The president of Kiribati has lashed out at Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, labelling him morally irresponsible for making a "vulgar" joke about rising sea levels in the Pacific.

Key points: Kiribati president Anote Tong said Mr Dutton's joke shows "moral irresponsibility"

Kiribati president Anote Tong said Mr Dutton's joke shows "moral irresponsibility" Mr Tong warned Australia would have to deal with future refugees if sea levels continue to rise

Mr Tong warned Australia would have to deal with future refugees if sea levels continue to rise Mr Dutton has refused to answer questions about his remark, saying it was a "private conversation"

Responding more in "sadness" than anger, Anote Tong said Mr Dutton has "got to search his own soul".

"What kind of a person is he? As long as there is this kind of attitude, this kind of arrogance in any position of leadership, we will continue to have a lot of tension," he said.

Yesterday, Mr Dutton was making small talk with Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who had just returned from talks with Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea.

Noting that a meeting was running late, Mr Dutton remarked it was running to "Cape York time", to which Mr Abbott replied: "We had a bit of that up in Port Moresby."

Mr Dutton then quipped: "Time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door."

Both men laughed before Social Services Minister Scott Morrison pointed out there was a microphone above their heads recording the conversation.

"It shows a sense of moral irresponsibility quite unbecoming of leadership in any capacity," Mr Tong said when asked about the joke.

"This is the issue we were arguing about yesterday."

At the meeting the Kiribati president, who has long been an outspoken advocate for global action on climate change, campaigned hard for Australia to promise to reduce emissions, support a tighter cap on global temperature rises and consider stopping building new coal mines.

"I find that extremely sad, extremely disappointing that we are making jokes about a very serious issue," he said.

A traditional owner of Cape York, Gerhardt Pearson, has also criticised Mr Dutton's comment.

"We are constantly burdened with the view espoused by the likes of Dutton; it's one of soft bigotry and low expectations, and it continues to dominate policy responses," he said in a statement.

"Dutton's joke using this tired old stereotype reminds me of how white superintendents ran our lives — dressed in their safari jackets and white helmets, pipe in their mouths, hands in their pockets — and how they would look down at my hard-working grandfather, mother or brother, as if they were his slaves."

Aboriginal Labor senator Nova Peris interpreted the comment as a sign "Tony Abbott and the Liberals don't take north Australia very seriously".

The Prime Minister has recently visited Cape York as part of his week in remote Indigenous communities.

Senator Peris said the references to "Cape York time" and "water lapping at your door" were disrespectful and made "a mockery of their [the Government's] commitment to north Australia".

A government source has told the ABC the reference to Cape York was not intended to offend.

They said the phrase was commonly used to describe the difficulties encountered in very remote places, and was not about race.

Australia to receive wave of Pacific refugees if sea levels rise: Tong

Mr Tong also warned Mr Dutton that a future Australian immigration minister will have to deal with a wave of Pacific refugees from low-lying countries like Kiribati, if sea levels continue to rise.

"I don't think so, I know so, because the science is quite categorical," he said.

"I hope this just doesn't reflect the deeper feelings ... about this issue because it's a serious issue for many people on this planet."

The foreign affairs minister of the Marshall Islands, Tony de Brum, also expressed his dismay over Mr Dutton's remarks.

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"Dismayed Aust ministers joking about sea level rise in Pacific. Seems insensitivity knows no bounds in the big polluting island down sth," he wrote on Twitter.

Gary Juffa, the governor of Oro province in PNG, also tweeted, saying Mr Abbott "must apologise for insensitivity towards all for laughing at climate change".

The Immigration Minister has refused to answer questions about his remark, simply stating: "I had a private conversation with the Prime Minister."

He and the Prime Minister have been criticised by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who said "it was a bad joke by a minister who is a bad joke".

"But the fact that the Prime Minister is laughing along with it reminds me of what Barack Obama said: any leader who doesn't take climate change seriously is not fit to lead," he said.

Gerhardt Pearson's full statement: