Sunrise’s Nat Barr presses minister Mark Butler over conflicting messages on Australia’s refugee intake

Health Minister Mark Butler has denied Labor backflipped on plans to slash Australia’s refugee intake, insisting government policy remained unchanged.

Butler defended the government’s position on Sunrise after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese guaranteed the annual humanitarian intake would remain at 20,000, following reports it would fall to 13,750 from next financial year.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Anthony Albanese intervenes to stop planned cut to refugee intake

Albanese’s intervention came after a spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed plans to reduce the intake by 6250 places, according to the ABC .

But when Sunrise host Nat Barr questioned how the government would meet its migration targets following the reported reversal, Butler rejected her characterisation.

“I think we should all take the word of the prime minister for the position of the government.”

Butler noted Labor had reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the intake at Labor’s national conference in Adelaide last month.

“It has to go through the usual process of budget renewal but there’s been no change for a number of years in the Australian Labor Party position on the humanitarian intake,” he said.

Barr pressed Butler on the Refugee Council’s account that it had been advised by Burke’s department the intake would be reduced to 13,750.

Butler maintained there had been no change in the government’s position but said he could not explain why the council had received that message.

“It may well be that there was some communication about the need for a budget renewal process but, to the extent there was any confusion in the public commentary yesterday about this, the prime minister dispelled that.”

Burke’s office had said the decision to lift the humanitarian intake to 20,000 in 2023 was always temporary and had only been funded for four years, the ABC reported.

However, four Labor MPs told the broadcaster they understood the increase to be ongoing rather than time-limited.

Last month’s national conference unanimously backed a resolution committing Labor to maintaining 20,000 places annually in the short term, while continuing to aspire to an intake of 27,000.