New rules for Irish tourists in Australia as crack down begins

Australia will detain tourists who overstay visas in special prisons.

The Labour party has denied the tightening visa rules in response to the rise of the far-right One Nation party, who have become one of the country's most popular parties with policies to slash migration into the country.

One Nation's plan is to slash Australia’s temporary migrant population by 750,000.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirms over 103,000 people born in Ireland live in Australia, passing the 100,000 milestone for the first time recently.

The amount of Irish over-stayers is thought to be around 1,200 people.

Under reforms announced yesterday (Thursday), Australia will stop family members accompanying students, introduce ballots for working holidaymakers and crack down on tourists who overstay their visa.

Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite said tourists would be put in immigration detention to reduce the level of visa overstayers, which has risen to 77,000.

"Once the word gets around, 'hey, I overstayed on my tourist visa for a couple of weeks, I got picked up and I spent a couple of weeks in immigration detention, it's not a nice place, I'm going home'. Once that gets around, then we think that obviously that deterrence will ensure that people abide by the conditions," he told broadcaster News24.

People who do not have the right to remain in Australia will face a "consequence" and be removed, he added.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke, announcing the new policy, said the government would open 250 beds and add 100 compliance officers to house the visa overstayers in different facilities.

Australian Tourism Industry Council chief executive Erin McLeod said talk of detaining tourists was not good for Australia's image.

"I don't think it does our reputation as a welcoming destination any good and can become quite damaging - tourism is an important part of the Australian economy," she said.

Refugee Council of Australia director of policy Rebecca Eckard said the move raised safety and legal concerns.

"It is being framed as punitive to change behaviour. The use of punitive detention is not permitted under Australia's immigration act," she said.

"There has been a major problem with immigration detention," she added, pointing to concerns raised by the government ombudsman over insufficient staffing and healthcare access.