Winston Peters is describing Australia's crackdown on Kiwi criminals as a 'work in progress' - and Newshub can now reveal the number of crimes deportees are committing here.
This follows the Foreign Minister meeting with his Australian counterpart in Canberra on Wednesday as Australia deals with its own political crisis.
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Winston Peters and Julie Bishop were all smiles and handshakes on Wednesday.
"New Zealand is our closest friend, our partner, our trusted collaborator, on so many issues," said Ms Bishop.
But friends don't always agree on everything - and the deportation of Kiwis is one problem that won't go away.
Since Australia changed its immigration laws back in 2014, 1388 people have been sent back to New Zealand.
Among them, they've committed more than 3000 crimes - and 99 are currently in jail or remanded in custody. This year alone, deportees have committed almost 1000 offences.
"Winston, the fact they've gone on to commit crimes is of course a concern to New Zealand authorities; some of these issues you raise are the result of recent political decisions and are a work in progress," says Ms Bishop.
That work in progress is too late for Duncan Salter and Ant Miller, who both were booted from Australia but have managed to stay out of serious trouble.
They say it's a been huge challenge and deportations need to stop.
"Stop ruining people's families and lives - its punishment enough going to jail," says Mr Salter.
Mr Miller even started a company in Auckland hiring deportees, and he says a lack of support is the reason many of his mates are back inside.
"I would say at least 80 percent of them - a majority of them - [are] coming back in bad headspaces, and running amok."
Corrections do offer some support, which includes referrals to support groups like the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society and the Salvation Army to help these people settle.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the reoffending rate of deportees is similar to what the Government would expect from New Zealand's own prison population. She does, however, acknowledge problems with the Australian law.
"We've seen a number of cases where in our view, we've seen a number of deportations where people just have no connections to New Zealand - and we'll continue to raise that."
While this problem continues to cause headaches for our Government, Australia isn't promising any changes - but it is open to discussions.
"Where there is legislation that impacts New Zealand, we discuss it in advance with New Zealand," says Ms Bishop.
So while there were plenty of smiles in Canberra on Wednesday, there's still one elephant in the room that won't go away.
Newshub.
