Tony Abbott: Asylum seekers on 'paradise island' Nauru are well looked after

As pressure mounts on the Morrison government to remove children and their families from Nauru, Tony Abbott insists "it's no hell hole" and is actually a "pleasant island".

As the opposition, advocates, and some coalition MPs push for the sick to be brought here, the former prime minister said health services were better there than in some parts of regional Australia.

"They are very well looked after on Nauru," Mr Abbott told Sydney's 2GB.

Up to 50 children are still on the island, and the government has been slowly removing those who need urgent medical treatment and assessment.

But it is resisting Labor calls to amend legislation that would stop those on Manus Island and Nauru ever coming to Australia, from any third country.

Labor wants the Bill, stalled in the senate for two years, to be amended, to only impose a life ban on those re-settled in New Zealand.

Mr Abbott today defended conditions and the lifestyle on the Pacific island.

"It's no hell hole," he said.

"If you like living in the tropics, it's a very, very, pleasant island."

Mr Abbott said the majority of asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru would be "economic migrants".

"Of course kids off Nauru is a great slogan," he said.

"But it's a dreadful guide for policy.

"If we're not allowed to have kids on Nauru, just bring some kids with you, and (you) automatically get to Australia."