10 Jun 2002

Nauru says Australia asylum policy a Pacific nightmare

8:44 am on 10 June 2002

The president of Nauru says Australia's so-called Pacific solution to its problem of asylum-seekers has become a Pacific nightmare.

Nauru last year agreed to help the Australian government by accepting more than a thousand asylum-seekers for processing in return for millions of dollars in aid.

But Nauru's president Rene Harris says the tiny island hasn't got half of what was promised.

"And I've got parliament due on Thursday and it would be nice if I could tell them something, but I haven't got much to say. Tampa won it for them at the last election and I have an election coming up in ten months time and I'm not riding too well."

Nauru's president Rene Harris.