Offshore processing and border protection

Seeking asylum is a human right that provides persecuted and vulnerable people a route to safety and long-term security to live to their fullest human potential.  

Labor believes Australia can have secure borders while being compassionate.  

Regional offshore processing was never meant to be indefinite detention. 

For almost a decade, this tired Liberal Government has made regional processing an ongoing form of cruelty, with people left to languish for years without a durable solution. 

People on Nauru and PNG would most likely all have a durable solution by now, had this Liberal Government not cancelled the resettlement agreement struck by Julia Gilliard and the then New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

For almost a decade, Labor has called on Mr Morrison to act but only on the eve of an election does he decide to take up the New Zealand offer.

An Albanese Labor Government will maintain our strong border security measures without losing our humanity.

The policies Labor took to the 2019 election were welcomed by the asylum seeker and refugee groups.   

At the ALP National Conference, we reconfirmed our commitment to:  

  • increase our refuge intake to 27,000, 
  • set up a community sponsorship program that works with an additional 5,000 places, 
  • convert temporary protection visa holders to permanent protection visas, 
  • accept the New Zealand resettlement offer, and 
  • support regional resettlement through the UNHCR.