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But the shadow immigration minister couldn't answer that one either.

"We have articulated concerns around the questions of turn-backs. I retain those concerns. Basically it's back on our relationship with Indonesia," Marles said, before attempting a pivot to a discussion about Tony Abbott's diplomacy efforts.

He then tried to dismiss it as a hypothetical before Jones pointed out that he would have to write up the policy after the ALP conference later this month.

It wasn't pretty, but he'd handled the hairy immigration question and was out of the woods.

Or so he thought.