Labour will prioritise resettling refugees – Opposition leader Bill Shorten

Labor will priorities finding other countries to resettle people currently on Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

Labor leader Bill Shorten Source: AAP

The federal opposition leader has reiterated Labor's priority to resettle refugees and not leave them in offshore processing centres indefinitely.

Mr Shorten says 1200 people drowned trying to make their way to Australia by boat and Labor does not support any policy that would give way for people smugglers to be in business.

But he's told the ABC Labor will priorities finding other countries to resettle people currently on Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

How ever Mr Bill Shorten has rejected criticism that Australia is racist and Islamaphobic for detaining asylum seekers in offshore detention