Labor will restart the boats, refugee action group says

A pro-refugee group within the ALP says an Albanese government should make getting 15,000 people waiting to board boats in Indonesia to Australia a top priority.

A pro-refugees ginger group within the ALP that has previously met with Kristina Keneally has predicted “if Labor is elected the boats will start again,” casting further doubt on Labor’s border protection qualifications.

The Labor for Refugees group, which has more than 8000 Facebook followers, posted on the social media site this week saying; “You can bet if Labor is elected the boats will start again”.

“There are over 15,000 people in Indonesia waiting to get to Australia. The important thing is that an incoming Labor (government) needs to get to these people first before anyone else and stop them needing to get on boats.”

The group added: “If you have been following Labor Policy changes in the last decade, the 2018 National Conference included provisions for Labor to do this.”

In 2018, the federal Labor conference committed to increasing community sponsored refugee intake by 5000.

A post from the group Labor for Refugees claiming an Albanese government would restart the boats.

Anthony Albanese’s border policy has been heavily scrutinised. Picture: Toby Zerna

While Labor leader Anthony Albanese has suffered a number of gaffes on the stump regarding the issue of boat turnbacks and temporary protection visas, it has also emerged that Ms Keneally, who also serves as home affairs shadow minister, has met with Labor for Refugees.

In 2019, Ms Keneally posted about a meeting she had with the group saying: “Labor for Refugees are committed to fighting for the rights of refugees like standing up against (Peter) Dutton’s unfair cuts to … payments and condemning the (government’s) plan to repeal Medevac.”

Ms Keneally offered the group cautious support in the post saying: “While we may not agree on everything, I thank them for their fierce advocacy & meeting me today.”

Among the demands of Labor for Refugees include the abolition of Temporary Protection Visas, ending any immigration detention over 90 days, and increasing Australia’s humanitarian intake to 27,000 a year.

Originally published as Labor will restart the boats, refugee action group says