Refugees resettled in New Zealand from Australia will be unable to return even if they’ve become New Zealand citizens, the Morrison government has announced.
The home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, revealed on Tuesday that Australia will prevent the resettlement deal for 450 refugees from becoming a “back door” by stopping would-be travellers at the border.
In an interview with Radio National Andrews struggled to explain how such a ban would be enforced, after home affairs department officials warned in March legislation would probably be required.
But Labor’s shadow minister, Kristina Keneally, gave bipartisan support for the ban, promising to “close that back door by legislation or by regulation” if elected in May.
In March the Morrison and Ardern governments inked the deal, first agreed in principle between Julia Gillard and John Key in 2013.
Labor labelled the move a humiliating backflip, after senior Coalition figures arguing for years that the deal would encourage dangerous boat journeys to Australia by asylum seekers and refugees.
Refugees resettled in New Zealand from Australia will have the same rights as others, including pathways to citizenship after five years, raising questions about whether they could get special subclass 444 visas that allow New Zealanders to remain indefinitely in Australia to live, work or study.
Asked how Australia would prevent refugees who become New Zealand citizens returning to Australia, Andrews said “that door is shut”.
“We will never allow them to settle here and the New Zealand government is aware of that,” she told Radio National. “They have said that it is up to us as to how we manage our borders.”
“They have been clear they don’t agree to it – that is fine – we have also been clear that they will never be allowed to settle here in Australia.”
Andrews was asked repeatedly how the ban would be enforced, before stating “it will be a border policy matter that they will not be able to settle here.
“They will be stopped at the border, just like we don’t let people come in who don’t meet the requirements to enter into Australia.”
Andrews explained that “we know who they are” because they are “part of a resettlement arrangement”, implying that there will be a standing list of refugees resettled in New Zealand banned from re-entry.
In March, New Zealand immigration minister, Kris Faafoi, said in relation to the deal that “we didn’t make any concessions”.
“We’ve always said that this is an issue for Australia, in terms of whether it allows these refugees to visit Australia. I think they’ve made a decision, I think I’ll leave that to them to flesh out their arrangements.”
In March, the home affairs department secretary, Michael Pezzullo, told Senate Estimates that New Zealand had left it “entirely up to us” how to enforce Australia’s borders.
Pezzullo said there is “no other way” to achieve the ban except through legislation, warning that he needed an “absolute tool” to enforce the policy for refugees not to resettle in Australia.
Such a bill would “make it unambiguously clear as a matter of statutory law that it would be impossible for a person to take advantage of arriving here on a 444 visa, once they were entitled to that as a New Zealand citizen, and ever permanently settling here”, he said.
Pezzullo added that when the Turnbull government had proposed it, it was rejected.
“So, if I can, I will just take this opportunity, in the dying days of this parliament, to say that, however the parliament is in future constituted and whoever forms government, if someone can get around to giving me the tools to enforce the policies that you both agree on, I’d be very grateful.”
On Tuesday, Keneally said the home affairs department had “admitted” that the door from New Zealand to Australia was not closed because “they couldn’t name one legislation or regulatory change as to how that would happen”.
Keneally accused the government of having backflipped on the New Zealand deal to “sandbag those inner-city Liberal seats that are up against those teal [independent] candidates”.
“Look, we will implement the deal. We will implement the deal in full and we will close that back door by legislation or by regulation.”
