The former head of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs, has called on Labor to support the government's bill to ban any refugees from Manus Island and Nauru ever setting foot in Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled his inclination to accept an offer from New Zealand to accept 150 refugees a year from the islands - on the condition the Senate passes the bill, which has been stalled for two years.

"Wicked game': Gillian Triggs says Labor should vote for the government's lifetime visa ban. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Professor Triggs was outspoken in her opposition to the government's harsh asylum seeker policies and clashed spectacularly with the Coalition during her tenure at the Human Rights Commission.

But on Thursday night she reluctantly backed the government on the "wicked problem", arguing it was more important to get refugees off the islands given they had been there more than five years.