PM cuts Dutton adrift on boats

Scott Morrison says he hopes Christmas Island detention centre won’t get ‘much use’, contradicting Peter Dutton.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison says he hopes the Christmas Island detention centre, which the government has reopened at a cost to taxpayers of $1.44 billion over four years, will not get “that much use” from asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru seeking medical treatment in Australia.

A week after the Labor-backed medivac bill was given royal assent, handing doctors new powers to recommend transfers on medical grounds, the Prime Minister also conceded he was not expecting the people-smuggling boats to start again.

His comments contradict Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton who last month warned “hundreds of people will come from Manus and Nauru literally overnight” and “the boats will restart in that circumstance”.

Mr Morrison told 2GB radio: “(Christmas Island) is ready to receive (asylum-seekers for medical treatment) but my hope is the way we’ve dealt with this and firmed up our border protection regime to cater for when Bill Shorten sought to weaken it, that hopefully it won’t get that much use.”

Asked he if was expecting boats to come now that the medivac bill was law, Mr Morrison said: “Not under us, no.”

“People smugglers know when they come up against me they’ve got a brick wall and when they come up against Bill Shorten they’ve got an open door. The one thing standing between those boats and Australia is our government,” he said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann seized on Mr Morrison’s comments on Thursday night, saying they were proof of a “desperate and shrill scare campaign”.

“The only person selling the wrong message to the evil people smugglers is Scott Morrison and his desperate Liberal government,” Mr Neumann said.

“Peter Dutton is a shameless media tart and a walking, talking billboard for the people smugglers every time he lies about Labor’s strong position on border protection.

“Labor will never let the people smugglers back into business. We will maintain offshore processing, turnbacks when safe to do so, and regional resettlement.”

Mr Morrison could not say if there had been any applications from people on Manus Island and Nauru to come to Australia for treatment.

Attorney-General Christian Porter said in mid-February the government would have to deal 300 applications in the “next several weeks”.

“There will be applications, I have no doubt about it, and the asylum groups are doing what they always do and that is seeking to undermine the government’s policies,” Mr Morrison told 6PR radio.

“Our reaction by reopening Christmas Island is having the desired effect and in the same way it’s having the effect of deterring boats from coming to Australia.

“I don’t want to see too many people transferred by gaming the system at all and if there turns out to be zero applications it’ll be because the government got the response right.”