Aussie immigration minister calls for swift approval of new border protection laws

Australia's immigration minister on Sunday warned Opposition Leader Bill Shorten not to vote against the government's latest border protection bill, saying that Shorten will be to blame if Australia faces a torrent of illegal asylum seeker boat arrivals.

Ahead of a Senate vote to pass a law that would result in a controversial lifetime ban from entering Australia for those who choose to come illegally by boat, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton had called for a bipartisan approach for a swift approval of the laws.

He told Sky News on Sunday that Shorten was showing "weakness", and declared the Opposition Leader will be to blame when people smugglers restart their dangerous illegal boat trade if the laws are voted down.

"If new boat arrivals are a reality over the coming weeks or months, then frankly Mr. Shorten will have to stick his hand up for that because it is an unacceptable position for the Labor Party having created this mess to step in the way of us trying to clean it up," Dutton said.

"We are very concerned about what people smugglers will try and market. We don't want new boat arrivals."

"At the moment the indecision and the weakness shown again by Labor shows the division within Labor on border protection policy at a time when we need Labor to step up."

Shorten and the opposition Labor Party have previously indicated it would not support a "ludicrous" lifetime ban for illegal arrivals to Australia.

Meanwhile, Australia is currently in negotiations with a number of third party nations to secure a deal to resettle asylum seekers currently housed in Australia's detention centers on Manus Island and Nauru, but Dutton said until a deal is struck, he wasn't going to comment publicly.

"Obviously we've had discussions with a number of other countries but I don't want to pre-empt any announcement or any discussion. I don't think people want to see these things play out in public," he said. Endit