Overview

• Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke signed the memorandum in Nauru on Aug 29, with undertakings for proper treatment and long-term residence through Nauruan visas.
• Media reports say Australia will pay about A$408 million upfront once transfers begin and roughly A$70 million annually to support the arrangement.
• The government has introduced lower-house legislation to strengthen deportation powers by limiting final-stage procedural fairness where a third-country option exists.
• The agreement targets the NZYQ cohort released after the 2023 High Court ruling—more than 220 people, including some with serious convictions—with a February attempt to transfer three men halted by legal challenges.
• Refugee advocates and UN experts have criticised the plan, citing past findings of systematic violations tied to transfers to Nauru and warning it could enable mass removals without notice.