Nauru detention centre will remain open for decades: Dutton

Australia will be tested on immigration as long as there are wars in the world, Peter Dutton says.

Australia’s immigration detention centre on Nauru will remain open for decades as a deterrent measure, the minister responsible Peter Dutton says.

Mr Dutton said there would be irregular movements of people across the world for as long as there are wars and people seeking better economic outcomes for their families.

“I think we will always be tested in terms of people trying to come from Sri Lanka or from Vietnam or from Indonesia and therefore we will need a regional processing centre arrangement,” he told Insiders.

“I hope it’s empty. I hope we never have to use it. But we have to be very strong in our determination to stare down people smugglers because these are organised criminals that are going nowhere.

“They will take money from people and they couldn’t care less whether those people go to the bottom of the ocean or whether they make land in our country and that’s why we do need regional processing centres to remain, at least Nauru.

“We certainly need temporary protection visas and we need to be able to turn back boats where it’s safe to do so.

“That’s a trifecta of success in securing our borders. The dividend is we’ve got children out of detention, we’ve had no drownings at sea and we’re able to bring in record numbers of people through the refugee program.”

Mr Dutton is in New York with Malcolm Turnbull for the UN refugee summit, and said he planned to tell the story of Australia’s success in controlling our borders.

“The story is a contrast to what’s happening in Europe at the moment,” he said.

“The story is a contrast to what happened under the years of the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd time.

“This government has been able to restore integrity to our borders,” he said.

“We’ve been able to bring record numbers of people in under the refugee and humanitarian program.

“In fact, last year was the biggest program in 30 years in terms of our offshore program and I think that’s the good story to tell.”

Challenged on the negative consequences of Australia’s immigration policy for up to 1000 people currently being held in indefinite detention on Nauru and Manus Island, Mr Dutton compared the conditions with those in refugee camps near war zones.

“I’ve been to Zatri in Jordan and I’ve seen the devastation coming out of Syria and I’ve been to Lebanon and seen the situation there with many people who are living in desperate, desperate situations, having been displaced,” he said.

“There are 6.5 million people from Syria alone. The UN predicts 65 million people are forcibly displaced and looking for a new home.

“The conditions that we support, the Nauruan Government to provide and the PNG Government to provide, are very different to that which I’ve seen in other camps.”

“We provide $26 million for the hospital on Nauru, $11 million for the medical centre, kids are picked up by bus and go to school each day, people are given financial support.

“There are 300 people working in Nauru, 35 have started businesses, and many people we will help to return back to their country of origins because they’ve been found not to be refugees.”

Mr Dutton said Australia was in discussions with a number of third countries about taking the refugees currently held on Manus and Nauru, but had to provide an arrangement that would not constitute a “pull factor” for people smugglers.

He defended the Immigration Department against a national audit office report which this week found the department had broken public service guidelines and not conducted proper tenders, citing extenuating circumstances.

“When I speak to the Border Force staff and the sailors who were at sea, they were pulling 1,000 people a week off boats, they were pulling bodies out of the water of children that had been eaten by sharks and the rest,” Mr Dutton said.

“They were the circumstances under which my Department was operating.

“Yes, I’m sure mistakes were made and decisions were rushed.

“The decisions were taken because they wanted to fulfil the aims of the government of the day (namely the Gillard government).”

Labor’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said many aspects of the Turnbull government’s border protection policy enjoyed bipartisan support, but the opposition did not support indefinite punitive detention, and the government needed to look at third country resettlement.

Senator Wong also criticised the slow resettlement on 12,000 Syrian refugees Australia has agreed to take in addition to our existing humanitarian program.

She said she supported an increase in our intake of humanitarian refugees.

“We think, in light of the global challenge the world faces, in light of there being 65 million people who are displaced, Australia can do more,” Senator Wong said, adding that cuts to foreign aid were also a government policy Laor did not support.

She called for Mr Turnbull to publicly condemn One Nation senator Pauline Hanson’s views on the world state.

“I notice that Senator Hanson’s comments have been getting international media,” Senator Wong said.

“I think it is very important that the Prime Minister show leadership on this and be clear with Australians but also the international community that she doesn’t speak for us.”