Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has accused asylum seekers and refugees of making false abuse allegations and self-immolating in order to get to Australia.
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Speaking after more than 2000 incident reports of abuse and self-harm among asylum seekers and refugees in Australian immigration detention centres on Nauru were leaked to Guardian Australia this week, Mr Dutton sought to down play the information but said he would not tolerate any sexual abuse reports.
"If a mother or father smacks their child in the detention centre, or on Nauru, that is reported by the guards as an incident report," he told 2GB radio.
"That's not an allegation of sexual assault. People can have their own views about discipline of children, if there is movement of children or if a child is having problems at the Nauru school and doesn't want to go to school, that forms the basis of an incident report."
The leaked documents reveal details of life in Australia's offshore detention network, including violent attacks, self-harm, neglect and sexual assault.
The reports cover incidents between May 2013 and October last year.
"I have been made aware of some incidents that have been reported - false allegations of sexual assault - because in the end, people have paid money to people smugglers and they want to come to our country," Mr Dutton said.
"They've been told if they've sought to come here by boat, they won't be settling.
"Some people have even gone to the extent of self-harming, and people have self-immolated in an effort to get to Australia and certainly some have made false allegations in an attempt to get to Australia."
Mr Dutton said some people were motivated to make false complaints.
"We have had instances where people have self-harmed in an effort to get to Australia," he said.
The comments came during a weekly interview with host Ray Hadley.
Mr Dutton was asked about the leak of incident reports after questions on this week's census failure, enterprise bargaining with Australian Border Force staff, incoming One Nation senator Pauline Hanson's views, a dinner for former deputy prime minister Warren Truss and the NSW government's planned ban on greyhound racing.
Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young described the comments as "abhorrent".
"To attack a child for telling an adult - someone they should trust - that they've been abused is unthinkable," Senator Hanson-Young said.
Save the Children policy director Mat Tinkler accused Mr Dutton of "a blatant attempt to divert attention from the government's failure to find an appropriate, workable and humane resettlement solution".
"Mr Dutton is once again blaming the victims, who in many cases happen to be vulnerable children," he said in a statement.
"The real driver of the misery and self-harm being observed among refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru, along with Manus Island, is the complete absence of hope created by the effective indefinite detention they have endured, with no real sense that they will be afford a chance to move on with their lives."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten avoided calls for a royal commission into Australia's off-shore detention system, instead calling for an independent child advocate.
"The fact of the matter is that this government, with the evidence in front of it as it's been revealed . . . needs to change the way it administers its activities in detention centres."
He said Labor would cooperate with the government to improve offshore detention.
