Opposition leader Bill Shorten has urged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to visit Nauru with him in light of widespread reports of abuse and self-harm at Australia's detention centre on the island.
Mr Shorten made the call at a community forum in Springwood on Saturday afternoon, hosted by new Labor Macquarie MP, Susan Templeman.
"I think it would be a really smart idea for Malcolm Turnbull and I to go and have a look at Nauru,” Mr Shorten said in response to questions about Labor’s support of offshore detention of asylum seekers.
He said the Prime Minister should begin negotiations on regional resettlement of asylum seekers “as a priority”, offering Labor’s support.
“I'll be bipartisan with him, and I mean that. I have a view that he and I should visit Nauru. We would work with him on resettlement negotiations. We wouldn't be like the Liberals and indeed the Greens when they voted down Malaysia”, referring to the so-called 2011 Malaysian solution where the Gillard government planned to send asylum seekers to that country to deter the flow of asylum seeker boats.
While Mr Shorten was jeered at the forum when he reiterated Labor’s support for offshore detention, his call to visit Nauru with the Prime Minister was met with applause.
He said Australia had a responsibility to the asylum seekers on the island.
“They're there because we sent them there. Therefore we cannot wash our hands of their safety and well-being."
Mr Shorten also renewed calls for the appointment of an independent child advocate at the forum, held in the Blue Mountains Theatre.
The issue of asylum seekers made headlines again last week after more than 2000 reports of abuse and self-harm among asylum seekers and refugees in Australian immigration detention centres on Nauru were leaked to Guardian Australia.
