"They don't understand that if you don't want to witness tragic migrant drownings then you have to stop people getting on the boats in the first place," says the report, echoing the position of the Prime Minister himself.

On Wednesday The New York Times editorial board described Mr Abbott's polices to deter people seeking asylum by boat as "inhumane, of dubious legality and strikingly at odds with the country's tradition of welcoming people fleeing persecution and war".

Mr Abbott has long been a source of minor fascination among some American conservatives, not only for his tough policies on boat arrivals but also for his climate change scepticism.

Over recent months Breitbart has celebrated Mr Abbott for his policy to deport dual citizens found to have been involved in terrorism ("Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott doesn't just talk tough on terrorism – he acts on it") and to block any new government funding for renewable energy schemes.

"In doing so Mr Abbott has sent a clear message to the mendicant green renewable energy sector that there will be no more cheap state-supplied financing for its projects," Breitbart News reported.