PNG faces breaking point
The 837 asylum seekers who have arrived in the past week alone - bringing the total this year to more than 15,000 - are more than double Manus Island's capacity.
The government has admitted that asylum seekers will be held in Australia for the time being as it races to expand PNG's facilities and bring them up to United Nations-mandated standards on health and education provision.
But on Sunday the government refused to say when the upgraded facilities on Manus Island would be ready or how much the policy of transferring all boat arrivals to PNG would cost.
If the government fails to provide suitable conditions for asylum seekers in the impoverished Pacific nation, the federal Coalition and legal experts have warned of court challenges in both countries.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke said the Manus Island facilities were not at the required standard, especially for children, and he would ensure they complied with the UN refugee convention and the High Court ruling that struck down the Malaysia people-swap deal. This included providing appropriate accommodation, services and schooling, he said.
Mr Burke would not say how long the work would take but insisted it would not be ''a long period of time''. He said the deal to transfer people was unlimited, despite PNG saying it would be constrained by its capacity to accommodate people.
''If we end up with a large number of people coming, then a large capacity will be put in Papua New Guinea,'' Mr Burke told the ABC.
''There is a limit to how many you would be able to put on Manus Island, but the agreement is not limited to Manus Island being the only location.''
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the policy complied with Australian and international law, but legal experts cast doubt on assurances that asylum seekers would be protected as PNG had widespread problems looking after its own people.
Children's rights organisation Plan International warned of ''great division'' if resettled refugees were afforded conditions markedly better than those for PNG locals.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said people to be transferred to PNG would initially face health and security checks in Australia, allowing lawyers to stifle the process through court challenges. He also predicted parliamentary obstacles and legal challenges in PNG.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the two-page document signed with PNG did not explicitly ensure that every person who came to Australia by boat would be transferred there. ''This is simply something that is held together by Blu Tack and sticky tape to last through to the election if possible.''
University of Sydney professor of international law Ben Saul said it was hard to see how PNG could provide refugees with decent housing, education, healthcare and employment given the difficulties the locals had in securing such rights.
''PNG is one of the poorest countries in the world. It can't provide basic rights for its own people, so do we really think PNG is going to prioritise making these rights for refugees over their own citizens?''
Foreign Minister Bob Carr said the tough new policy was ''unavoidable'' given the spike in boat arrivals.
Climate Change Minister Mark Butler, of the ALP's Left faction, admitted discomfort within Labor ranks about the policy but said something had to be done.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will explain the refugee policy shift to his Labor team at a special caucus meeting in the Balmain Town Hall in Sydney on Monday.
He will also brief MPs on planning for the election campaign and seek reforms to make it more difficult to change leaders.
