Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has been forced to clarify his position on offshore detention centres, insisting a Labor government would not shut them down.
The Coalition has seized on earlier comments made by Mr Albanese to try to revive the border protection debate and claim Labor would be weak on people smugglers.
While Australia's offshore detention regime has been described as "abusive and costly" by leading human rights groups, Mr Albanese insists offshore detention centres would remain open under Labor.
What's started this latest debate?
Mr Albanese was asked how his government would respond if "people smugglers seek to take advantage of an incoming Labor government".
Mr Albanese provided a succinct reply, saying people who attempted to come to Australia by boat would be turned back.
But he ended his remarks by stating "turning boats back means that you don't need offshore detention".
Cue the Coalition's reaction
Defence Minister Peter Dutton pounced on the comments, arguing they marked a weakening of Labor's border protection policy.
"You would expect the people smugglers to be jumping for joy in the air off their couches in Indonesia and Sri Lanka and Vietnam because that's actually a very dangerous statement he's made this morning.
"He already doesn't support the temporary protection visas, which underpin the whole Operation Sovereign Borders, and the regional processing is a key element of the policy as well.
"That is a change of policy … I don't know, maybe he's made a mistake in a press conference again, but the wheels are falling off the Anthony Albanese bus at the moment."
What's Labor's official policy?
Both major parties support boat turn-backs and sending asylum seekers who arrive by sea to offshore detention centres while their cases are processed.
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles has accused the Coalition of launching a "desperate scare campaign" to create division where none exists in the lead-up to the May election.
"Labor supports Operation Sovereign Borders and every aspect of it."
So, what's the difference between the two major parties?
One area of difference between the two parties is the use of temporary protection visas, which Labor opposes because it argues the visas keep refugees in a state of limbo.
Earlier this year the government confirmed it had taken up an offer from New Zealand — nine years after it was first put on the table – to resettle refugees languishing on Nauru and others held in onshore detention facilities.
And why is this a sensitive topic for Labor?
Border protection and asylum seeker policy has been a fraught and contentious area in Australian politics for decades.
Over recent years the Coalition and Labor have had nearly identical policies on border protection and the ALP has spent the past decade trying to neutralise it as an issue.
Jumping so quickly on the statement from Mr Albanese suggests the Coalition views the topic as politically advantageous to its re-election campaign.
