CANBERRA – The Australian Greens are trying to place conditions on the Government’s operation of offshore immigration detention centres as the Senate debates urgent changes to the Migration Act this week.

The Government is rushing through legislation that explicitly authorises offshore detention and its funding, in an effort to head off a High Court challenge to the policy.

Labor is supporting the legislation, but says it has questions about the detail.

The challenge stems from a court case in which a group of 10 asylum seekers questioned the legality of the Government’s offshore detention system.

Lawyers have argued that because the Government issued the contracts for the establishment and maintenance of the processing facilities, they were the responsibility of Australia, not of Nauru or PNG.

A procedural hearing for the case was held in Melbourne on Thursday and a further directions hearing is scheduled for today.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told Parliament yesterday that the amendment would give the Government the legal authority to process asylum seekers in other countries and to fund the processing arrangements.

The bill passed the House of Representatives with Labor’s support on Wednesday and will move to the Senate today.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the laws give the Government too much power, and the Senate should support further amendments.

She said her party would try to change the laws to “put time limits on detention, improve the situation for children, give media access to the detention centres and at the very least, ensure there is a legal requirement to report abuse and harassment whenever it occurs”.

Late yesterday in the House of Representatives WA Labor MP Melissa Parke questioned why the bill needed to be rushed through so quickly.

“This may be a small bill but it is dealing with big and serious issues, it is a matter of profound disappointment that the Government seeks to rush this open-ended legislation,” she said.

Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie was the only MP who voted against it.

Labor’s decision to vote for the bill looks set to re-ignite the ALP’s internal debate about offshore processing.

Labor for Refugees wants the ALP’s party platform revised to end support for offshore processing and to call for the closure of the facilities on Nauru and Manus Island.

It says it will take up the fight at next month’s Labor Party national conference.

Co-convenor of Labor for Refugees, Shane Prince, said: “It goes to the heart of our obligations as a decent civilised nation that we don’t turn away people who turn up and seek our help.”

Prince said it would be a “respectful and important debate” that needed to be had within the party. “I think we have a chance of having our views prevail. They are consistent with the views put forward by the union movement,” he said.

“That’s an important voice within the Labor Party, always has been and there’s a significant group of rank and file members within the Labor Party who support our position so it will be a real debate at conference.”