Morrison accused of vilifying asylum seekers

A federal Liberal backbencher has accused his own party of vilifying asylum seekers.

Victorian MP Russell Broadbent made the comments after a colleague, Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison, called for behaviour protocols for those released into the community.

Mr Morrison says police should be notified of where asylum-seekers are living in the community, and there should be strict guidelines for the behaviour of those on bridging visas

It comes after a Sri Lankan asylum seeker on a bridging visa was charged following allegations he sexually assaulted a female student at Macquarie University in Sydney.

Mr Broadbent says the rule of law should apply to all people equally, and asylum seekers should not be set apart.

Labor government minister Peter Garrett has told Sky News the Coalition's harsh attitude towards refugees deserves criticism.

"What Russell Broadbent has done today is to basically expose Scott Morrison for his major dog whistle, which is really deserving of fair dinkum condemnation. And of course Mr Broadbent is a member of the Liberal party. He sits on the backbench, he's taken an interest in these issues, and I think he's made it perfectly clear that these views that have been expressed by Mr Morrison are totally unpalatable and unacceptable."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has dismissed the cristicism from Liberal backbencher Russell Broadbent over calls to freeze the community detention program for asylum seekers.

Mr Abbott says any and all measures need to be taken to stop people coming to Australia by boat.

"Look I think it's very important that we try to ensure that the boats are stopped. The only way to ensure that we don't have the sorts of issues that Scott was highlighting is to stop the boats."

Senior Liberal MP Eric Abetz says the plan proposed by Scott Morrison would help build a cohesive society.

"I would have thought that it would be a good idea to say that somebody's moving next door to you, that might not be able to have all the English language skills you might have normally have expected or they come from a traumatised background," he said.

Scott Morrison's comments have triggered a move by the Australian Greens to introduce a motion in the Senate today calling on all political parties to reject the vilification of refugees and asylum seekers.

Sarah Hanson-Young has condemned Mr Morrison's comments and urged all members of parliament to speak out against him.

"If we don't stand up in our chambers of parliament to say very clearly that we do not accept the vilification of people based upon their circumstance, their race and what country they come from, then we shouldn't be here. If we as parliamentarians can not say that vilification is unacceptable, then we don't deserve to be in parliament."

Labor Senator Doug Cameron says he's been unimpressed with Mr Morrison's comments.

"The dog whistle you have just seen is the worst politics I have witnessed for many years in this parliament," he said, adding there was no evidence refugees or asylum seekers in Australia were criminals.

Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells says it's important people respect the rules when they come to Australia.

"They (migrants) expect other people who come here to abide by the rules," she said.

But Liberal MP Russell Broadbent said there should never be special categories of laws for different categories of people.

"This kind of vilification of asylum seekers is unacceptable in this nation," he told Fairfax Media.