Dutton defends refugee comments

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has defended his comments on refugees on radio in Sydney.

Speaking to 2GB's Ray Hadley he said the government needed to be 'honest enough' to have discussions about Australia's refugee intake.
'I'm not going to stand back from what I said, I believe in what I said.'
Mr Dutton pointed to the terror attacks in France and Belgium, saying border security 'is a bigger issue at this election than it's ever been'.
Mr Dutton did not repeat his earlier claim that refugees would take Australian jobs.
'Refugees contribute a lot, there are many success stories, we celebrate all of that but we need to be honest about the fact that many people come here with no English skills,' he said.
One-in-two will have never been in paid work, Mr Dutton said.
'It's not a reflection on people we are bringing in now but we have to recognise facts that people come here without formal education and without skills and we provide funding to improve their skills and that's a good thing,' he said.

The minister accused Labor of plucking a number out of thin air with its plan to increase the refugee intake to 27,000 a year and was scathing of the Greens policy to take 50,000.
The coalition supports an increase from 13,750 now to 18,750 by 2018/19.
Mr Dutton said the opposition hadn't done enough homework to spell out how it would provide resettlement services.
Resettlement costs would increase to $1 billion under Labor and $7 billion under the Greens plan, Mr Dutton said.
Cabinet minister Josh Frydenberg told Sky News refugee intake numbers spoke for themselves.
They showed 44 per cent of females and 33 per cent of males come without an understanding or comprehension of spoken English.
One-in-six had never been to school.
'It's through no fault of their own and we in Australia have given them a better life,' Mr Frydenberg said.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie on Thursday called for Mr Dutton to resign immediately or be sacked for his 'disgusting' comments.
Mr Dutton joked that Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called for him to resign twice a week.