LISA WILKINSON:
Prime Minister how many of our refugees has the US agreed to take?
PRIME MINISTER:
We have not set a number on it. The Americans will assess the refugees from a security and health point of view as referred to them by the UNHCR. There will be a substantial number who would be eligible for resettlement in the United States, but we’re not providing any more details on the arrangement than what we’ve done to date.
LISA WILKINSON:
Well there’s up to 1,600 people – what’s substantial?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have said it is a substantial number that would be eligible, the important thing now is for the American officials to do their work with the UNHCR. This is a critically important step in resolving the shocking mess that the Labor Party left us when they failed to protect Australia’s borders.
LISA WILKINSON:
Is it more or less than a thousand?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, thanks very much for the interrogation, let me just say -
LISA WILKINSON:
I think it’s fairly important this is a huge announcement.
PRIME MINISTER:
It is a huge announcement, it is hugely important to the lives of the people there on Nauru and it’s hugely important that we maintain the security and integrity of our borders. The message that I want to make very clear is this, the arrangements with the United States are one-off. The only people that are eligible for resettlement in the United States are those on Nauru and Manus right now. Anyone who seeks to come to Australia with a people smuggler now or in the future will not succeed. They will be turned back; they will not succeed in coming to Australia. Anyone who comes to those regional processing centres in the future will not be eligible for this deal.
This is our effort to ensure that we can resolve this shocking mess that the Labor Party left. Remember, they neglected our borders, they allowed 50,000 unauthorised arrivals, they oversaw while they were in Government, 1,200 and more deaths at sea and it was the Labor Party that put these people on Nauru and Manus. And what I’m doing is seeking to ensure that they can leave and be resettled in the United States.
LISA WILKINSON:
Okay, Prime Minister when will we find out exactly how many are going to be taken by the US?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that’s a matter for the United States.
LISA WILKINSON:
What are you hopeful is the number that the US will take?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the United States has to make its own assessments and we’ll see as the process continues, you’ll see how many people are able to resettle in the United States. This is a matter – they made this -
LISA WILKINSON:
You did this deal with the Obama Administration, but of course on January 20th the not-so immigration friendly Donald Trump takes power. How long is this opportunity open to asylum seekers to take up the offer?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well again, this is a matter for the United States. The agreement was entered in to with the administration, with the Government of the United States, some time ago. We’ve announced it on the weekend, we deal with one administration at a time. The United States is not taking any additional refugees here - the refugees that they take under this arrangement will be part of their overall quota.
LISA WILKINSON:
You spoke to Donald Trump last week, but you didn’t mention this deal to him. Is this because you’re concerned that he won’t honour the deal?
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s because we deal with one administration at a time. There’s only one President of the United States at any time. Until January 20 when Donald Trump is inaugurated, the President is Barack Obama and we deal with one administration at a time.
LISA WILKINSON:
That’s true but you did talk to Donald Trump and other issues did come up. Why was this not considered important enough?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well because we deal with one administration at a time. And you don’t discuss confidential matters with one administration with a future administration. Look, it’s fairly straight forward.
LISA WILKINSON:
Will all of those who take up this offer, will they be resettled by January 20th and safe and secure in the knowledge that they won’t then find themselves in a bureaucratic mess midway between Australia and the US?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I’m sorry I think I lost the last part of your question, but again the timing will be in the hands of the United States. It will be – the United States will be accepting referrals from the UNHCR, that’s the UN refugees body. And they will be done in an orderly way. So this is a -
LISA WILKINSON:
Prime Minister what I’m wondering here is, will the wheels of government and bureaucracy turn quickly enough for all of those who are accepted by the US to be actually on US soil by the time Donald Trump comes in as the new President?
PRIME MINISTER:
The process will continue for some months. It’s not something that, the United States won’t be shortcutting their security or health checks, but they have to begin and the US officials will be arriving in Australia and then going to Nauru over the next, in the course of this week they’ll be arriving in Australia.
LISA WILKINSON:
So you’re not concerned that some people may get caught midway between Australia and the US where bureaucracy holds it up and these people are left in limbo land?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the – if people are not resettled in the end in the United States, then they have the option to remain on Nauru. Twenty-year visas are being negotiated, they can return home to their country of origin, which of course is where people who have been denied refugee status should go and indeed many have. Or they can resettle in Cambodia. But the one thing I want to very clear about, they will not come to Australia.
LISA WILKINSON:
Okay, Prime Minister we will have to leave it there. Thank you very much for your time this morning, I know it’s a busy day for you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
Ends