New Zealand will take 150 refugees annually for three years from Australia's cohort, including from the infamous Nauru detention centre, following a long-standing offer.
A joint statement from Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi and Australian Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews on Thursday said the offer - in place since 2013 - had been accepted.
The resettlement arrangement will only apply to refugees at Australia's offshore immigration detention facility on Nauru or refugees temporarily in Australia for processing.
They must meet New Zealand's Refugee Quota Programme requirements, be referred to New Zealand by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], and cannot be engaged in other resettlement pathways, such as with the United States.
"This arrangement does not apply to anyone who attempts an illegal maritime journey to Australia in the future," said Andrews.
"Australia remains firm: illegal maritime arrivals will not settle here permanently. Anyone who attempts to breach our borders will be turned back or sent to Nauru."
She thanked Faafoi for his "constructive" engagement with Australia.
"I'm pleased that our two countries were able to reach this agreement. Australia will continue to work with New Zealand, and the UNHCR, to operationalise the arrangement."
Faafoi said the long-standing offer reflects New Zealand and Australia's close relationship.
"New Zealand has a long and proud history of refugee resettlement and this arrangement is another example of how we are fulfilling our humanitarian international commitment," Faafoi said.
"We are pleased to be able to provide resettlement outcomes for refugees who would otherwise have continued to face uncertain futures."
Australia has for years avoided accepting the offer made in 2013 over fears refugees could use New Zealand as a back door to get into Australia.
The offer was first made by former Prime Minister John Key to his then-Australian counterpart Julia Gillard, and has since been re-iterated by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Standing next to Ardern in Auckland in 2019, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there were no plans to accept the offer.
"Our government has no plans to take up the arrangement, whatsoever," Morrison said at the time. "We appreciate the friendliness of the offer, and its genuineness."
Ardern, at the time, was urged to address the conditions in Australian detention centres in her talks with Morrison. According to Amnesty International, the conditions to which refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru are subjected to amounts to torture.
"Australia has isolated vulnerable women, men and children in a remote place which they cannot leave, with the specific intention that these people should suffer," Amnesty International's senior crisis director Anna Neistat said in 2016.
Last month it appeared the Australians had warmed to the idea of taking New Zealand's refugee offer. The deal with New Zealand was confirmed 'in principle' in the Australian Senate.
'I will never go back to that place'
New Zealand-based Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani has been outspoken about Australia's detention centres, having spent years detained at at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea.
In 2013, Boochani fled Iran after promoting Kurdish language and culture in the media, and was thus accused of undermining the Iranian state.
He arrived at the Australian territory of Christmas Island via people smugglers, hoping to be given asylum. But he was instead transferred to Manus Island and denied asylum because of Australia's laws against boat arrivals.
Boochani then arrived in Christchurch in 2019 after obtaining a visa to attend a local literary festival. He was granted refugee status in 2020.
Boochani gained notoriety after he painstakingly uploaded short video segments for a filmmaker to edit into a feature-length documentary that showed audiences a glimpse behind Australia's secretive facilities.
"I will never go back to that place," he said in 2019, after departing Papua New Guinea.
As of 31 December 2021, there were 105 people still at facilities in Papua New Guinea and 114 on Nauru, according to the Refugee Council of Australia.
Green MP Golriz Ghahraman, who advocated on behalf of Boochani, welcomed the news that Australia had accepted New Zealand's offer but said there was more to do.
"New Zealand's refugee quota has not been filled for two years now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Extending the offer to resettle refugees and ensuring the quota can be met in full is an important way we can acknowledge the worsening plight of refugees in Ukraine and Afghanistan," Ghahraman said.
"We welcome wholeheartedly the refugees preparing to travel to Aotearoa from Manus and Nauru. We know it has been a heart-breaking journey. Know that you will soon be free, your humanity will be recognised, and you will have a safe home to put down roots".
