"People are opposed to [boat turnbacks], including Amnesty, and I respect that but I think this has just been an opportunity to launch an ideological attack and I think that's why it needs to be addressed because the government is not going to be bullied into changing our position," Mr Dutton said. Philip Ruddock says he would have dealt with the Amnesty International report in a different way. Credit:Andrew Quilty Asked directly whether Australian officials made the cash payments, Mr Dutton said: "I don't have any further comment to make in relation to that matter" but he added that "our staff operate within the law, within Australian law, we meet our international obligations in terms of treaties and other agreements that we operate under and the Australian Border Force staff are highly responsible". The report, titled By Hook or by Crook, claimed that Australian officials who paid people smugglers to return a boat of asylum seekers to Indonesia in May committed a transnational crime. Fairfax Media revealed in June that Indonesian police had found people smugglers had been paid more than $US30,000 by Australian officials to return a boat that was headed for New Zealand.

Following Mr Dutton's criticism, Mr Ruddock told Fairfax Media that "we all have different ways of expressing our views". Mr Ruddock wears his Amnesty International pin Credit:Viki Yemettas "I would have dealt with things perhaps a touch differently, I have a lot of time for Amnesty," he said. But Mr Ruddock also questioned the credibility of the people smugglers who claimed to have been bribed. "This is said to have happened by those who are alleged to have been bribed. I don't think that gives it any credibility. I would have let the matter rest," he said.

"When there are criminal acts, and this is what is alleged, those who are alleged to have paid money are guilty of an offence but so are those who received it and I haven't seen any action against those who are alleged to have been bribed." I would have dealt with things perhaps a touch differently, I have a lot of time for Amnesty Amnesty International spokeswoman Stephanie Cousins urged Mr Dutton to play the ball and not the man. "We have credible evidence that crimes have been committed, which warrant an independent investigation with full co-operation of the Australian government - not defensive bluster," Ms Cousins said. Labor MP Andrews Giles, a co-convenor of the Parliamentary Friends of Amnesty, said it was telling that Mr Dutton had not responded to any of the specific criticism in the report.

"The minister's comments about respecting views don't seem to sit very well with his other comments about the report and his complaints about being bullied," he said. "What appears to be the case is that the minister does not respect scrutiny or criticism in any form, and is not prepared to debate the policy." Mr Dutton's attack on Amnesty is not the first time he has accused critics of engaging in ideological warfare. In September, he claimed Fairfax Media and the ABC were engaged in a jihad against the Abbott government, a claim from which fellow cabinet ministers quickly distanced themselves. Follow James Massola on Facebook