Refugees at the Manus Island regional processing centre protesting earlier this month. Leaked government documents showed the Immigration Department will issue dozens of asylum seekers, who were transferred to Australia from offshore detention for medical reasons, with a new visa known as the "final departure bridging E visa". Under the new visa conditions, income support of about $200 a fortnight will cease on Monday and a three-week deadline to move out of government-supported accommodation will be imposed. "The medical assistance has been provided and there is no need for them to remain in Australia and yet through these legal moves, they've found themselves a way [to remain]," Mr Dutton said. "It goes back to your earlier remarks, Alan, about all the political correctness out there ... and it extends into some of our major law firms, where part of their social justice agenda is for pro bono work to be provided ... and it costs the taxpayer tens of millions each year."

Asked whether the government couldn't simply pass legislation to force asylum seekers back to Nauru or Manus Island after their medical treatment, Mr Dutton replied: "Well, there's constitutional issues involved as you well know [and] we can't pass legislation to dispel with that difficulty of the constitution - so we defend these matters, we fight them in the courts, and it is incredibly frustrating." Mr Jones described the behaviour of lawyers representing asylum seekers as "unAustralian", to which Mr Dutton replied: "Of course it is." The Human Rights Law Centre, which represents many refugees and asylum seekers involved in legal battles against the government, bases most of its cases based on its clients' personal vulnerabilities and risks of harm on Nauru and Manus, rather than the constitution. "We're talking about women who were sexually assaulted on Nauru," the law centre's lawyer Daniel Webb said. "Men who were violently attacked on Manus. Children who were so traumatised by offshore detention that they needed urgent psychiatric care in Australia. The minister evacuated these people because he knew full well they'd suffered serious harm. "Some have filed cases on the basis that they would face further abuse, danger and harm if returned. The minister has never disputed those claims in court... instead he is trying to starve them out. He is cynically exploiting their vulnerability and trying to force them back to danger by making them destitute."

The ACTU said it would campaign to let those affected stay in Australia. "This is a callous, cynical and cruel decision. It deserves scorn and condemnation. It will be resisted," president Ged Kearney said. "The decision is designed to take attention away from the Turnbull Government's self-inflicted wounds and declining popularity." Meanwhile, asylum seeker advocates have vowed to foot the bill for the 400 affected people, insisting they will not go back to Nauru or Manus Island as the government intended. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has pledged to house and look after about 200 of the refugees who are based in Melbourne, which it expects to cost up to $1 million over six months.

"We're drawing on what little savings we have, and we're going to rely on the public to rally. We'll just have to find a way to find the money," chief executive Kon Karapanagiotidis​ said. "We cannot in good faith allow this government to starve families, babies, children. We're not letting these people be sent back to danger." In Sydney, Settlement Services International has given an in-principle commitment to assisting the affected asylum seekers, and will work with other local service providers with the aim of getting everyone housed. On the weekend, Mr Shorten drew a line in the sand on Labor's treatment of refugees, despite steering through changes at the 2015 Labor Party conference that saw the opposition commit to turning back asylum seeker boats if it wins government. On Sunday, he said kicking people off support was needlessly cruel and "really dumb".

"It won't fix anything. It's just hurting vulnerable and sick people for the sake of it," Mr Shorten said. "These people should be eligible for settlement in the United States or other countries in our region – so they have a permanent home. This act has nothing to do with strong borders or stopping people smugglers. It's a weak Prime Minister trying to look tough. That's it." There are about 400 asylum seekers and their children living in Australia after medical transfers from offshore processing and, eventually, all of them may be subject to the tough new visa rules. The asylum seekers will be able to work until they leave the country. Loading - with Michael Koziol