PNG RE-OPENS MANUS

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says his cabinet has approved an asylum seeker detention centre on Manus Island.

Mr O'Neill told reporters in Port Moresby on Thursday a timeframe on the re-establishment of the centre was "entirely up to the Australian government", which would manage the centre.

"The Papua New Guinea government has now approved that arrangement and we have invited officials from Australia to immediately set this facility up so that we can battle this ongoing regional issue," he said.

"We also have similar problems in Papua New Guinea but it is not on the scale that is confronting our neighbour. But as a responsible government, we see that is a regional issue."

He expects Australian officials to arrive in PNG at some point next week.

While the Australian government would meet the cost of running the centre, PNG officials will assist and work closely with Australian officials ... "so that we can also build our own capacities in so far as managing the asylum centre for regional issues in terms of human smuggling and the illicit drug trade and so forth", he said.

"But the Australian government will be largely responsible for the management of the centre.

Mr O'Neill said details of how many asylum seekers would be sent to the island were unknown until next week's expected talks were complete.

Located two degrees south of the equator, the Manus Island detention centre was initially established by the Howard government in 2001 as part of its "Pacific solution" for dealing with asylum seekers.

It was closed in 2004 after its sole inmate, Aladdin Sisalem, was granted asylum in Australia.

During a speech to parliament outlining the agenda for his week-old government on Tuesday, Mr O'Neill said a priority of his government would be strengthening ties with Australia.

Reopening the Manus detention facility was first raised publicly in May this year when secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Andrew Metcalfe, visited PNG and held talks with local officials.

However, plans stalled after former prime minister Sir Michael Somare departed PNG for Singapore to undergo heart surgery in April.

Mr O'Neill took office last Tuesday after a 70 to 24 parliamentary vote gave him the top job and unseated Somare appointee, acting prime minister Sam Abal.

Mr O'Neill's chief of staff Ben Macah recently told AAP Ms Gillard and Mr O'Neill discussed the detention centre last Wednesday, the day after he was sworn into office.

-AAP

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