Asylum-seeker stalemate to drag into 2012

THE Gillard government has warned that "hundreds of people" in several illegal boats could arrive in Australia before the New Year.

Chris Bowen

THE Gillard government has warned that "hundreds of people" in several illegal boats could arrive in Australia before the New Year, ramping up pressure to break the impasse on offshore processing after the first round of talks ended yesterday without a deal.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen declared continued talks "too important" to fail after the bipartisan negotiations began cautiously in Sydney following months of political standoff, record arrivals of asylum seekers and the drowning of about 200 people off Java.

Both sides refused to reveal the content of the discussions but the government and opposition have agreed to discuss a compromise to reinstate offshore processing and hold further talks in the next few weeks.

The meeting came after the parliamentary secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, telephoned Nauru President Sprent Dabwido to explain Labor's about-face on using his tiny nation as a refugee processing centre.

With no prospect until next year of a solution on the border protection stalemate since the High Court ruled against the Gillard government's Malaysia solution, Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare warned a number of asylum-seeker boats with "several hundred" passengers aboard were expected to arrive in Australian waters before New Year's Eve.

"My department is telling me that there's a potential for more boats and the potential for several hundred more people to try and make a journey to Australia between now and New Year's Eve," Mr Clare told Sky News.

Mr Bowen has been given authority to negotiate with Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison in the weeks ahead and both said yesterday's 2 1/2-hour talks in Sydney were cordial, professional and "in good faith".

He said the meeting, which also included Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop, did not reach an agreement but added "we have not shut the door on further discussion".

"There's more work to do on various matters," Mr Bowen said. "I'm not going into detail about the discussions. They were held in good faith and they will continue to be held in good faith. This is too important for us to walk away from further discussions. The stakes are very high."

Labor is sticking to its Malaysia Solution as an option, tying it to any agreement to reopen Nauru, and refusing to countenance towing asylum-seeker boats back to Indonesia or reintroducing temporary protection visas from the Howard era, as the Coalition demands.

Heading into the meeting, Mr Morrison said the government could and should act on a suite of opposition-backed measures to stop people-smugglers. "This isn't about a deal; this is about putting the right policies in place and the government can put the right policies in place now," he said.

"There is nothing impeding this government from restoring temporary protection visas, from reintroducing offshore processing at Nauru. These are things they can do immediately."

Mr Morrison labelled as ridiculous suggestions the opposition's request for Mr Rudd to take part in the negotiations was playing politics.

"There are clear international issues involved in addressing the border protection matters, in particular the relationship with Indonesia is critical in dealing with . . . stopping boats coming out of Indonesia," he said.

The government's plans to swap 800 asylum-seekers for 4000 refugees from Malaysia has been in limbo since the High Court struck it down at the end of August, and the Coalition and Greens have refused to endorse government proposals to legislate around the court decision.

In a written reply to Mr Swan's letter formalising the government's offer to reopen Nauru, Mr Abbott said yesterday his rejection of the Malaysia Solution had not changed. "Consistency matters in our public life," the Opposition Leader said. "Leaders must stick by their decisions if the Australian people are to believe that they are worthy of trust.

"If the government still wants to pursue the Malaysian people-swap policy, it should enlist the support of its alliance-coalition partners, the Greens, to secure its passage through the parliament."

Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan attacked Mr Abbott before yesterday's asylum-seeker talks, saying: "What we've done is flush out Mr Abbott, who now, I think, is guilty of an abject failure of moral leadership. Nauru doesn't work without Malaysia and Mr Abbott knows that."

Mr Dabwido said that while there had been no formal discussions with Australia, he did, however, receive a courtesy call from Mr Marles. "This was merely to find out if we were aware of the Australian government's changed position towards Nauru as a possible location for an offshore processing centre and to explain the areas which were still up for negotiation with the opposition.

"As it turned out, we are aware of the new development and the attempts of the two parties to reach some agreement. But no other details were discussed."

Additional reporting: Brendan Nicholson, Harry Edwards, AFP