SA: Jay Weatherill calls for asylum seekers to remain in Australia

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has joined other premiers in calling on the Federal Government to allow a group of asylum seekers to remain in Australia.

• Jay Weatherill sends a letter calling on the Federal Government to allow a group of asylum seekers to remain in Australia
• The letter supports an earlier statement by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews
• Malcolm Turnbull says the 267 asylum seekers would be looked at on a case-by-case basis
• Mr Weatherill yesterday tweeted support for Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' public letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and he has now sent a similar statement.

The High Court last week threw out a challenge to the legality of the Federal Government's immigration detention centre on Nauru.

The ruling paved the way for 267 asylum seekers, including 37 children, brought to Australia for medical treatment to be returned to the island.

In a letter addressed to Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Andrews said the asylum seekers should remain in Australia and the Prime Minister had the power to make that possible.

• "A sense of compassion is not only in the best interests of these children and their families," he wrote.
• "It is also in the best interests of our status as a fair and decent nation.
• "There are infants among this group who were born in this country.
• "Sending them to Nauru will needlessly expose them to a life of physical and emotional trauma.
• "It's wrong. Medical professionals tell us this. Humanitarian agencies tell us this. Our values tell us this, too.
• "Sending these children and their families to Nauru is not the Australia way."

Mr Weatherill's letter said South Australia was prepared to offer a "safe, secure and welcoming environment for these families".

• "Many Australians have lost confidence in an offshore detention system that lacks transparency, is without independent oversight, offers refugees no credible hope of resettlement and that is demonstrably destructive to the health of children and adults," he wrote.
• "Medical and other experts have stated that the welfare of theses 267 people is at risk should they be returned to Nauru.
• "I understand that your priority is maintaining secure borders and keeping people smugglers out of business.
• "We do not need to knowingly harm children in order to achieve those outcomes.
• "I ask that you allow these children and their families to call South Australia home."