Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected claims of secrecy surrounding a $400 million agreement with Nauru to resettle hundreds of non-citizens, despite refusing to reveal details about the deal’s payments and timeframe. As we previously reported, the government quietly announced the arrangement late on Friday without disclosing its cost or terms. Under the agreement, about 280 members of the so-called NZYQ cohort; non-citizens living in Australia whose visas were cancelled on character grounds, will be transferred to the Pacific nation. Also Read: Australia to pay Nauru $408m for resett

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected claims of secrecy surrounding a $400 million agreement with Nauru to resettle hundreds of non-citizens, despite refusing to reveal details about the deal’s payments and timeframe. As we previously reported, the government quietly announced the arrangement late on Friday without disclosing its cost or terms. Under the agreement, about 280 members of the so-called NZYQ cohort; non-citizens living in Australia whose visas were cancelled on character grounds, will be transferred to the Pacific nation.

Also Read:Australia to pay Nauru $408m for resettlement of high court immigration cohort

According to

The Guardian

, Albanese insisted on Monday the plan was “hardly secret,” saying: “These are people who do not have a legitimate reason to stay in Australia.” He declined to clarify how and when the funds would be provided to Nauru, or how long the deal would run. The deal has drawn criticism from human rights lawyers, refugee advocates and the Greens, who condemned it as “discriminatory, disgraceful and dangerous.” They have raised questions about whether there are guarantees around the safety and freedom of the cohort once in Nauru. One federal Labor MP cited by

The

Guardian

, speaking anonymously, admitted unease with the plan: “I feel a little uncomfortable with it, but I guess the government is really trying to take the politics away and get rid of a problem that’s been there for a long time.” Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite also said it would be up to Nauru to decide whether the group could live freely or under restrictions. “I understand that possibly they can live in the community over there. It’ll be a matter for the Nauruan government,” he told

Sky News

. Nauru announced on Sunday the $400m would be invested into its sovereign wealth vehicle, the Nauru Intergenerational Trust Fund, established in 2015. President David Adeang said the funding would “support Nauru’s long-term economic resilience” and scale in line with the number of arrivals. Environment Minister Murray Watt confirmed that Nauru had agreed to accept a “substantial number” of the cohort gradually rather than in “one hit.” He said the approach would allow the island to establish systems to manage increasing numbers over time. The deal follows a February announcement by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke that three members of the cohort, including a convicted murderer, would be transferred to Nauru. All three have since launched appeals against deportation, after being found not to be refugees and not owed protection. During Senate estimates earlier this year, home affairs officials confirmed Nauru had discretion over living arrangements for the men, including possible use of former regional processing centres. They said Australia’s “non-negotiables” included freedom of movement and the principle of non

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refoulement, which prevents returning individuals to countries where they face serious harm. The group takes its name from the High Court’s 2023 ruling in favour of “NZYQ,” a stateless Rohingya man convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl in Australia. The court found his indefinite detention unlawful after no country agreed to resettle him, prompting the release of more than 140 non-citizens with serious criminal convictions.  

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