"Where was the Human Rights Commission during the life of the former government when hundreds of people were drowning at sea?" Mr Abbott asked on Thursday morning. Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs. "Frankly this is a blatantly partisan politicised exercise and the Human Rights Commission ought to be ashamed of itself." When asked whether he felt any guilt over the horrific findings in the 315-page report, Mr Abbott replied: "None whatsoever." "The most compassionate thing you can do is stop the boats. We have stopped the boats."

Later in question time, Mr Abbott ruled out a royal commission on the issue. "I am going to do the Leader of the Opposition this favour - I'm going to do him in this favour - there won't be a royal commission into children in detention, because if there were...it would condemn [Labor]," he said. "It would condemn them. Madam Speaker, frankly, they stand condemned already." The 315-page report interviewed children in detention from January 2013 to March 2014 under both the Labor and Coalition governments. But the Abbott government is questioning why the commission announced the inquiry in February 2014 once it had come into power, rather than when the Labor government was in power and the numbers of children in detention were at its highest. The last national inquiry of children in detention by the commission was in 2004.

Mr Abbott said Gillian Triggs, president of the Human Rights Commission, should instead be thanking the former immigration minister Scott Morrison for dramatically reducing the number of children in detention. "I reckon that the Human Rights Commission ought to be sending a note of congratulations to Scott Morrison saying 'Well done mate because your actions have been very good for the human rights and the human flourishing of thousands of people'." But in her speech on Thursday morning, Professor Triggs said the report was "even handed". "Both sides of politics are responsible for breaches of our international obligations. Alternatives to indefinite detention, such as community detention, have not been properly considered by government decision makers, and the safety and wellbeing of children has not been a primary consideration," she said. Professor Triggs said the inquiry did not start in 2013 when the number of children in detention peaked because they were only being held for short periods.

She said when the Coalition came to power it became apparent children were being held for longer periods. Professor Triggs denied the report was intended to damage the Abbott government. "The commission is doing its job," she said. "This is not a politicised exercise. It is a fair report." She said the Australian public was "ashamed" of the government's child refugee policy and believed community pressure would force political action. Allegations of sexual and physical abuse to children in detention have been referred to the authorities for further investigation.

According to the latest Immigration figures there are 211 children being held in Immigration detention centres, including 119 in the offshore processing centre on Nauru. Labor's immigration spokesman Richard Marles thanked Dr Triggs for the findings in the report. "The best thing we can do for children in detention is to have refugee claims processed quickly so nobody has to languish in detention with no hope of settlement," he said. "Labor strongly believes where children are in the unavoidable situation of being in Immigration detention proper care must be on hand for their emotional and physical wellbeing." Loading

"Labor thanks Professor Gillian Triggs, president of the Australian Human Rights Commission for her thoroughness and diligence in preparing this report." Follow us on Twitter