Peter Dutton rejects claims Manus detention centre will close in June

Peter Dutton has rejected claims by The Guardian that the Manus Island detention centre will close by the end of June.

Peter Dutton has repeatedly said the offshore processing centre will shut down by October 31. Picture: Gary Ramage

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has rejected claims the Australian-run Manus Island detention centre will close by the end of June and demolition will begin later this month.

The Guardian is reporting the new closure date and says a man who “purported to be a Papua New Guinean immigration official” has told detainees they will need to “consider” their options but will not go to Australia.

Mr Dutton has repeatedly said the offshore processing centre will shut down by October 31 after PNG’s Supreme Court ruled in April last year the detention of asylum-seekers was unconstitutional.

Mr Dutton’s office said there was nothing to suggest the Guardian report was accurate.

“The Minister has said on numerous occasions that the closing date is October,” a spokeswoman said.

Mr Dutton has also said asylum-seekers on Manus Island who do not go to the United States under a refugee deal clinched with the Obama administration, and honoured by Donald Trump, will remain on PNG.

“We’ve have been very clear, those people are not going to settle in our country because that is going to restart the people trade and we are not going to allow women and children to drown at sea again,” he told Sky News last month.’

“We’re just not going to allow the people smugglers to be out there again saying ‘look if you wait you’ll eventually get to Australia’.

“There are facilities available and there will be resources available to provide people with settlement options.”

The Guardian later stated its report had wrongly said the “shutdown of all facilities ... would be completed by 30 June”.

In a correction, the media organisation said parts of the detention would stay open until 31 October, as expected.