MELBOURNE, (PNA/Bernama) — Australia’s Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott looks set to keep much of the asylum seeker deal Kevin Rudd struck with Papua New Guinea (PNG) as he opens talks with the country, it is reported.
Abbott said he had spoken to PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill about the continued processing of asylum seekers on Manus Island.
“We will make the most of the arrangements which the former government put in place with PNG,” Abbott told the Nine Network on Tuesday.
“I think that it is an important element, not the only element, but it’s an important element in the range of policies that are necessary to stop the boats.”
Abbott said his border protection plan, called Operation Sovereign Borders, would officially begin when the new government is sworn in next week.
“I don’t pretend that it’s going to be an easy one,” he said.
Former immigration minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio he expects the Abbott government to honor his government’s agreements with PNG in full.
He claims the policy has broken the people smuggling business model.
“So long as the new government doesn’t get too excited about the domestic politics and just gets on with implementation, and is respectful to our neighbors, then I see no reason at all why it won’t work.”