How Malcolm Turnbull offered Donald Trump way out of Manus Island and Nauru refugee deal

FRESH doubts have been raised over whether the US will take any refugees from Manus Island or Nauru after a leaked tape revealed Malcolm Turnbull provided Donald Trump a way out of the deal.

Refugees inside the Manus Island detention centre. Picture: Brian Cassey

• What transcript tells us
• PM responds to leak

FRESH doubts have been raised over whether the US will take any refugees from Manus Island or Nauru after a leaked tape revealed Malcolm Turnbull provided Donald Trump a way out of the deal.

A leaked recording of the notorious phonecall between the pair in February reveals the Prime Minister spelled out a loophole for the US President, who declared he hated the deal struck between Australia and his predecessor Barack Obama.

Under the deal with the Obama administration, up to 1250 asylum seekers on the regional processing centres could be resettled in the US. Not one has been resettled because the US is still vetting.

The leaked transcript, published by the Washington Post, contains a passage that sparked Mr Turnbull yesterday to defend his position and opponents of the deal to question his motivation.

“You can decide to take (the refugees) or to not take them after vetting,” Mr Turnbull reportedly said.

“You can decide to take 1000 or 100. It is entirely up to you. The obligation is to only go through the process.

“It does not require you to take any. We are taking people from the previous administration that they were very keen on getting out of the United States. We will take more. We will take anyone that you want us to take.”

US President Donald Trump with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Germany for the G20 Summit earlier this year. File picture: Kym Smith

Mr Trump reportedly said, “I hate having to do it, but I am still going to vet them very closely. Suppose I vet them closely and I do not take any?”

“That is the point I have been trying to make,” Turnbull replied.

“How does that help you?” Trump asks.

“Well, we assume that we will act in good faith,” Turnbull said.

Mr Turnbull yesterday played down the revelations.

“We help the Americans, they help us,’’ Mr Turnbull said.

“It has always been subject to American vetting procedures, because that’s always been part of the arrangement.”

The Courier-Mail exclusively revealed earlier this year that a secret “quid pro quo” deal was partly holding together the Australian-US asylum seeker deal that Mr Trump was ­accepting through gritted teeth.

The “complex” deal, which is not a direct people swap, is centred on Australia taking a “cohort” of asylum seekers who potentially could cause a legal headache for US officials.

It could relate to a number of illegal minors who have flooded to the US in recent years, sources at the time revealed.

Opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann said he was concerned about the “ambiguous and uncertain” comments reportedly made by Mr Turnbull in his conversation with Mr Trump.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd predicted Mr Turnbull’s words would come back to haunt him.

“It goes to deep questions concerning his honesty and integrity in his dealings with the Australian people,” Mr Rudd said.

“He’s already on shaky ground in Australia. He’s seen as transactional in terms of basically abrogating core principles that he once stood for.”

Greens immigration spokesman Nick McKim said: “The Australian people do not want to see other human beings treated like cattle and traded in the marketplace.”