Malcolm Turnbull has described the death of a refugee on Manus Island as regrettable but insists his government will not abandon its offshore immigration detention regime.
The prime minister was quizzed about the man's death, and Donald Trump's praise of Australia's tough border policies, during question time on Tuesday.
"People's lives have been broken in immigration detention and yesterday another asylum seeker died on Manus Island," Greens MP Adam Bandt put to Mr Turnbull.
"Was Donald Trump right when he said that you are worse than he is?"
The prime minister sought to turn the tables on Labor and the Greens for their management of Australia's borders.
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"We all regret the death the honourable member referred to (of) the person detained in PNG," Mr Turnbull told MPs.
But his government would continue to defend the integrity of Australia's borders.
"We are not going to outsource our borders to people smugglers ever again."
An Iranian refugee with a history of mental illness took his own life in the township of Lorengau on Monday, with advocates describing his suicide as a preventable tragedy.
Greens senator Nick McKim on Tuesday disrupted parliament to demand the immediate evacuation of all of those held in detention on Manus Island and Nauru.
