Refugee advocate scorns Labor’s promises in Australia

‘A Labor government will support immigration, we will support refugees and we will not reopen the lethal seaway between Indonesia and Christmas Island, ‘ Mr Shorten said.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has pledged to legalise same-sex marriage within the first 100 days of a Labor government taking office.

Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles says a newly elected Labor government would quickly find its boat policy tested by people smugglers seeking to resume their trade.

Here’s a few of Shorten’s tweets from the ALP National Conference.

Australian Labor leader Bill Shorten faces a bruising battle at the party’s national conference over his determination to include turning back the boats in the party’s asylum seeker policy.

The compromise was moved by leader Bill Shorten and seconded by deputy Tanya Plibersek.

“What the Labor Party does with this resolution is we lay down the challenge to Mr Abbott and his Liberals – please give your Members of Parliament a free vote so we can make marriage equality a reality now”, he said.

“We urge supporters of marriage equality in the Coalition to carry the issue forward in their party room and we urge the Prime Minister to stick to his pre-election commitment of allowing the party room to debate a free vote”.

Former senator Louise Pratt says the Rainbow Labor coalition supporting marriage equality is overwhelmingly behind a binding vote, but could be prepared to compromise for tactical reasons to maximise the prospect of a free vote in this Parliament.

It also reveals the Labor leader’s assessment that tough climate policy is required if the economy is to be restructured and his party is to present itself as the only mainstream alternative for voters anxious about global warming.

After a standing ovation for her as she held back tears, Labor Senator Penny Wong ended the 2015 Labor Conference in Melbourne yesterday with an impassioned speech for the advance of LGBTI rights in Australia.

A Labor insider conceded a stronger renewables sector would “relieve pressure” for an aggressive ETS, clearing the way for a “soft start” rather than the politically disastrous high-fixed-price approach adopted in 2012.