The Uniting Church has said the Federal Government's change to the law governing asylum seekers shows it lacks moral courage.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, has denied the decision to process all asylum seekers arriving by boat offshore is a concession to Indonesia.
It has raised strong objections to the granting of temporary protection to 42 boatpeople from the province of Papua.
The Uniting Church's President, Dean Drayton, said he can't see how Australia can meet its international obligations under the new legislation.
"The commitment to human rights by our government has been demonstrated, at best, to run a poor second to foreign policy considerations," he said.
"In doing so, we're denying our international responsibilities."