Australians are turning to the Indonesian government and media for information on asylum seekers because the Abbott government is being so secretive, Labor says.
Deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek says the government's tow back the boats policy is "in tatters" after Immigration Minister Scott Morrison admitted the Indonesian government had rejected two attempts to turn back asylum seeker boats.
"Only weeks into the term of the new government, you have the Indonesian government releasing more information about Australian government policy than the Australian government," she said.
"What does it say about our relationship with Indonesia today?"
Opposition frontbencher Penny Wong labelled the situation absurd.
"Australians are looking to the Jakarta Post to get information about what their government is doing," she told the ABC.
"They are a government that does not want to tell Australians what they are doing."
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