Australia's new Prime Minister has vowed to "work through some of the issues" with the country's current policy on 501 deportees - but stopped short of dropping the legislation altogether.
Anthony Albanese's comments were made in a joint press conference with his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern on Friday afternoon, following a meeting between the pair in Canberra.
Australia has sent thousands of Kiwis back to New Zealand since 2015 after controversial changes were made to section 501 of its Migration Act - many of whom have spent most of their lives in Australia before their deportation.
Albanese said while section 501 would be maintained in Australia, he'd heard Ardern's views on the deportation issue loud and clear.
"There can be no argument that the Prime Minister has been very forceful in her views. We have listened to those views," he told media.
"We will work through some of those issues and we'll have a ministerial meeting, a leaders' meeting coming next month and we'll work through with our departments the implementation of the way that Section 501 has been dealt with.
"But we've listened to the concerns and there's more work to do."
Albanese said Australia and New Zealand would deal with the issue "in a mature way" and with common sense - even conceding he'd be annoyed too if he were in Ardern's shoes.
"What's clear is if people look at some of the cases that have been held, it's not surprising that the Prime Minister has made the strong representations that she had, because I would be if I was in the same position."
Ardern said she wasn't asking for section 501 to be repealed - but just for Australia "to stop deporting Australians".
"What we've simply asked is that there's greater reciprocity," she said. "New Zealand, of course, supports individuals who've been to New Zealand for a short time, and who have acted outside our expectations for anyone who chooses to stay as a resident.
"But there are some who are being deported from Australia who, for all intents and purposes, are Australian - often zero connection to New Zealand, sometimes not even having stepped foot there. That's the place that we're asking for that consideration to be given.
"So anyone who claims that it is somehow going to make Australia less safe: that is not true and it is not fair."
Earlier Albanese had also spoken about China's attempts to increase their influence in the Pacific, and said they were "in lockstep" with New Zealand on the unfolding situation.
"We're all a part of the Pacific. They're our partners and at the Pacific Island Forum, I very much look forward to working not just with New Zealand but our other Pacific partners on making sure that we defend national sovereignty, that we look at ways in which we can increase development."
