Jenny O’Connor says as a mayor of a council classified as a Refugee Welcome Zone she has called on Malcolm Turnbull, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Labor Party leaders Bill Shorten and Tanya Plibersek to house the refugees in Australia.

The Greens party member spoke to the politicians’ offices last week and wants mayors of other Refugee Welcome Zones to follow suit.

“To send a message that despite the position of the government it doesn’t reflect the view of many Australians that we should support refugees, now matter how they come to Australia, and the treatment by the government of these people goes against the ethics and morals of many people they claim to represent,” Cr O’Connor said.

“Not to mention the $10 billion they’ve spent on this which could have been used on rural communities to do basic things like the NBN.”

Albury, Wodonga and Moira councils are the other Border councils who are party to the Refugee Council of Australia’s zones policy.

Albury deputy mayor and Green Amanda Cohn said she had spoken on Sunday about the topic with mayor Kevin Mack and she will write on behalf of the council to Mr Dutton and member for Farrer Sussan Ley with the city’s concerns.

“Communities across Australia, like Albury have made a commitment to welcoming refugees and upholding their rights and it’s something the government isn’t doing,” Cr Cohn said.

Moira mayor Gary Cleveland said he could not say what his shire’s position would be without discussing it with councillors.

Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie did not return The Border Mail’s call.

Cr O’Connor frustration over the handling of the refugees, who were left without an Australian-run detention centre last week, was clear in a weekend tweet.

“What an immoral, craven man you have turned out to be @TurnbullMalcolm,” she wrote.

Fellow Indigo councillor and Liberal Party member James Trenery was irked the mayor had not discussed her stance with colleagues.

“I was surprised to see that, that’s something we should talk about,” Cr Trenery said.

“We’ve got a lot of things to advocate for, from the Prime Minister down and we should be concentrating on that.

“We need grants for all sorts of things like roads.”

But Cr O’Connor said she had been approached by “literally hundreds of people around the shire asking me to speak on their behalf” and she felt a “moral authority” to represent their concerns over the fate of the refugees.