I stand by boats 'conflict' comments: Rudd

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.

Mr Abbott wants to resurrect the former Howard government's policy of instructing the navy to turn back flagged and crewed boats to Indonesia, which reduced annual boat arrivals.

However, Mr Rudd claims it can't be done because Indonesia has said it won't co-operate with the coalition's proposal.

Mr Rudd said the opposition leader had two questions to answer about his policy to "turn back the boats".

"Number one, what happens when a boat sinks?" he said.

"And number two, what happens if the Indonesians push the boat back?.

"He hasn't answered either of those things. So either it is a fair dinkum policy or it's simply codswallop to try and win some votes."

Indonesian foreign affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah has reportedly poured cold water on the issue, describing it as an internal Australian political matter.

Mr Rudd will hold talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta next week, his first overseas trip since reclaiming the prime ministership.

Addressing a Liberal campaign rally in Melbourne, former prime minister John Howard took aim at Mr Rudd for his failure on border protection, comparing him to an arsonist.

"Kevin Rudd is like the arsonist claiming respectability as the fire fighter in imagining he's got the solution to the problem of border protection," Mr Howard said.

"Mr Rudd will go down in Australian history as the great architect not of economic reform, not of a better defence policy or a better foreign policy or a better education policy, but he will go down as the great architect of the destruction of a safe border protection policy."

Mr Abbott told the rally that by scrapping the Howard-era policies Mr Rudd had made himself "the best friend the people smugglers have ever had".

"You know what he did? He rolled out the Rudd carpet," Mr Abbott said.

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