PM Morrison explains his border 'red line'

February 15, 2019

Scott Morrison says he would rather "take the hit" of a historic defeat in federal parliament, rather than compromise on medical treatment for asylum seekers.

The prime minister insists he was determined to "stick to his guns" rather than negotiate with Labor and the crossbench over medical evacuation changes, which were legislated against his wishes earlier this week.

"Never was I going to cross that red line," he told The Daily Telegraph on Friday.

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese is adamant giving doctors a greater say in medical evacuations from Manus Island and Nauru will not encourage people smugglers.

"There hasn't been one inch of movement when it comes to border protection policy," he told reporters.

"All that happened this week was an acknowledgement that you can be tough on people smugglers without being weak on humanity."

Asked whether Labor would make any more changes to its border security platform before the election, he replied: "No."

"Our position is very clear and what's more these are positions that have been unanimously adopted by the ALP national conference, not just the caucus," Mr Albanese said.