Misha Coleman, Executive Officer of the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce, has been in discussions with the ALP over its asylum seeker policy, and attended the Fringe program held alongside the conference where advocates and activists can put their case.
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After a fraught few days and a highly emotional debate at Labor’s national conference, opposition leader Bill Shorten has secured the right to turn back asylum seeker boats if he becomes prime minister.
But in a sign of the political sensitivities of climate policy, the weekend announcement will be accompanied by a restated commitment that Labor will never again introduce a fixed carbon price. But its success will depend on coalition MPs having a free vote.
Currently, government MPs must vote against marriage equality, meaning a bill would have no chance of passing the Australian parliament.
But a greater effect would be that it would jeopardise any prospect of Abbott supporting a free vote among Coalition MPs.
The policy shift is designed to recover green support, sharpen the contrast with Prime Minister Tony Abbott over climate change and make global warming the defining battleground of the next federal election.
Victorian Labor MP Andrew Giles, who moved the motion, said he regarded turn-backs as inherently unsafe and contrary to Australia’s worldwide obligations.
She predicted that the numbers would be “very tight” if Rainbow Labor backed a binding vote.
In a speech some saw as an election campaign kick-starter, Mr Shorten said Queensland and Victoria’s Labor election victories would go a long way towards making the Abbott Government Australia’s first one-termer in 86 years.
“The Australian Labor Party must be congratulated for taking such strong leadership and recognising the enormous role that renewable energy can play in Australia’s future, both in terms of dealing with the challenge of climate change and creating economic opportunities”, said CEC Chief Executive Kane Thornton.
“I thought Labor was once the party of workers but now they are happy to sacrifice regional jobs to chase latte-sipping “green” votes in the inner city”, she said.
“I remain absolutely committed to these changes, to rebuilding Labor, so rank and file get a more meaningful say, so we are more connected and in tune with modern Australia”.
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Party members in NSW already have a 100 per cent say in lower house preselections.
