Tony Abbott has declared that Labor’s radical new asylum policy can only be taken seriously by voters if boat arrivals are being dispatched to Papua New Guinea within the next 24 hours.
The government has signalled it will take some time for immigration facilities to be upgraded sufficiently to allow the transfer of unauthorised boat arrivals from Christmas Island to PNG, but the opposition leader is attempting to reframe the political debate to focus on Labor’s competence.
“If [Rudd] is serious about intimidating the people smugglers, then people have to be leaving for Manus Island now,” Abbott said on Tuesday morning. “If Mr Rudd wants to make a bit of difference, he’s got to have a bit of will, he’s got to show a bit of steel.”
Abbott pointed out that boats had arrived since last Friday’s announcement by the Rudd government, but it was clear that no one was leaving for Manus Island “any time soon”.
The immigration minister, Tony Burke, hit back on Tuesday afternoon, branding Abbott’s comments irresponsible. Burke argued that Abbott, as a former health minister in the Howard government, would know it was dangerous to dispatch people to PNG without proper vaccinations and screenings for diseases, and without proper accommodation.
“There is nothing more irresponsible than the comments Tony Abbott has made today,” Burke said in Sydney.
Burke said Abbott was about “setting random tests that he knows would be irresponsible if implemented” – and about sending a message to people smugglers that Australia’s political parties were not united over the policy change.
Burke continued to stonewall on the costs of the PNG deal, saying it would depend on the number of boat arrivals.
Abbott’s remarks to reporters in Canberra follow the publication of a new opinion poll suggesting Labor’s new asylum policy has improved voter perceptions of Labor’s capacity to manage boat arrivals.
Compared with a survey taken in February 2013, Monday’s Newspoll recorded a six-point bounce in community support for Labor’s management of asylum seekers – and a 14-point drop for the Coalition. The survey was taken just after Labor’s announcement of the new policy on Friday.
Abbott said on Tuesday the government was still refusing to provide key specifics about the new agreement with PNG – and he criticised the government for letting PNG “control” the foreign aid budget.
Basing his contention on statements from the PNG prime minister, Peter O’Neill, Abbott argued Labor had “subcontracted out to PNG the management of our aid program, at least in that country”. Abbott declared the government was handing out cash to the PNG government. “Australian aid should never be a free gift to a foreign government,” he said.
Continuing political contention over the new processing and resettlement policy comes as Tuesday’s Newspoll shows Labor behind but within striking distance of the Coalition for any federal campaign held soon.
In broad terms, Labor’s decision to switch leaders has met with a favourable response in a number of published opinion polls.
The Newspoll survey published by The Australian on Tuesday had Labor’s primary vote on 37%, a one-point drop since the last survey. On the two-party preferred measure, the Coalition is on 52% to Labor’s 48%, which is down two points from the last survey taken two weeks ago.
These are all movements within the poll’s 3% margin of error. The Newspoll taken last fortnight had Labor at 50-50 with the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis.
Kevin Rudd’s satisfaction rating in Tuesday’s survey was 42% – down a point in the fortnight; and he remains ahead of Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister, although Abbott’s position in that ranking improved three points to 34% and Rudd’s dropped three points to 50%. The Coalition’s primary vote in this fortnight’s survey also rebounded three points to 45%.
Labor’s new policy on boat arrivals is targeted at Labor voters who have switched their support to Tony Abbott, in part because of the public perception of the Coalition’s strength on the management of border security. There is speculation among MPs that Rudd could call the election as soon as this coming weekend, for August 31.
