Turnbull says US best deal
NZ offer on refugees
MALCOLM Turnbull insists the focus must stay on a US refugee resettlement rather than send people to New Zealand, after Jacinda Ardern reiterated the offer to settle 150 men from Manus Island.
Ms Ardern and Mr Turnbull held talks at Kirribilli House in Sydney yesterday.
Before the meeting, Mr Turnbull was under pressure to take up NZ’s offer, first flagged in 2013 to take 150 refugees.
“The offer is very genuine and remains on the table,” the New Zealand PM said at their joint press conference.
“We, of course, do not have the circumstances that Australia is operating under, we can also not ignore the human face of what Australia is dealing with as well.”
Former immigration minister, now backbencher, Kevin Andrews earlier yesterday broke ranks and called for the NZ offer to be considered.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also believed the Government should accept the offer, first made when Julia Gillard was prime minister.
The offer has been rejected more than once on the grounds it would give asylum seekers a back door into Australia and become a marketing opportunity for people smugglers.
Yesterday, Mr Turnbull said the US refugee resettlement deal, which would take up to 1250 people, was the priority.
“In the wake of that, obviously, we can consider other ones,” he said. “We thank New Zealand for making an offer, we are not taking it up at this time.”
So far 54 refugees have been resettled in the US.
More than 600 refugees and asylum seekers have barricaded themselves in the mothballed detention centre on Manus Island, which closed on Tuesday.
Food and drinking water has run out and the group is afraid to move to alternative accommodation in the main township for fear they will be attacked by locals.
Ms Ardern later acknowledged the NZ offer would not bring overall resolution to the situation. But she denied concerns about refugees getting through the back door to Australia was the main problem.
“The main obstacle was simply wanting to focus on an arrangement that would bring much more finality to the situation,” she said.