The Australia-New Zealand Resettlement Deal
New Zealand has offered to resettle refugees who have come to Australia by boat. The Australian government has accepted the offer nine years after it was first made. This Explainer sets out the parameters of the deal and explains why it has taken nine years to reach agreement.
How will the Resettlement Deal work?
New Zealand will resettle up to 150 refugees a year from Australia's offshore detention centres over the next three years. These 450 places are allocated within – not in addition to – New Zealand’s annual refugee quota.
The refugees considered eligible for resettlement in New Zealand are those on Nauru or temporarily in Australia under regional processing arrangements, those who meet New Zealand’s resettlement requirements, those who have been referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and those who are not on track to be resettled by another country.
This resettlement offer is only open to refugees currently in immigration detention and will not be offered to future arrivals.
Why now?
In 2013, then Australian prime minister Julia Gillard formed a deal with then New Zealand prime minister John Key to resettle 150 refugees per year. However, the deal was sidelined when Tony Abbott won the Australian federal election later that year. Since then, the Australian government refused to implement the deal because of concerns that it would attract more refugees to Australia.
On 1 March 2019, the Australian government passed the Medevac Bill, which was designed to assist in the transfer of asylum seekers in offshore detention to Australia for medical treatment. While the Morrison Government did not support the law, it was passed at a time when the government did not hold majority in parliament. The Morrison Government therefore sought to repeal the law soon after winning re-election in May 2019. Medevac legislation was repealed on 8 December 2019 after the Morrison government agreed to a secret deal with Senator Jacqui Lambie. Lambie’s support gave the government the majority vote in repealing the Medevac legislation. Lambie has now revealed that she agreed to support the government on repealing Medevac in exchange for a promise that the resettlement deal with New Zealand would be honoured.
How has the deal been received?
While the UNHCR was not party to the deal struck between Australia and New Zealand, the UNHCR Regional Representative, Adrian Edwards, said that the UNHCR was glad to hear of the announcement. However, Edwards also notes that the deal is not sufficient to cover the 112 refugees and asylum seekers still on Nauru, and the 1100 others in Australia.
While the announcement has been welcomed by many, concerns about the numbers left out of the policy are also echoed by refugee advocacy groups. Academics have called the agreement a ‘bandage on a failed policy’. Legal groups have called the announcement overdue in the face of physical and mental harm done to those about to embark on new lives.
Next → AUSTRALIA’ S RESPONSE TO REFUGEES FROM AFGHANISTAN
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Last updated 2 May 2022