Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, provoked outrage among health campaigners and human rights activists today by suggesting that people who are HIV positive should be banned from settling in Australia.

When asked by a radio interviewer whether immigrants who have the condition should be allowed to enter and live in Australia, he said: "My initial reaction is no."

The Prime Minister added: "There maybe some humanitarian considerations that could temper that in certain cases but prima facia - no." He went on to say that he would take "more counsel" on the issue.

Mr Howard's comments are at odds with official Australian Government policy on the entry of HIV-positive people.

Under current rules publicised by the Department of Immigration, a positive HIV test result does not necessarily lead to the denial of an entry visa to Australia.

The department, which requires all prospective migrants aged 15 and over to have an HIV/Aids test, states on its website that the main consideration in assessing immigration applications by HIV-positive people is the likely costs of their health care to taxpayers.

But Mr Howard said today that his Government is to investigate tightening the entry rules for those carrying the condition. "I think we should have the most stringent possible conditions in relation to that nationwide. I know the Health Minister is examining ways of tightening things up," he said.

Mr Howard said that government policy already banned people with tuberculosis from moving to Australia which was why he supported the ban being extended to HIV-positive people.

A spokesman for Australia's HIV/Aids Legal Centre said the Prime Minister was mistaken to have linked HIV and tuberculosis. The spokesman said tuberculosis sufferers were subject to more stringent entry conditions because their disease was more easily passed on to others than HIV.

The centre suggested that Mr Howard should be prosecuted for vilifying HIV sufferers.

"Although immigration law is not subject to discrimination legislation, Mr Howard's comments are. The Prime Minister should be investigated for making comments capable of amounting to vilification," the centre's spokesman said.

It appears that Mr Howard was also mistaken to have suggested Australia already automatically excludes potential migrants who suffer from tuberculosis. Sufferers are allowed to enter Australia if their tuberculosis is found to be "non-active".

Mr Howard's views on HIV follow those expressed by the former Queensland far-right MP, Mrs Pauline Hanson, who is seeking to re-enter Parliament in this year's general election, expected to be held in October or November.

Last December, Mrs Hanson said: "We're bringing people in from South Africa at the moment. There's a huge amount coming into Australia who have diseases, they've got Aids. They are of no benefit to this country whatsoever, they'll never be able to work."

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