And a new element has been injected into this dynamic with the appointment to the Senate of Katy Gallagher to represent the ACT.

Around the country, ALP members are preparing motions for the conference, to be held in Melbourne in July. Some will target their anger at the parliamentary leadership's blatant refusal to follow the national platform on asylum seekers.

The platform's 3000-word section on asylum seekers says "Labor will ensure that asylum seekers will not be punished for their mode of arrival" and that "asylum seekers who arrive both by air or by sea [will be] treated the same when it comes to the processing of their claims and access to support while on bridging visas".

The platform also says "detention in an immigration detention centre is only to be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable time."

In a two-step process to change the platform and pressure the leadership to stick to it, the issue will be debated at the ACTU congress in Melbourne next month. That will focus national attention on the issue as delegates prepared for the ALP talkfest.

And, as Labor then ties itself in knots - trying to balance the "more compassion" approach of stopping the drownings, over the harsh reality of indefinite detention - the Coalition will ramp up wedge politics, accusing Labor of being "soft" on border protection.

The Coalition and Labor argue the issue is a border control problem and they are concerned about the dangerous sea voyage. hence deterrents like detention. Critics of this approach say the human cargo of the people smugglers are being treated like criminals.

Gallagher has joined a ginger group within the party that is uncomfortable with Australia holding people indefinitely in detention camps. Last Sunday she put on a natty hat and a "ACT Labor for Refugees" tee and marched with her comrades at the Palm Sunday rally for refugees.

The former ACT Chief Minister comes from the left wing which dominates the ACT Labor Party branch. However the ACT's two federal representatives in the House of Representatives do not come from the Left. How comfortable are they with Gallagher's position and the moves within the party for change?

The hand-wringing within Labor on asylum seekers was created by the rush to harsh policies by Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. According to some party members, the two prime ministers ignored the ALP national platform on this issue by promoting offshore processing of asylum seekers and mandatory detention.

The ALP parliamentary leadership maintains these deterrents are necessary to discourage people from putting their lives at risk on a dangerous voyage in leaky fishing boats.

As Gallagher told Fairfax Media after Sunday's rally, speaking out on refugee issues is fraught with political danger.

"I am uncomfortable with what is going on now, that's where I'm at," she said. "Part of my being here [at the rally] is to support other Labor Party people, we can advocate for change within the party.

"It's not easy and the political climate makes those discussions difficult, particularly when anyone speaking out is immediately portrayed as someone who is anti-Australian or anti-national security. But I don't think you would find many Australians who, if they fully understood what was going on in detention centres and offshore processing, would be that comfortable with how it is being conducted and the costs and the unwillingness to look at other alternatives."

Her predecessor as Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, does understand the situation and is not similarly constrained about speaking out. He was the key speaker at the Palm Sunday rally in Civic and didn't mince his words as he criticised the ALP as well as the Coalition over the issue.

Stanhope was the administrator of Christmas Island where many asylum seekers were held after arriving on boats. He says Australia has abrogated its responsibility to international treaties it had signed.

"More importantly perhaps even than the breaching of international accords, we have in our treatment of asylum seekers including children acted in ways that are not consistent with core Australian and human values of compassion, generosity, fairness, freedom, equality and common humanity," he told the rally.

"Australia has been found by the United Nations to be a country that has, through its asylum seeker policy, facilitated torture. In this contest, the furious race to the bottom, the ALP jettisoned the principled position on asylum seekers outlined in its national platform.

"It's time to demand that the Labor Party return to the principles outlined in the national platform including its stated total opposition to mandatory and indefinite detention and that the Labor Party construct policies consistent with the beliefs and the values which it boasts that it holds.

"It's time that all Canberrans demanded publicly and privately of all of our four local members and senators, that they stand up for the principles and policies that we elected them to represent and that we expect them to support."

The left-leaning ACT Labor branch meets for its conference on August 22, where it will reflect on the debate conducted on the issue at the national conference. However the branch has already changed its platform to "oppose the mandatory detention of asylum seekers for the duration of their processing".

The Victorian and Queensland branches have also adopted what members call "more compassionate" policies.

In parallel to these developments, the Labor for Refugees group has sprung up in the states and territories as party members revolt against what they perceive as the parliamentary leadership's blatant refusal to follow the official party policy, as expressed in the national platform.

That's where Gallagher believes she has a role, albeit minor, in the national debate. As Chief Minister, she expressed her concerns about the way Labor was handling the issue. Now, as a member of federal caucus, she has a greater say in formulation of national policy, and she intends to exercise this power, small as it might be.

Indefinite mandatory detention is going on, with very little complaint from the Australian community.

The Keating Government introduced mandatory detention, to try to deter waves of people arriving in frail fishing boats from Indonesia.

John Howard continued the practice and locked up these "illegal" boat people in purpose-built prison camps in the Australian desert. Interestingly, water cannon was used on the inmates at one of those camps, something that has not been done against Australian citizens on Australian soil.

