One measure planned to deter illegal immigrants from arriving in New Zealand will not work, according to an Australian government spokesman.
On Monday Prime Minister John Key said the government was aligning its immigration laws with Australia to send a "message to people smugglers that they shouldn't be in the business".
One amendment to the Immigration Act introduced into parliament would mean a claimant's refugee status would be reassessed after three years, with permanent residence not granted unless this reassessment is approved.
Sydney's Daily Telegraph on Wednesday says this is similar to temporary protection visas (TPVs) introduced by the previous Liberal-led government of John Howard.
The newspaper quoted a spokesman for Australia's Immigration Minister Chris Bowen saying what New Zealand does "is a matter for them".
"We know that TPVs did not work, with the overwhelming majority of people on them ending up as permanent Australian residents - that's hardly a deterrent."
The newspaper says people smugglers had sent almost double the number of asylum seekers to Australia over the past four months compared with same period last year.
"The figures speak for themselves about Labor's border failures," Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said.
"In the same week that New Zealand introduced temporary protection visas, Labor trots out yet more tired excuses for more border protection policy failure."
Other changes to New Zealand's legislation include enable a mass arrival of asylum seekers to be detained under a group warrant and restricting family reunification so that those who gain residence can only sponsor their immediate family members to join them.
Immigration Minister Nathan Guy said the arrival of 10 Chinese asylum seekers in Darwin last month, who said they were on their way to New Zealand, proved the need for new laws.
They eventually decided to seek asylum in Australia, but they had been prepared to risk trying to sail the Tasman in a yacht to try to reach New Zealand.
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