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SYDNEY: Australia on Thursday extended tough refugee policies to any asylum-seeker who lands on its mainland, allowing them to be banished to remote Nauru or Papua New Guinea for detention.

Application fees to apply to hire foreign workers in Australia under 457 visas are set to almost double from July under new measures announced in the federal budget.

Immigration officials are keen that everyone from employers, visa holders and those considering moving to Australia should be aware of skilled migration options and the new laws and penalties that have been introduced recently.

The arrival of an asylum seeker boat carrying almost 150 people near Darwin has raised concerns that would-be refugees are trying to land on mainland Australia to avoid being sent to offshore processing centres.

The arrival of an asylum seeker boat carrying almost 150 people near Darwin has aroused concerns that would-be refugees are trying to reach mainland Australia to avoid being sent to offshore processing centres.

Top-ranking Australian ministers are due to meet Indonesian officials next week amid a recent surge in asylum seeker boat arrivals.

Labor's own immigration expert Paris Aristotle says it is ''absolutely certain'' there will be more asylum-seeker deaths at sea unless the government implements the full suite of measures recommended to it last year.

Opposition Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has confirmed a Coalition government would impose behaviour protocols for asylum seekers on bridging visas.