Canadian journalist Naomi Klein has skewered Australia for its treatment of asylum seekers in offshore detention, comparing the policy to one proposed by Donald Trump.
On the ABC's Q&A; on Monday night, Ms Klein - an author and climate change activist - said the conditions on Nauru and Manus Island were an "international atrocity".
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"I find it shocking that people on Nauru and Manus are lighting themselves on fire, sewing their mouths shut, so they can be heard," Ms Klein said.
"They're so desperate to have their freedom of speech heard that they're self-immolating. I want to know where the outrage is in this country about their freedom of speech and the freedom of whistleblowers - the doctors, the teachers - who are speaking out against this atrocity. This international atrocity."
![Canadian journalist Naomi Klein on Q&A.](/web/20161108033544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/k/3/l/l/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsk34h.png/1478548082181.jpg)
Ms Klein said the US presidential election had lowered the level of political discourse to such a degree that some abhorrent policies seemed normal.
"One of the reasons why I can't wait to be rid of Trump, if this does happen, is he's lowered the bar so much that anything can seem sane in comparison," Ms Klein said.
"We can all feel terrifically smug because we're not that crazy.
"I think that Donald Trump talking about building the wall with Mexico is insane and racist, but I also think what Australia is doing on Nauru and Manus is as well. I think we shouldn't be so self-satisfied about it. You're actually doing it, he's just talking about it."
!["The detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru are open centres where people can come and go": Liberal senator James ...](/web/20161108033544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/k/3/l/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsk34h.png/1478548082181.jpg)
The comparison was also made by a questioner from the audience, who asked: "What is the difference between Australia's Operation Sovereign Borders and Donald Trump's wall?"
Liberal Senator James Paterson, who was also on the panel, defended the policy.
![Trump has "lowered the bar so much that anything can seem sane in comparison": Naomi Klein.](/web/20161108033544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/k/3/j/4/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsk34h.png/1478575565963.jpg)
"For one, the detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru are open centres where people can come and go," Mr Paterson said.
"They can have jobs. They have healthcare. They can go to school. That's one difference."
![Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Virginia on Monday.](/web/20161108033544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/k/3/j/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsk34h.png/1478574745577.jpg)
Another difference, Mr Paterson said, was offshore detention is also supported by Labor.
Speaking about Donald Trump, Mr Patterson, 28, who entered the senate in March, said the Republican nominee wasn't his "cup of tea" but it was important that Australian politicians work with whoever is elected.
"I think we can't afford to be complacent in Australia," he said.
"We have to always make sure, particularly politicians like us, that we are in touch and doing what we say we'll do, because otherwise we'll have the same kind of cynicism about our leaders and politicians [as in the US]."