The Turnbull government says it won’t allow refugees to be resettled in New Zealand because it’s the “back door” to Australia. Its argument rests on a series of misconceptions

Malcolm Turnbull sounded decidedly uncomfortable when Fran Kelly switched the topic to offshore detention at the end of his post-budget interview on Radio National Breakfast. The previously unruffled PM struggled to get his words out and was suddenly afflicted by a cough. He was no doubt relieved when the eight o’clock news saved him from further questioning.

To his credit, Turnbull at least expressed sympathy for the misery and mental anguish of refugees and asylum seekers in Manus and Nauru. Unlike his immigration minister, Peter Dutton, he has not stooped to blaming “advocates and others” for encouraging self-harm as a way of pressuring the government to change its policy. But Turnbull held fast to the line that these refugees can never be allowed to settle in Australia. When Kelly posed the obvious question in response – “So what will we do with them?” – the prime minister floundered…

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