REFUGEES would be forced to work for their welfare benefits and may only be permitted to stay in Australia for as little as six months under a tough new border security policy to be announced by the Coalition today.
In an attempt to capitalise on rising community anger at the continued flow of boats which have brought 2805 asylum-seekers to Australia so far this year, the Coalition will unveil a suite of measures harden its border security credentials.
At the heart of those measures is a new, tougher class of temporary protection visa to be issued to all unauthorised asylum-seekers.
In echoes of the Howard government's Pacific Solution, the Coalition is expected to announce new measures to process asylum-seekers offshore.
The Coalition will also flag its intention to dump the suspension of new refugee claims for Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum-seekers, which was unveiled by the Rudd government in April.
The suspension freezes new Sri Lankan asylum claims for three months and new Afghan claims for six months.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison told The Australian that abolishing the suspension would restore the non-discriminatory tenets of Australian asylum-seeker policy.
"We have tough policies but they are applied equally to everyone," Mr Morrison said.
"We have a clear view that people who arrive illegally will get different treatment to those who arrive legally.
"We don't seek to hide the fact what we are trying to do is ensure there is a different outcome for those who come illegally and those who don't."
The new announcements are designed to silence Coalition critics who for months have accused the opposition of failing to provide convincing alternative policies to stop the rising number of boats.
They are also an attempt to capitalise on growing disquiet in marginal electorates in the months leading up to this year's federal election.
Mr Morrison yesterday defended the proposed TPV, saying it was a fairer, more versatile method of providing protection.
"Refugee status is not a permanent condition and you need a policy to reflect that," he said.
"This government's got itself into an absolute bind because it's worked this out but refuses to introduce TPVs."
Mr Morrison said the new TPVs would be valid for between six months and three years. This would allow greater flexibility when it came to offering short-term protection for those in acute need, such as Tamil asylum-seekers displaced by war.
There would be no family reunion rights under the new scheme and people would have no right of return, meaning that if they left Australia they would be barred from re-entry.
Refugees whose visas were extended for more than a year would have full access to services such as Medicare and language training as well as work rights.
But anyone unable to find a job could be required to work under a mutual obligation arrangement similar to the work-for-the-dole scheme for domestic jobseekers.
"One of the best ways to help (refugees) is to get them into work," Mr Morrison said.
"If they're unable to get work, let's get them busy working on projects around the community in return for the opportunities and benefits they're getting."
Temporary protection visas were introduced by the Howard government in 1999 but abolished by the Rudd government on the grounds that they failed as a deterrent and left refugees in a state of limbo.
Valid for three years, they barred people from accessing the family reunion scheme.
As a result, refugee groups said they provided an incentive for asylum-seekers to bring their families with them on the hazardous boat crossing.
Mr Morrison said a Coalition government would also reintroduce the 45-day rule, which barred anyone who lodged their asylum claim after more than 45 days in the country from accessing certain benefits. The rule was designed in part to discourage frivolous claims.
The Coalition's announcement comes amid claims there has been a 20-fold increase in the number of immigration staff sent to Christmas Island to deal with the flood of asylum-seekers.
Immigration officials confirmed a staff spike on the outpost as authorities were preparing to transfer a large group of detainees from Christmas Island to the mainland. Immigration sources said the 47 men were scheduled to be transferred to Darwin on Wednesday evening.
The government said yesterday the number of people migrating to Australia was expected to drop by 20 per cent by the end of the financial year.
Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the predicted decline followed a peak of 305,900 people in the 12 months to March 31 last year.
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