Peter Dutton’s ‘no asylum’ vow for Manus Island amid PNG chaos

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton vowed no Manus Island ­detainees would come to Australia.

Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton: ‘No one who attempts to ­travel to Australia illegally by boat will settle in Australia.’

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton vowed no Manus Island ­detainees would come to Australia despite the country’s border protection policy last night being thrown into chaos after Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruled the detention of asylum-seekers was unconstitutional.

As PNG’s opposition called on both governments to move to close the detention centre immediately, Mr Dutton declared the court’s decision would not change Australia’s border protection policies.

He dismissed calls by the Greens to “reset to the national debate” on asylum-seekers and demands by Labor that he head straight to Port Moresby to hold “urgent talks” with PNG about the centre’s future.

There are 850 men in the centre and about half have been found to be refugees.

“No one who attempts to ­travel to Australia illegally by boat will settle in Australia,” Mr Dutton said. “The government will not allow a return to the chaos of the years of the Rudd-Gillard Labor governments when regional processing was initiated to deal with the overwhelming ­illegal arrivals of more than 50,000 people.”

The PNG Supreme Court ­yesterday found the detention of asylum-seekers at the centre ­deprived them of their human rights and deemed the practice “illegal” after lawyers for former opposition leader Belden Namah successfully argued it breached their constitutional right to personal liberty.

“Both the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments shall forthwith take all steps necessary to cease and prevent the continued unconstitutional and illegal detention of asylum-seekers or transferees at the relocation centre on Manus Island and the continued breach of the asylum-seekers or transferees at the relocation centre on Manus ­Island,” the ruling said.

The Australian understandsPNG may consider a number of options following the decision, ­including passing new laws to overcome the ruling, sending ­detainees to another regional processing centre or changing the centre to one like the 24/7 “open centre” in Nauru, where asylum-seekers are allowed to come and go whenever they like.

Mr Dutton would not comment on the potential legal ­options available to PNG, saying it was a matter for the country’s ­Attorney-General, Ano Pala, or Immigration Minister Rimbink Pato.

“Those in the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre found to be refugees are able to resettle in Papua New Guinea,” Mr Dutton said. “Those found not to be refugees should return to their country of origin.”

Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles said the court ruling was of “significant concern” to Labor and urged Mr Dutton to immediately travel to PNG. “Labor is seeking an assurance from the government that it has a contingency plan to deal with today’s ruling,” Mr Marles said. “This decision, and our ­government’s response, will be monitored by people-smuggling networks.”

Amid accusations the government had “failed to properly ­manage its offshore processing network”, Mr Marles claimed the Manus facility was established to serve as a “circuit-breaker” to stop the people-smuggling trade, but was never intended to “serve as a ­punitive place of indefinite ­detention”.

Mr Marles said the resettlement deal struck by Kevin Rudd, and signed in July 2013 on the eve of the election, was only for 12 months. It was renegotiated by the ­Coalition after it won power.

PNG advised the federal government in October it would begin moving refugees from the Manus Island detention centre into the community, but as of yesterday only eight detainees had done so. Broadspectrum, the current provider of services to the Manus Island facility, said it was awaiting further instructions from the PNG Immigration & Citizenship Service and its client, the ­Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

The decision comes at an awkward time for the firm, previously known as Transfield Services, as it tenders for a second five-year contract to run the Manus Island and Nauru detention centres.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: KYLAR LOUSSIKIAN