Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that the mothballed Christmas Island detention camp is to be reopened.
The move comes after MPs passed legislation that would give sick asylum-seekers easier access to mainland hospitals.
The legislation means that asylum seekers on camps on the pacific island nations of Papua new Guinea and Nauru will be able to fly to Australia for treatment.
Hundreds of asylum seekers who have been allowed into Australia for hospital treatment have received court injunctions that prevent their return to the islands.
Sick asylum seekers often have to fight the Australian government in court for permission to be transferred to an Australian hospital.
About 1,000 migrants intercepted at sea have spent years on the tiny island nation of Nauru or Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Morrison says the move will undermine Australia’s tough refugee policy.
The policy banishes asylum seekers who attempt to cross to Australia by boat to asylum camps in the hope that it will deter other asylum seekers from making the journey.
Opponents accused him of stoking fear over immigration before May’s election.
The controversial Christmas Island camp was a favourite target of people smugglers who brought asylum seekers in rickety boats from Indonesian ports.
It was closed last year amid protests over conditions.
“My job now is to ensure that the boats don’t come,” Mr Morrison told reporters.
The people smuggling boat traffic has all but stopped in the past five years with the government promising that any refugees who arrive on Australian shores by boat will never be allowed to settle there.