Howard's mantra - "we will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come" - echoed powerfully around the nation, resonating with many voters and becoming a war cry for ultra-conservative groups.

Under his "Pacific solution", thousands of islands were excised from Australia's migration zone, the Navy was ordered to intercept vessels carrying asylum seekers and those people were sent to detention centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea while their refugee status was determined.

The ploy was a political success - under his stewardship the boats did slow to a trickle.

In Opposition, Julia Gillard promised Labor would end the Pacific Solution, but that's exactly what didn't happen.

Kevin Rudd came to power promising a more compassionate approach and closed the Nauru detention camp. People smugglers restarted their evil trade, not concerned about those who were drowned on the way.

Faced with hysteria over "illegals" and "queue jumpers" and falling poll numbers, he was replaced by Julia Gillard.

In 2011 she proposed a deal in which Malaysia would take 800 asylum seekers from Christmas Island in return for Australia accepting 4000 refugees from Malaysia.

The High Court struck it out, finding Malaysia was not legally bound to protect the asylum seekers. "Malaysia is not a party to the Refugees Convention or its protocol," the High Court said, a fact well-known by Labor before the deal was hatched.

When Rudd returned to the prime ministership, he proposed the "PNG solution" in July 2013, asylum seekers arriving by boat without a visa would be refused settlement in Australia, instead being sent to the Manus Island detention camp and settled in Papua New Guinea if they were found to be legitimate refugees.

After being swept to power, Tony Abbott returned to hardline messages to people traffickers and the boats again stopped. He says his government will not give in to 'moral blackmail' over asylum seeker suicide attempts. He said the reports of suicide attempts were "harrowing" but the government would not change its policy of offshore processing and no permanent residency for asylum seekers who arrive by boat.

Despite Abbott telling the United Nations not to "lecture" Australia on any issue, the prolonged detention of refugees is contrary to the UN Convention relating to the status of refugees, to which Australia is a signatory.

Although seeking asylum is not breaking the law, the Coalition regularly talks about "illegal arrivals" and this has become part of the furniture, especially when shock jocks canvass the issue.

In the ACT, Member for Fraser Andrew Leigh gave a detailed speech on the issue last year in which he said about one in 20 asylum seekers who set sail to Australia die on the way. Labor's resettlement agreement with PNG and the earlier unsuccessful agreement with Malaysia were an attempt to stop refugees making the voyage.

The purpose was compassionate - to prevent events like the SIEV X disaster and the Christmas Island tragedy from ever happening again - but it was undeniable the approach was harsh even when implemented well, he said. He favoured continuing with moves to try to stop the boats while restoring the annual intake of 20,000 refugees from UNHCR camps.

Following the comments by Gallagher and Stanhope, the ACT's two lower house representatives were asked specific questions about the issue, including their support (or otherwise) for mandatory detention and offshore processing. Both gave general responses.

Leigh said: "As a member of the federal shadow ministry, I support Labor's current policies on immigration and asylum seekers. These policies will be debated and renewed at national conference in June, and I'll be taking part in the internal conversation about that in the lead-up to conference."

Member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann✓ said: "Federal Labor continues to support the policy of regional resettlement, which has proved an effective deterrent in stopping people from risking their lives at sea. Twelve hundred men, women and children have lost their lives on the dangerous journey to reach Australia by boat. I believe we have a responsibility to do all we can to stop another life being lost this way.

"I know there are many and varied views on this issue within the Canberra community, and indeed within Labor. I welcome the role that Labor for Refugees plays in representing some of these views and stimulating debate. I have the greatest respect for their work. I'm looking forward to being involved in what I am sure will be a passionate debate on this and other issues at national conference. However I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of those discussions."

On mandatory detention, the current platform states that for management of health, identity and security risks to the community, Labor will strive to ensure this is for 90 days only. Labor for Refugees is recommending this period be reduced to 30 days in accordance with the practice of most member states in the European Union.

The reform group urges children be placed into community detention together with their families and once health, identity, and security checks have been completed, they be allowed into the community on bridging visas while their refugee status is assessed.

Labor for Refugees national co-convenor Robin Rothfield says the group wants to improve the ALP platform by emphasising more strongly the party's opposition to offshore processing. "Also to reinforce opposition to mandatory, indefinite detention," he says.

He is "extremely disappointed" that the ALP parliamentary leadership is ignoring the current platform. "Hopefully the ACTU congress in May will increase pressure on the parliamentary leadership to abide by the platform," he told Fairfax Media.

Labor for Refugees understands the Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles intends to abide by the party platform as determined by the ALP national conference in July.

No doubt, that is a sincere promise but, given Labor's past performance, what chance is there the parliamentary leadership will decide to abide by the current platform, much less one with fewer deterrents?

Twitter: @rosspeakeCT