Asylum seekers attempting to arrive in Australia by boat would be handballed to third-party countries under a future Labor government determined to end indefinite offshore detention.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said his party would "put life" back into regional resettlement in an effort to empty Australia's immigration camps on Manus Island and Nauru.
"Indefinite detention shouldn't be the outcome of stopping the people smugglers," he told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.
Labor is preparing to debate offshore detention and the treatment of asylum seekers at its national conference in July.
The draft party platform calls on a Labor government to "strive to ensure (detention) is for no longer than 90 days" and to seek third-country resettlement deals.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and senior coalition figures have suggested supporting such a limit would be "rolling out the welcome mat to the people smugglers".
Mr Shorten insisted his party would not "start the boats again" or put people smugglers back into business.
"But there is legitimate concern right across the community saying that this government seems to treat the only alternative to stopping the boats (as) having people in indefinite detention on Manus and Nauru," he said.
"We don't think you have to be that tough or that cruel in order to get the policy outcomes you want."
The Labor leader said accepting an offer from New Zealand would help alleviate some of the problems.
