New prime minister says the plight of the asylum seekers in offshore detention is a ‘legitimate’ question, but will not offer immediate policy change

Malcolm Turnbull says the plight of asylum seekers and refugees in Australian-run detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru is a “legitimate question” to which his government is paying “close attention” – but has declined to say how or when the policy will change.

In his second major interview as prime minister, Turnbull also said he was “open to talks” with Labor on the China-Australia free trade agreement, encouraging opposition leader Bill Shorten to propose specific amendments to begin discussions.

Manus asylum seekers congratulate Malcolm Turnbull – and ask for freedom Read more

In the interview with Sky News, Turnbull again refused to foreshadow changes to specific Abbott government policies before decisions had been taken by his new cabinet.

But asked about the more than 1,500 people in detention on Nauru and Manus with no clear prospect of resettlement, he told interviewer David Speers: “I have the same concerns about the situation of people on Manus and Nauru as you do, as all Australians do, as the minister Mr Dutton does.

“This is an area that clearly is one that is controversial, that is a challenging one, it is certainly one that close attention is being paid to … I thank you for raising it, it is legitimate to raise it … but we are not going to make policy changes on the run.”

Forty asylum seekers on Manus Island have been found to be refugees, but there is still no program to resettle them and they have moved to different accommodation on the island. Four refugees from Nauru have so far been settled in Cambodia, at a cost of $55m, but most who have been found to be refugees have simply moved elsewhere on the tiny island. Many of the refugees have been in detention for more than two years.

Shortly after Turnbull’s comments, immigration minister Peter Dutton did his own interview to stress that policy was not changing.

He said the government “remains absolutely resolute”, that “people will not be resettling in Australia” and that if Australia “needs to sharpen our policies to make it harder for people to get through the net then that is what we will do”.

“I saw the prime minister’s interview and I agree with him 100%, where we can get people out of Nauru to permanent arrangements elsewhere in the world then we will do that,” he said.

“The prime minister remains absolutely resolute that we will have regional processing centres as part of our deterrent ... and we will turn back boats on each and every occasion.”

Turnbull attacked Shorten over Labor’s stance on the China Australia free trade agreement, accusing him of being a “passive cork … bobbing along … in the slipstream” of an “alarmist, extreme, scare-mongering campaign by the CFMEU” against the China FTA.

He said Shorten could say he wasn’t going along with the union’s campaign and propose changes or amendments, which the government would consider.

“We’re obviously open to talking to them but they have made no specific proposals, there is legislation in the House, they could move an amendment, they could propose a change or variation to Andrew Robb … of course we are always open to talks,” he said.

Shorten has foreshadowed that Labor will propose specific changes.

“The idea that we expect our negotiators to go back to China and vary the actual terms of the treaty is not what we are saying … The only proposition, and it is a pretty reasonable proposition … is that we are concerned that there are matters arising from the treaty which need to be belt-and-braced, and I’m talking about the use of temporary labour coming into Australia and that there should be appropriate safeguards around that,” he told ABC’s Q&A program on Monday.

Turnbull refused to answer questions about when he informed the new treasurer Scott Morrison or foreign minister Julie Bishop of his intention to challenge Tony Abbott, saying he was “not getting into a debate about archaeology or history”.

Conservative anger around Abbott’s dumping has focused on whether Morrison and Bishop passed on warnings to Abbott as quickly as they might have. Abbott has said he believed Morrison had “misled the public” in his account of his dealings with the former leader’s office in the lead-up to the coup.

Turnbull defended dropping immigration minister Peter Dutton from the national security committee of cabinet on the grounds that it had been the practice for most of the term of the Howard government, which he described as “absolutely gold standard” in terms of running “a very solid traditional business-like cabinet government”.

Turnbull said the G20 leaders meeting in Turkey on 15 and 16 November was likely to be his first overseas engagement as prime minister and pointed to increasing consumer confidence figures this week as early evidence his “more confident leadership” on the economy was working.