The federal opposition has rejected suggestions by US diplomats that it viewed asylum seekers as a golden political point-scoring opportunity.
Secret US embassy cables, obtained by Wikileaks, reportedly reveal concerns that both the Coalition and Labor were playing partisan politics with the issue.
One cable says an unnamed "key Liberal Party strategist" told US diplomats in November 2009 that the issue of asylum seekers was "fantastic" for the Coalition and "the more boats that come the better", Fairfax newspapers said.
Acting opposition leader Julie Bishop dismissed the report, noting that the information had come from an unknown source.
"It's certainly nothing I have ever heard said in Coalition ranks ... at any time," she told ABC Television.
"I've never heard that sentiment". The cable also criticised former prime minister Kevin Rudd's handling of the asylum seekers, after promising a more humane approach at the 2007 election.
The cable reports that a close adviser to the former prime minister had failed to persuade him to put the issue into perspective.
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