ACT and Queensland follow Victorian Refugee Lead

Chief minister Andrew Barr to make statement on Monday after Daniel Andrews tells Malcolm Turnbull asylum seekers should be allowed to stay. 

A mother and a young girl at a pro-refugees rally in Brisbane. So far, Malcolm Turnbull has resisted calls by state premiers, doctors, church and activists to allow the group of asylum seekers to stay.

A second Australian jurisdiction is set to offer to resettle a group of asylum seekers, including 37 babies, awaiting removal to Nauru, as Malcolm Turnbull resists growing calls by state premiers, doctors, church leaders and activists to allow the 267 to stay.

The chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Andrew Barr, has said he will make a statement on Monday in line with Victoria’s offer “to accept full responsibility for all of these children and their families”.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, also lent her support on Sunday, saying her state “stands willing and able to help those families that are currently here”.


She called on the federal government to show compassion and said she would call the prime minister to appeal for a more humane policy. “It’s about time we put politics to one side,” she said.

More than 60 Australian writers – including the Nobel laureate JM Coetzee and Booker prize winners Thomas Keneally and Peter Carey – have also written to the prime minister, condemning the government’s offshore detention policies as “brutal” and “shameful”.