Australia's border protection policies were back in focus on Sunday after opposition leader Anthony Albanese seemed to suggest there had been a change to the Labor party's long-term position to oppose temporary protection visas (TPVs).
TPVs are issued to asylum seekers who arrive in Australia without a visa and are subsequently found to be owed protection. They can last for up to three years, and the holders of these visas are allowed to work and have access to Medicare.
When asked at a press conference in Cairns on Sunday if he supported temporary protection visas, Mr Albanese replied "yes".
A short time later, the Labor leader made an impromptu address to media to clarify the opposition's stance on TPVs for asylum seekers, saying he didn't support them.
"Earlier on, I heard half the question," Mr Albanese said. "Labor’s policy is to support Operation Sovereign Borders. We support offshore processing, we support resettlement in third countries. We don’t support temporary protection visas."
On Thursday, if Labor wins the election, which would mean offshore detention would be unnecessary.
"We will turn boats back. Turning boats back means that you don't need offshore detention," he said on Thursday morning.
However, he later clarified his stance by saying the Labor government would still keep the option of offshore detention centres.
"[We haven't seen people put in] offshore detention in recent times because the boats have been turned back. It's been [an] effective [policy]," Mr Albanese said.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison seized the opportunity to spruik his party's border protection policy, which he claimed Labor had never supported or understood.
Mr Morrison was instrumental in designing the country’s notoriously harsh Operation Sovereign Borders policy in 2013 when he was immigration minister in the Abbott government.
"I wrote [Operation Sovereign Borders] and I implemented it and it worked," Mr Morrison told reporters on Sunday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used a gaffe by Anthony Albanese to attack Labor over their policy on asylum seekers. Source: AAP / MICK TSIKAS/AAPIMAGE
"All three strands are needed to ensure we have a strong border protection policy," he said.
"And I do know that the Labor Party have never believed in it. They have never supported it. They have never understood it - and that's why they can't be trusted to keep it."
The prime minister famously once had a laser-cut block of metal in the shape of an Asian fishing boat in his office that displayed the words: "I stopped these".
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has a laser-cut block of metal in the shape of an Asian fishing boat displaying the words: "I stopped these" to celebrate his achievements when he was immigration minister. Source: AAP / LUKAS COCH/AAPIMAGE
He said the key issue lies in politicising an issue that affects the people who are forced to return to countries where they risked persecution.
"What we see is a lot of crocodile tears from political leaders in Australia saying, 'we don't want people to risk their lives at sea trying to enter Australian territory," he said.
"But there's no evidence that either of the major political parties cares at all about exactly the same people in other situations, during the various points in their journey towards Australia."
Mr Power said he was not surprised by Mr Albanese's stance on border protection, as it has remained relatively unchanged since 2013 when former prime minister Kevin Rudd introduced the policy. It was later affirmed in 2015 by the Labor Party when it was in opposition.
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