Labor Responds To Liberals' Proposed Asylum Seeker Ban; Shorten Calls The Move "Ridiculous"

Bill Shorten hasn't ruled out the possibility of passing Malcolm Turnbull's proposed asylum seeker ban, though he has called it "ridiculous".

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has accused Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of pandering towards extremists like Pauline Hanson, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The proposal to ban all asylum seekers from ever entering the country, regardless of whether they have proven refugee status, is stoking a great deal of controversy.

In order for the bill to be passed, the Liberals will need the support of Labor. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Turnbull have commenced negotiations with crossbench senators in hopes of wooing them over, in case Labor attempts to block the policy.

Shorten has since spoken out: "It seems ridiculous to me that a genuine refugee who settles in the US or Canada and becomes a US or Canadian citizen is banned from visiting Australia as a tourist, businessman or businesswoman 40 years down the track."

Former immigration minister Scott Morrison has labelled Shorten as being soft on issues of border control and stopping the boats. "This bloke is weak," he told Sydney Radio station 2GB.

If Labor opposes the indefinite and unsafe detention of refugees, it must commit to legislating against it. https://t.co/FO9ZyUcAcH #auspol

— Senthorun Raj (@senthorun) October 31, 2016

Once again, refugees and asylum seekers have become a wedge issue for the Labor party. Will be interesting to see how this unfolds, given both party's commitment to bipartisanship.

Meanwhile, Turnbull has been depicted as being held captive by Pauline Hanson's One Nation party and the far-right factions of the Liberal party.

"He's earning the praise of Pauline Hanson - I hope he's proud of that," Shorten said. "The old Malcolm Turnbull would never have proposed this to keep the extremists in his party happy."

Despite Labor MPs having blasted the policy as being "crude" and "cruel," Shorten has left room to support the proposal. He has insisted that Labor will need more information to review the legislation.

Though it seems that even the Liberal party are somewhat confused about the proposed policy...

Appearing on ABC's Q&A last night, Health Minister Sussan Ley said "no" when asked a question about whether refugees currently residing in Australia on bridging visas will be affected by the ban.

Host Tony Jones called her out for directly contradicting what Dutton's office had disclosed to the ABC.

When asked the same question, Dutton's representatives said the answer is "yes," though it would be a "relatively small number" of people affected.

Photo: Sky News