A growing number of voters would trust opposition leader Bill Shorten to “handle the asylum-seeker issue” but more still prefer the Turnbull government’s approach, according to the latest Newspoll.
The poll asked 1,600 Australians which leader would do a better job managing refugee policy.
Malcolm Turnbull still leads Bill Shorten 47 per cent to 30 per cent, with 23 per cent undecided. But the gap has narrowed since the News Corp poll asked the same question in December last year, when Mr Turnbull led Mr Shorten 52 to 28.
Around 26 per cent said Labor would “improve” the policy, while 37 per cent said Labor would “open the floodgates” to refugees.
Labor supports the current regime of offshore processing on Manus Island and Nauru, which began under the previous Labor government.
But Mr Shorten has called on the government to accept New Zealand’s offer to settle some refugees currently held in Australian-run centres, similar to the existing deal with the United States.
Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton says sending people to New Zealand is the “wrong decision” as it could be sold by people smugglers as a potential backdoor to Australia.
Mr Turnbull has thanked New Zealand for the offer and suggested it could be “reconsidered” once the United States had settled the refugees it agreed to take – up to 1,250 people.
The Coalition has been stressing the fact around 50,000 asylum seekers came by boat under the Rudd and Gillard governments, with many still living in Australia on temporary visas.
“The Labor Party has learned nothing at all from the Rudd and Gillard years. Look what's happening in Europe at the moment where hundreds of thousands of people are trying to make their way across the Mediterranean,” Mr Dutton told parliament.
“If you think that can't happen in this country again, look no further than Labor's past record in government.”
