Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has declared it is clear that a combination of regional resettlement, offshore processing and turning back boats was defeating people smugglers.
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“We’ve looked at this very closely, we’ve read expert reports about what is happening in an industry that’s being profoundly transformed at the moment”, Mr Butler said.
Bill Shorten has gambled his leadership on asylum seeker policy, and will rely on members of the left faction such as Deputy Leader Tanya Plibersek and Senator Penny Wong to support him.
He admitted the Coalition’s take on the issue appeared to be working.
“I can no longer escape the conclusion that Labor, if we form a government, needs to have all the options on the table”, he said.
‘It’s not easy, though, because it involves the admission, I think, that mistakes were made when Labor was last in government.’.
But the applause came with a swipe, as the prime minister told Labor that had the party implemented the policy in government hundreds of lives could have been saved.
‘I believe, provided it can be done safely, a future Labor government must have the option to undertake turn-backs, ‘ Marles wrote. At the same time, it declared that Shorten “has not done enough to revise Labor’s policies”.
Former Labor MP Steve Gibbons urged Labor not to give in to a racist minority.
Labor supporters also aired their displeasure over social media, with some suggesting they would lose formerly staunch members of the party.
Labor frontbencher Stephen Conroy has acknowledged Mr Shorten will face a close contest when he asks for support for the turnback policy.
DODGING questions about his trustworthiness after being shown in an ABC documentary aiding the overthrow of previous prime ministers, Mr Shorten took credit for ending the disunity in his party.
The turn-back turnaround has been discussed in shadow cabinet but shadow ministers are not bound to follow it. On the conference floor they are delegates and not front benchers and are free to vote as they see fit.
The matter is only likely to go to a vote if those opposed to the policy put forward a specific ban on turn-backs, which the group Labor For Refugees has flagged doing.
The truth is that the deaths at sea arose directly from the underlying “border protection” regime of barring entry to all but a relative handful of refugees a year, giving the vast majority no alternative but to flee via perilous voyages.
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It also reveals the Labor leader’s assessment that tough climate policy is required if the economy is to be restructured and his party is to present itself as the only mainstream alternative for voters worried about global warming.
