Asylum seekers accused of murder, inappropriate behaviour and alleged terrorism offences will be sent to Christmas Island if they apply to come to Australia for medical treatment, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce on Wednesday.
The PM will fly to Christmas Island - the first ever Australian PM to officially visit the Australian territory in the Indian Ocean - on Wednesday to inspect immigration facilities, despite no asylum seekers or refugees applying for transfer yet.
Since the Medevac bill, which gives doctors more say in transferring refugees and asylum seekers for medical treatment, was made law on Friday no applications have been submitted.
Doctors are holding off until they triage patients to ensure those in the most need of medical treatment are transferred first and only a handful of applications are expected to be submitted in the next two weeks.
Mr Morrison announced plans to reopen the detention centre on the island last month, citing fears of an influx of asylum seekers sparked by the Labor-backed medevac legislation.
He's expected to use his visit to Christmas Island to detail plans to send any detainees on Manus Island and Nauru who are deemed "a risk" and apply to come to mainland Australia for medical treatment, to the high-security North West Point detention centre.
Scott Morrison will tour the Christmas Island Detention Centre. Source: Getty Images
Fifty-seven male detainees have been identified as a "risk" including several accused of murder, inappropriate behaviour and alleged terrorism offences.
There are about another 850 men left in offshore processing centres on Nauru and Manus Island and it's unclear if those people will be allowed to come to hospitals on mainland Australia under the medevac legislation.
Last month, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said it was the government's "default position" to send all transferees to Christmas Island for medical treatment.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce the policy from Christmas Island. Source: AAP
PM's motives questioned
Mr Morrison will tour the North West Point detention centre and the medical and accommodation facilities while on the island, depending on weather.
He will also be briefed by the Australian Border Force, as well as contractor Serco and medical experts.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described the prime minister's "frolic" as a waste of money, seizing on reports the Australian Border Force had fallen short on sea patrol targets due to budget cuts.
"What a waste of money ... you know, we find out they've cut the border force funding, then you've got a marketing campaign," he told a business summit in Sydney.
"The point about it is it's desperate stuff."
Human rights lawyer and National Justice Project director George Newhouse also questioned the prime minister's motives for the trip to Christmas Island.
"If the Prime Minister was interested in anything other than political posturing, he might make the time to visit Manus island and Nauru and speak to the hundreds of individuals who are suffering without adequate medical care," Mr Newhouse told SBS News.
Mr Morrison has visited Nauru and Manus Island as immigration minister in 2014, but not since becoming prime minister in August.
It is the first ever prime minister to visit the island on an official visit.
Catherine Stubberfield from the UN refugee agency said the key issue was providing medical care in an appropriate setting to sick asylum seekers and refugees.
"The long-term, arbitrary detention of any refugee or asylum-seeker is inappropriate; the re-detention of those who have already suffered immensely over the past six years would be even more harmful," she said.
"The key question is where refugees and asylum-seekers, who have done nothing wrong, may best recover.
"Those who are now ill among them are unlikely to recover in a remote, formal detention environment such as Christmas Island."
Refugees who fail Australia's character assessment
Most of the 57 men earmarked for Christmas Island detention have been classed as refugees under the government's processing procedures.
Details of 25 of those "adverse character cases" have been released showing some refugees are considered a risk because they have been accused of conducting a sexual relationship with a minor, possessing child pornography and "arrested for violent threats".
Other reasons given are "suspicious financial transactions", identity fraud, and suspected involvement in people smuggling.
At least four men whose applications for asylum have been rejected, are on the list with one allegedly being charged with murder and having a history of violence and another having "military service of interest.
The government has estimated reopening the mothballed centre will cost $1 billion, to fund upgraded medical facilities.
Supporters of the medevac bill have slammed the government's plan to send patients to Christmas Island, rather than hospitals on the mainland as was intended.
Asked about the trip on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said it was "regrettable" that Christmas Island had to be re-opened.
Damage at Christmas Island detention centre after a riot in 2015. Source: Supplied
"I regret greatly that the advice of the Department of Home Affairs is that we would have to reopen Christmas Island in response to Labor's medevac bill which basically undermines and ends offshore processing as we know it today," he said.
Christmas Island was first used to house asylum seekers in 2001 and was shut down last year.
It has had a tumultuous history with several hunger strikes, protests and riots, as asylum seekers railed against the conditions and the length of their detention.
Additional reporting by AAP
