Labor immigration spokesperson Richard Marles faced down revolt from party members as he fielded questions about the proposal to turn around asylum seeker boats.
People packed into a small room to hear Marles speak at a fringe event that ended up revealing just how divisive asylum policy is for the party.
Sensing an angry crowd, the forum chair asked those present to conduct themselves with decorum and civility. But that didn't last long.
Marles: That human tragedy (deaths at sea) has ended. WE DONT KNOW THAT BECAUSE IT IS SECRET yells someone in the crowd #ALPConf2015
Tasmanian senator Lisa Singh spoke about her objection to turnbacks, arguing that asylum seekers had been demonised in Australia by conservative governments, but that Labor had to "find a better way" to stop people dying at sea.
.@Lisa_Singh says she disagrees with boat turnbacks and supports a regional framework #ALPConf2015
Queensland candidate Murray Watt also came out strongly against the proposal.
"Turning back boats returns people to conditions that are at best inhumane and at worst downright dangerous," he said. But Watt acknowledged that most people in Australia would disagree with that assessment.
A representative from Grandmothers Against The Detention Of Refugee Children was the first to challenge the immigration minister.
Another questioner described the detention centres as "disasters" and asked Richard Marles to promise to close them.
Marles couldn't really commit to that, and said it was a complex policy issue.
Later he said "I don't think those 2,000 people [currently in detention on Manus Island and Nauru] can come to Australia."
There was an audible hiss from the crowd, with one woman shouting "Rubbish!"
But it was a question from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre's Pamela Curr that proved most difficult for Richard Marles.
ASRC's Pam Curr: Somalian women living in community are being raped on Nauru night after night #ALPConf2015
"There is a reign of terror on Nauru against the unaccompanied Somali women who are living in the community. And every night they dread having invasions into their home. They are being raped night after night.
"Last night a Somali woman rang Australia begging for help, with three men bashing the door down armed with knives. What are you and the Labor Party going to do? " she asked.
Her reaction to Marles' response said it all.
BuzzFeed News understands that despite the numbers being close, the left will not defeat Shorten on the floor of the conference, and the policy will pass.
