Nauru a ‘very pleasant island’: Abbott urges PM to hold firm on asylum seekers

Tony Abbott has urged Scott Morrison to hold the line on asylum seekers, claiming Nauru “is no hellhole”.

A beach on Nauru. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Tony Abbott has urged Scott Morrison to hold the line on asylum seekers and says Nauru is a “very, very pleasant island.”

The former prime minister’s comments comes as a poll in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph showed almost 80 per cent of voters want children and their families transferred off the Pacific island’s detention centre.

“The people on Nauru and Manus now are nearly all would-be economic migrants. And if we give them what they want, we get more of them. That is to say the boats will start up again,” he told 2GB’s Ray Hadley today.

“Of course, kids off Nauru is a good slogan but it’s a dreadful guide for policy because if we can’t have kids on Nauru, just bring some kids with you and you automatically get to Australia.”

Tony Abbott. Picture: Kym Smith

Mr Abbott also said children on Nauru are “very well looked after.”

“Health services on Nauru for boat people are more extensive than the services a lot of regional towns get in Australia,” he said.

“Nauru is no hellhole by any means. I’ve been there. If you like living the tropics, it’s a very, very pleasant island.”

The view from a Nauru beach. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Mr Abbott, who wrote in The Australian today calling for unity in the Liberal Party, also told 2GB that the Liberal Party was a “stronger, better team” under Scott Morrison’s leadership.

“Whether you’re a Turnbull supporter or an Abbott supporter, we all need to back the team,” he said.

“No government is absolutely perfect … but the Morrison Government is an infinitely better bet than the Shorten Labor Party which will be the most left-wing government in our history if we get it.

“The right protested in Longman, they left protested in Wentworth but now we all need to get it out of our system and pull together … we are already a stronger, better team than we were a few months ago.”