By Shari Miller PUBLISHED: 09:15 EST, 13 August 2012 | UPDATED: 09:16 EST, 13 August 2012 U-turn: Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government is now backing detention camps for asylum seekers, despite previously opposing the idea Australia plans to deport asylum seekers to detention camps in the poorer nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru. The proposal is a U-turn for the ruling Labour party, which previously argued that Australian-funded detention camps were a waste of money that would fail to deter new arrivals. But in the face of 'too many lives being lost' in rickety boats, prime minister Julia Gillard said her government has accepted recommendations to reopen camps established ten years ago by a conservative administration.
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Expert panel recommends building new camps in poorer nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru
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Proposal is U-turn for government, which previously said camps were a waste of money
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Prime Minister concerned 'too many lives are lost' as  asylum seekers travel on rickety boats to country
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More than 7,000 people have so far reached the Australian Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island this year
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Amnesty International said proposal was a major setback for refugee policy
happening at sea as people attempt dangerous journeys to @placeholder, too