Opposition Leader Tony Abbott speaking at an LNP State Convention. Credit:Getty Images "I will never subcontract out to other countries the solution of problems in this country," he said. "I am very grateful for any help that other countries are prepared to offer us in fixing this problem. "But if you want solutions for this country you can't rely on the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, you've got to be able to rely on the Prime Minister of Australia, and I am someone the Australian people can rely on." Mr Newman said given people could "row across in a tinnie or a canoe" from PNG into Queensland, the agreement would see a new wave of immigration through the Torres Strait.

"What Kevin Rudd has done is take Australia's problem and make it Queensland's problem," he said. "The Torres Strait is a porous border right now, porous in that many, many people come across the strait from PNG in Queensland each year. "It's only four kilometres from PNG on to the soil of Queensland. What Kevin Rudd is doing is creating a launching pad for a wave of additional ongoing immigration from PNG into Queensland, either legal or illegal." Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare defended the drastic new approach to boat people, saying it was a "simple and practical" idea that removed the incentive for people to risk their lives at sea. "This is costing us billions of dollars already and its costing us hundreds and hundreds of lives," he said on the Nine Network.

"If this works it has the potential to reduce the cost that we currently pay for processing asylum seekers. And if it works it has the potential very importantly to reduce the number of people that are losing their lives in the middle of the ocean." Treasurer and former immigration minister Chris Bowen said the boats plan was "a big step forward", and repeated Mr Rudd's promise the measure would be budget neutral. "For a long time we've said we'd need a proper regional solution which involved permanent resettlement, not a staging post towards resettlement in Australia," he told Sky News. "So this is important in saving lives and getting a fairer and more orderly Australia." He defended the placement of full-page newspaper advertisements for the policy today. Independent Senator Nick Xenophon said he would make a formal complaint to the Auditor General about the ads, which he described as a blatantly political campaign paid for by the taxpayer.

Mr Bowen said it was important to advertise the new boats plan in Australia, because recent migrants from countries such as Iran, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan would communicate it back to potential boat people in their home countries. Foreign Minister Bob Carr told the ABC the plan had the backing of other countries in the region, and that he was "struck by the level of support." "They understand that this is something that Australia's got to respond to with new approaches," he said. The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said it had not been involved in the agreement between Australia and the PNG, and that it was seeking information about the deal. "UNHCR advocates on a worldwide basis for maintaining a robust international asylum system in which those fleeing danger or persecution have access to safe haven, to proper asylum procedures, and ultimately to help with finding solutions to their plights," the body said in a statement.

"With any new asylum policy or agreement, it is important that these long-established norms and international protection principles are upheld." The Greens immigration spokeswoman Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said "warm-hearted Australians" would be "devastatingly disappointed" with the policy. Loading "It is a rush to cruelty as Kevin Rudd rushes to the polls," she told reporters in Melbourne. AAP, with Cameron Atfield