The Greens will attempt to increase the pressure on Labor this weekend in the Batman byelection campaign, stepping up their criticism of the ALP's record on refugees.
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As the race to the March 17 vote approaches its final week and with no clear front-runner, the Greens will look to get an edge over their opponents with the refugee issue, which has tormented the ALP in its inner-city seats since the early 2000s.
The Greens have been campaigning hard for weeks on another difficult issue for Labor, the proposed Adani coal mine in Queensland, but will pivot towards asylum seekers, a proven vote-winner in Australia's inner-cities since the early 2000s.
Labor's Batman candidate Ged Kearney has a long record in her previous job as ACTU president of speaking out on behalf of refugees, putting her at odds with her party's official positions on the issue, which have backed offshore detention and boat turn-backs as well as other harsh measures against asylum seekers.
The campaign for Greens candidate Alex Bhathal will launch online advertisements on Thursday and Friday attacking Labor's policy on refugees and emphasising Ms Bathal's migrant background.
Volunteers will emphasise the refugee issue in their pitches to voters on the streets and in their door-knocking and telephone canvassing efforts, flyers have been printed and a billboard has been erected outside Ms Kearney's campaign office on Plenty Road in Preston.
Adam Bandt, the Greens MP for the federal seat of Melbourne, has written to potential donors telling them of attacks on asylum seekers on Manus Island and suicide attempts by men detained there, asking for financial help with the party's anti-Labor blitz.
“The Greens are the only party who will stand against the old parties’ race to the bottom on refugees," Ms Bhathal said on Thursday.
“Every day, people living in Batman convey to me their disappointment and disgust at the way Australia treats innocent people seeking our help.
“People in Batman don’t want a representative who will vote with the Liberals to keep innocent people locked up in offshore hellholes.”
But Ms Kearney's campaign says it has a "good story to tell" on their candidate's record on asylum seekers, despite Labor's policy history.
"My history of advocating for refugees and asylum seekers is a proud one," Ms Kearney said on Thursday.
"I have been an ambassador for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, lobbied for individual refugees, and called out this terrible government for its cruelty every chance I get.
"I will be a voice of compassion for asylum seekers inside a party of government. Only a party of government can have any impact in this policy area.
"I am not interested in protest, I am interested in making change."
