Kevin Rudd has dismissed as "very expensive" a coalition plan to reinstate the so-called Pacific Solution for processing asylum seekers.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott announced on Thursday a coalition government would negotiate with other countries to process offshore the claims of asylum seekers, a move the coalition says will stem a "tsunami" of unauthorised boat arrivals.
The previous Howard government used Nauru and Manus Island for what Mr Rudd described as a stopover for six to 12 months before 70 per cent of asylum seekers were accepted to Australia.
