A government proposal to tighten the character test will make it easier to deport up to tens of thousands of migrants who have been living in Australia long term.
Under the planned changes, visa-holders who have committed a crime that carries a maximum sentence of at least two years, such as common assault, will automatically fail the character test, even if they are not sentenced to jail.
More than 1,000 New Zealanders were sent back between 2016 and 2018 due to other immigration changes made in 2014, something Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has repeatedly said has a "corrosive" impact on the trans-tasman relationship.