Greens accuse Labor and govt over boat pay

Greens leader Richard Di Natale has accused both the coalition and Labor of having dirty hands over allegations Australian officials have paid people smugglers.

"We have got a callous and ruthless government, a complicit opposition leader and we have crossed a line here," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

Labor has denied it ever paid people smugglers to turn boats around "on the high seas", amid reports Australian intelligence officials have been making payments to smugglers since the Rudd government.