Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek has been ambushed by an activist protesting the federal government's treatment of almost 600 refugees and asylum seekers holed up in the now-defunct Manus Island detention centre.
The Mums 4 Refugees activist interrupted Ms Plibersek as she prepared to speak with reporters in Sydney on Friday.
"You need to make a statement about the men on Manus Island ... there are people that are going to die, Tanya," the woman said in Redfern.
"You are the deputy leader, you need to speak about what is happening to these men.
"It's partly your (former Labor) government'a fault they are even there in the first place."
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Ms Plibersek defended the ALP - which reopened offshore detention centres on Manus and Nauru in late 2012 - telling the woman they were "never meant to be places of indefinite detention".
