Tanya Plibersek's view on refugees and migrants is shaped by a deeply personal experience, but that doesn't mean the deputy Labor leader will be soft on asylum-seeker policy.
Former foreign minister Bob Carr has warned Labor it faces years in opposition if it doesn't match the coalition's hardline border protection measures.
He has told his Right faction colleagues there should be no "daylight" between the ALP and the Abbott government on asylum seekers.
"If you want to embrace the Greens-Left-Fairfax-ABC position, you are going to go backwards at the next election," he said, according to Labor sources quoted by The West Australian.
Ms Plibersek, the daughter of Slovenian migrants, says her family's experience has given her a degree of compassion on the red-hot issue.
"I guess the difference with my parents was that they waited in refugee camps in Austria and Italy and they were offered a choice between Canada and Australia," she told ABC radio on Tuesday.
A balanced policy approach was needed to ensure asylum seekers do not take up dangerous travel options.
Allowing asylum seekers to get on a boat in Indonesia and make a dangerous journey to Australia was not the next best way to have a compassionate approach, Ms Plibersek said.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has flagged a more compassionate Labor approach to the refugee issue.
Former immigration minister Brendan O'Connor said he didn't want to see the vilification of people who were genuinely seeking asylum.
"We cannot allow people to continue to die at sea," he told Sky News.
"I'm very sensitive to the difficult issues this presents. People want to see compassion."
Parliamentary secretary Simon Birmingham said Senator Carr was offering "sage advice" to Labor.
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