Tony Abbott has called Nauru a ‘very, very pleasant island’ as he urged prime minister Scott Morrison to not relax his government’s asylum seeker policies to allow detainees on the island to leave.
His comments come after a Sunday Telegraph poll showed nearly 80 per cent of Australians want children and their families off the Pacific detention centre.
Mr Morrison’s government is facing increasing pressure to accept a deal that will see migrants resettled in New Zealand.
Tony Abbott has called Nauru a ‘very, very pleasant island’ as he urged prime minister Scott Morrison to not relax his government’s migrant policy
Up to 50 children are still on Nauru and the government has been slowly removing those who need urgent medical attention
Up to 50 children are still on the island and the government has been slowly removing those who need urgent medical attention.
But the former Prime Minister has made remarkable claims that the health services in Nauru are better than some parts of Australia.
‘Nauru is no hellhole by any means. I’ve been there. If you like living the tropics, it’s a very, very pleasant island,’ Mr Abbott told 2GB’s Ray Hadley.
He said moving the ‘boat people’ would be a bad move on policy.
‘The people on Nauru and Manus now are nearly all would-be economic migrants.
‘And if we give them what they want, we get more of them. That is to say the boats will start up again.’
Despite overwhelming references in the media to poor conditions on the island, Mr Abbot ventured as far to say the children are ‘very well looked after.’
Despite overwhelming references in the media to poor conditions on Nauru (pictured), Mr Abbot ventured as far to say the children are ‘very well looked after’
Tony Abbott: ‘The people on Nauru and Manus (pictured) now are nearly all would-be economic migrants’
‘Health services on Nauru for boat people are more extensive than the services a lot of regional towns get in Australia,’ he said.
Labor has increased calls to amend legislation that stops those held in the offshore detention centres from coming to Australia.
Mr Abbott made a call to arms and told the Liberal party to stand strong on its position.
‘No government is absolutely perfect … but the Morrison Government is an infinitely better bet than the Shorten Labor Party, which will be the most left-wing government in our history if we get it.’