Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he stands by comments questioning whether Tony Abbott was "trying to risk conflict" with Indonesia over his "turn back the boats" plan.

During his first press conference on Friday Mr Rudd said the coalition's boats policy would set Australia on course for "policy collision" with Indonesia, a statement the opposition labelled as reckless and irresponsible.

Asked on Saturday if he regretted his comments, Mr Rudd said, "I stand by everything I said".

"Including the fact that my responsibility as prime minister is to ensure we have a first-class relationship with 250 million people in Indonesia, a country which constitutes our most important neighbour," he told reporters while campaigning in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.