Hundreds of Canberrans have gathered to put pressure on politicians and show support for refugees amid continued anger over Australia's treatment of asylum seekers.
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There were shouts of "shame" and "here, here" as an emotionally charged audience of more than 1200 packed out the Australian National University's Llewellyn Hall for the Stand by the Refugees mass protest meeting on Saturday night.
Speakers included lawyer and human rights advocate Julian Burnside, QC, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young and the ANU's Professor William Maley.
The Stand by the Refugees meeting was organised by members of the Canberra Refugee Action Committee as a protest against offshore detention and to call for a more humane stance on asylum seekers.
Supporters backed a statement of principles that condemned offshore detention and called for swift processing of asylum claims and timely resettlement of refugees in Australia.
That statement, which will be presented to the Federal Parliament, also advocates for a ''more generous approach to accepting refugees'' because of their ''positive contribution to Australia's economy, culture and society''.
Mr Burnside said the strong turnout showed there was growing discontent with the federal government's asylum seeker policies.
He said last September's federal election was ''the first in Australia's political history where the two major political parties tried to outdo each other in their promise of cruelty to a group of human beings''.
He criticised the government's deterrence policies and temporary protection visa conditions and told the audience: ''Do not let them do it in your name.''
Ms Hanson-Young deplored the conditions experienced by asylum seekers in offshore detention centres.
''We shouldn't be forcing people to choose between the hell holes of Manus Island and Nauru and definite detention, or a likely limbo, versus facing the atrocities which they have fled,'' she said.
''The deterrence policies and the cruel and the harsh treatment of refugees forces people to choose to go home. We don't have to be doing that.
''If we spent even a fraction of the $8.3 billion over forward estimates assessing people's claims and helping them work through their needs in places like Malaysia and Indonesia, we would save money and save lives, and that's what we should be doing.''
Professor Maley said Australia needed to adopt a softer stance on asylum seekers to fulfill its international and humanitarian obligations.
