The Greens party will try to obtain footage to investigate whether naval officers deliberately burnt the hands of asylum seekers as Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told the media to "move on" from the claims that were first made in January.
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Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young moved in the Senate on Tuesday the motion to obtain video taken by navy personnel.
"There is footage of the incident and, if this government really cared about clearing the navy's name, they would end the secrecy surrounding this turn-back,'' she said.
The motion comes as ABC's 7.30 program aired further claims on Monday that force was used on a group of asylum seekers who reached the northern tip of Australia in January before being towed back.
The story backed up earlier allegations from a Sudanese asylum seeker who claimed to have witnessed abuse with allegations from a second asylum seeker who said that his hand was burnt intentionally by navy personnel after they stopped him from using the toilet.
Mr Morrison told ABC radio on Tuesday the allegations were "recycled", offensive and baseless and the government would continue to strenuously deny them.
He refused to confirm on Tuesday if there was video footage of the tow-back in question.
Mr Morrison said it was policy to take video for search and rescue operations and this was not a search and rescue.
"People can choose to believe the claims they saw on 7.30 last night from people who said they rushed officers, they sought to sabotage a vessel, they sought to illegally enter Australia," he told ABC radio.
"Last week [on 7.30] we heard the claims of people who invoked 9/11, who swore at officers and threatened to kill them.''
Asked whether there would be a thorough investigation of the allegations he said: "This matter is closed."
