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| Australia announces Papua New Guinea asylum deal | Australia announces Papua New Guinea asylum deal |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| People arriving by boat to seek asylum will no longer be resettled in Australia but will go to Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced. | People arriving by boat to seek asylum will no longer be resettled in Australia but will go to Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced. |
| The news came as Mr Rudd set out an overhaul of asylum policy ahead of a general election expected shortly. | The news came as Mr Rudd set out an overhaul of asylum policy ahead of a general election expected shortly. |
| Australia has seen a sharp rise in the number of asylum-seekers arriving by boat in recent months. | Australia has seen a sharp rise in the number of asylum-seekers arriving by boat in recent months. |
| Mr Rudd said the "hard-line decision" was taken to ensure border security. | Mr Rudd said the "hard-line decision" was taken to ensure border security. |
| The prime minister, who ousted Julia Gillard as Labor Party leader amid dismal polling figures last month, made the announcement in Brisbane flanked by the PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill. | |
| "From now on, any asylum-seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as a refugee," Mr Rudd said. | "From now on, any asylum-seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as a refugee," Mr Rudd said. |
| Under the agreement, new arrivals will be sent to PNG for assessment and settled there if found to be a refugee. | |
| To accommodate the new arrivals, an offshore processing centre in PNG's Manus island will be significantly expanded. | |
| No cap has been placed on the number of people Australia can send to PNG, Mr Rudd said. | |
| The prime minister said the move was aimed at dissuading people from making the dangerous journey to Australia by boat. | |
| "Our country has had enough of people-smugglers exploiting asylum-seekers and seeing them drown on the high seas," he said. |