Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison
Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison will travel to Nauru and Manus Island next week to inspect the asylum seekers processing centres there ''first hand''.
Mr Morrison said he wrote to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen on Monday night, telling him he wanted to see the progress on Australia's moves to re-establish offshore processing. Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday he had made private arrangements to visit the islands and see how ''events are playing out on the ground''.
He said that he had asked Mr Bowen months ago to help him visit Nauru and Papua New Guinea but had been knocked back.
Scott Morrison Photo: Vikky Wilkes
Yesterday, Mr Morrison spoke with Amnesty International refugee coordinator Graham Thom. This follows Amnesty visits to Nauru last week, when it raised serious concerns about the conditions and health of detainees, who are currently housed in tents [LINK].
Mr Morrison said he was concerned about the delays in setting up permanent facilities.
''Its not quite clear whose running the show,'' he said.
He noted that while it was ''part of the point'' that people did not want to be on Nauru or Manus Island - given offshore processing is meant to be a deterrent - ''we need to make sure that facilities in place are appropriate''.
This week, the Coalition is due to introduce a private members bill to re-introduce temporary protection visas. Mr Morrison said he had lodged the notice of motion yesterday and that the bill would be considered sometime over the next three days.
Ahead of Coalition party room meetings this morning, he dismissed concerns raised by some Liberal backbenchers over the move.
''They've been raising [these concerns] for over a decade,'' Mr Morrison said.
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