoulder the "unfair" burden of housing the majority of people smugglers in the state's prisons.
The state's attorney-general says he wants people smugglers shipped out to other states and compensation from the federal government for housing WA's fair share in its prisons.
Christian Porter told the WA parliament on Thursday he had written to the federal government informing it of the decision.
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"To the extent that there was a change in policy at the last election, that was a change mandated by the Australian people as a whole, yet the West Australian community is bearing 95 per cent of the responsibility for that change," he said.
"Obviously that is not a burden shared by the other states and that is simply unfair."
Outside parliament, Mr Porter told reporters that WA had 119 people in its prison system charged with people-smuggling offences in commonwealth waters.
The number in WA compared with six in the Northern Territory and zero in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT, he said.
Housing people smugglers cost WA about $31,000 a day, the attorney-general said.
He said he had written to the federal government asking for an agreement for a moratorium on people smugglers being charged and put through the WA prison system.
"We do not intend to take any more people smugglers. I'm sure we will reach a cooperative agreement with the federal government.
"It seems to me simply unarguable that they would not agree," Mr Porter said.
For the WA government it was not a debate about whether the former Howard government policies were better, or about the policies of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Mr Porter said.
It was about an unfair burden on WA, he said.
He said he had asked for a plan to be put together to transfer convicted people smugglers out of WA prisons so there was an even distribution among the states.
He also sought a plan to allow for proper compensation for WA for housing federal prisoners.
There was only limited and indirect reimbursement through the GST for that, but it would end on July 1, Mr Porter said.
Mr Porter said because of WA's strong law and order policies, its prisons were close to capacity.
"We simply don't have room to take any more people smugglers."
With WA accounting for about 10 per cent of Australia's population, it should only have to house about 10 per cent of people smugglers, the attorney-general said.
