Bill Shorten is promising to continue boat turnbacks and invest in the Pacific as part of a regional security policy if Labor wins the upcoming federal election.

The opposition leader is also committed to spending two per cent of GDP each year on defence, after it dropped to a 70-year low of 1.6 per cent under Labor in 2012/13.

Mr Shorten said Labor will mirror the coalition government and not let people smugglers restart their trade to Australia.

He said a Labor government would continue the coalition's 2013 Operation Sovereign Borders and fund areas the coalition has cut back, including Australian Federal Police based overseas.

"We will continue to stop boat arrivals and turn back boats when it is safe to do so," he said in a foreign policy speech to the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Monday.

"Operation Sovereign Borders will be fully resourced. Indeed, we will revisit areas where the current government has made cuts."

But Mr Shorten said Labor will also appoint an ambassador for refugees to the United Nations, to work on managing asylum seeker flows and resettlement.

"It signals a determination of Labor to see Australia return to the group of nations which is seeking to resolve this global tragedy," he said.

"Greater Australian action on the global stage will place us in a much better position to secure third country resettlement arrangements for the people remaining on Manus and Nauru."

Labor will also match the coalition's commitment to increase defence spending, after it dropped to its lowest level since before World War II when Labor was last in power.

China's presence is growing in the Pacific, but Mr Shorten says he wants Australia to be the first choice for island nations.

"We are not going to forfeit the Pacific because we didn't turn up," he said.

If elected, a Labor government-backed investment bank will encourage private firms to invest in Pacific infrastructure projects.

"Our neighbours in the Pacific are looking for partners to help them build infrastructure. And as prime minister, I intend to make sure they look to Australia first," Mr Shorten said.

Mr Shorten said he wanted to address human rights concerns with China, but he won't lecture the Asian nation.

He said Australia's alliance with the United States is rock solid, but the US is also expecting its international partners to contribute more.

Mr Shorten said foreign donations to political parties should be banned, removing one source of foreign influence from Australia's democracy.

He also wants to improve conditions for hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who live and pay taxes in Australia.