Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on November 5 rejected an offer from New Zealand’s new prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, for her country to resettle up to 150 asylum-seekers detained for years on Manus and Nauru.

Ardern, meeting with Turnbull at Kirribilli House in Sydney, repeated her country’s offer to resettle 150 refugees. Some 600 refugees were camped out at Manus Regional Processing Centre, surviving on smuggled-in food and and rainwater after it was closed on October 31, in what critics have dubbed a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

“It was a very genuine offer,” Ardern told reporters on Sunday. “As I have said in New Zealand, we of course do not have the circumstances that Australia is operating under, but we also cannot ignore the human face of what Australia is doing as well.”

But Turnbull talked tough on immigration, saying that the Labor Party weakened Australia’s policies after taking office in 2007, leading to 50,000 unlawful arrivals and 1200 deaths at sea.

“Australia’s immigration policy was being outsourced to people smugglers, the worst of the worst criminals. There were 8,000 children in detention at one point. It was a catastrophe.”

Under the tougher policies of the coalition, Turnbull said, it’s been over 1,000 days since a boatload of refugees attempted to come to Australia.

He said Australia’s priority was to resettle the remaining refugees in Manuas and Naura in the United States as part of a deal struck with then President Barack Obama.

At their joint press conference on Sunday, Ardern said New Zealand’s offer was still on the table and being “actively considered” by Australian officials. But Turnbull said, “We’re not taking it up at this time.”

Ardern said New Zealand would not make its offer directly to Papua New Guineau. Credit: Facebook/The PMO via Storyful