The ALP has called for asylum seekers to continue to be sent to Manus Island. Shadow Immigration Minister Richard Marles has praised Manus Island as playing a vital role in border protection.
Since Manus Island was reopened by the Gillard government in 2012 it has cost over $1 billion dollars, holds approximately 800 people in conditions the UN has described as "violating prohibitions on torture" (a polite way of saying torture) and processed just one asylum seeker.
The party that was once prepared to accept electoral wipeout in 1966 rather than abandon its moral opposition to the Vietnam war, now supports Australia's violation of human rights.
At what point did the ALP lose the respect it once held for the rule of law and universal human rights? Bill Shorten can't get himself to factory shut down fast enough, but the party he leads can no longer be relied on to stand up to injustice.
It used to be much better party than that. It use to be led by much better people.