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| Refugee flown to Brisbane after self-immolation – live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 12.45am BST | |
| 00:45 | |
| Dutton is asked about Omid, whom Guardian Australia understands is on his way to Brisbane for treatment. | |
| “It’s a terrible situation, nobody wants to see anyone self harm,” Dutton says. | |
| Omid is in a “very, very dire situation” and the government has sympathy for him and his family, “but the government is not going to change its policy”. | |
| “People aren’t going to stay permanently in our country, even if they come here temporarily for medical treatment.” | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.54am BST | |
| 12.44am BST | |
| 00:44 | |
| This will be dealt with “in the best interests of our country,” says Dutton. | |
| The minister is predicting it will take a couple of months to go through the supreme court decision and work out the options, which takes us beyond the next election. | |
| He says Labor, and particularly Marles’s response, has been “ridiculous”. Hadley calls it acting like a “headless chook”. | |
| “They created this problem, Ray. They created drownings at sea,” says Dutton. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.49am BST | |
| 12.38am BST | |
| 00:38 | |
| “We’ve paid the PNG government a lot of money,” says Hadley. | |
| “A lot of money,” agrees Dutton. | |
| 12.38am BST | |
| 00:38 | |
| Peter Dutton is talking to Ray Hadley on 2GB. | |
| He’s saying there’s plenty of room on Nauru “because we stopped the boats”. But he adds “we don’t need to be talking about Christmas Island or Nauru or anywhere else” because PNG has to go through the supreme court judgement and look at its options. | |
| “The 850 people under the MOU [memorandum of understanding] are the responsibility of the PNG government,” he tells Hadley. | |
| Which is a little contrary to what PNG says. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.48am BST | |
| 12.36am BST | |
| 00:36 | |
| Refugee flown to Brisbane after self-immolation | |
| 23-year-old Omid, who suffered severe burns after setting himself alight yesterday, has reportedly left Nauru in an air ambulance, bound for a Brisbane hospital. | |
| He remains in a critical condition, and heavily sedated. Before yesterday’s protest, he had reportedly told other asylum seekers he intended to burn himself in protest, but that the threat wasn’t taken seriously. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.47am BST | |
| 12.27am BST | |
| 00:27 | |
| Some more detail on Dutton’s latest comments. | |
| The minister told Sky News this morning Nauru did have the capacity to take additional detainees, but he was still talking with the PNG government about options. | |
| Labor spokesman Richard Marles has also been pushing for the government to work out an arrangement to keep the PNG arrangement going in some form. | |
| The Supreme Court decision was comprehensive, and dismissed several amendments made by the government previously which had sought to cement the legality of the detention centre. Any new change now would have to be much stronger to get around the court’s findings. | |
| Regarding the Christmas Island option, Dutton has been specific in his language, saying that none of the men from Manus would ever be “permanently settled” in Australia. | |
| That language would seem to leave open the possibility for all, or some, of the men from Manus being transferred to the Christmas Island detention centre. | |
| Read more here. | |
| Related: Manus refugees likely to be relocated to Christmas Island and Nauru | |
| 12.10am BST | 12.10am BST |
| 00:10 | 00:10 |
| Good morning, | Good morning, |
| Two days ago Australia’s immigration policy looked set in stone ahead of the July election. | Two days ago Australia’s immigration policy looked set in stone ahead of the July election. |
| Then the supreme court of Papua New Guinea ruled the detention of asylum seekers and refugees was illegal and contrary to the country’s constitution and migration law. | |
| In response, the PNG prime minister, Peter O’Neill announced the Manus Island centre will close, and said it was Australia’s responsibility to find alternative arrangements for those of the 850 male detainees who did not settle in PNG as refugees. | |
| Australian immigration minister, Peter Dutton, had previously sought to distance his government from such responsibility. | |
| Nauru has reached an “emergency situation”, advocates have said, after a young man set himself alight in front of UNHCR representatives yesterday, and a number of other asylum seekers and refugees attempted self-harm. | |
| Tensions and desperation among those on Nauru has been exacerbated by the news out of PNG, people on the island have said. | Tensions and desperation among those on Nauru has been exacerbated by the news out of PNG, people on the island have said. |
| Which brings us to this morning. | Which brings us to this morning. |
| Dutton has flagged the possibility of sending the Manus men to Nauru or Christmas Island. | |
| “There is capacity [on Nauru] but we’re talking with the PNG government about what options are available in PNG and we’ll continue those discussions with them,” he said this morning. | “There is capacity [on Nauru] but we’re talking with the PNG government about what options are available in PNG and we’ll continue those discussions with them,” he said this morning. |
| PNG high commissioner to Australia, Charles Lepani, says discussions will start next week on working out a plan to close the centre, but he maintained that responsibility for the detainees not settling in PNG was Australia’s, which must take them back. | PNG high commissioner to Australia, Charles Lepani, says discussions will start next week on working out a plan to close the centre, but he maintained that responsibility for the detainees not settling in PNG was Australia’s, which must take them back. |
| We’ll bring you developments throughout the day. Stay with us. | We’ll bring you developments throughout the day. Stay with us. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.23am BST |