Kirsty Needham – East Timorese and Australian officials will develop jointly a proposal for a refugee processing centre to be put to both governments by early 2011, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says.

After talks with President Jose Ramos-Horta and key cabinet ministers in Dili, Mr Bowen said yesterday a working group would meet next month to develop a plan that could be put to the Bali Process, the regional group of nations formed to combat people smuggling.

Any centre, if approved, would be there for a "substantial" amount of time, Mr Bowen said.

Mr Ramos-Horta said he had been referring to the asylum seekers as "temporary", and not the processing centre, in his comments a day earlier.

Mr Bowen said Mr Ramos-Horta had assured him in the meeting he was "an advocate", and there was interest in the centre at senior levels of government. "There was a concern to make sure it was a genuine regional approach, and not just an agreement between Australia and Timor-Leste."

Mr Ramos-Horta said he would need to take a proposal to the Prime Minister and key parliamentary committees, and explain it to the East Timorese people. "If we are to agree with it, we would want our people to embrace it and not [be] something that they would feel that was imposed on them ... The people who come to Timor-Leste would have to feel welcome," he said.

A partial vote by the East Timor Parliament had earlier knocked back accepting a refugee centre.

Mr Bowen met opposition leader Mari Alkatiri and a Fretilin delegation. "Dr Alkatiri made it clear that his organisation had the view that there would be considerable issues to work through if this were to proceed. But he also made the point very strongly that he thought the dialogue should continue," Mr Bowen said.

He had not discussed a price but had told the East Timorese "there would need to be clear benefits for Timor Leste in terms of economic development and capacity development".

This could include East Timorese staff being trained to work in any centre, and educational or medical facilities being made available to the broader population, he said.

Mr Bowen said it was "open for discussion as to whether [a centre] would be indefinite or open for a substantial period, be that 10, 15, 20, 30 years".

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said there was still no timetable or proposal for a regional centre and "the government has just agreed to talk more".

Mr Bowen travelled to Indonesia last night. He said he wanted a deal to be finalised within this term of government.