Scott Morrison convinced Jacqui Lambie to help him repeal the medevac laws during a meeting on Tuesday that required her to make a leap of faith.

Lambie wanted a pathway for refugees to leave Nauru and Manus Island and gained an assurance on this in the Prime Minister's office.

Everything turns on the strength of that assurance. The fate of around 400 asylum seekers now turns on whether that meeting will intensify the search for another country, most likely New Zealand, to give them a home.

The government insists there is no "secret deal" but Lambie told the Senate she put forward a proposal she could not reveal.