Davis waits to see Kiwis in remote detention centre

Labour MP Kelvin Davies. Photo / NZME.

A New Zealand Labour MP is waiting on Christmas Island to hear if he'll be granted access to an Australian detention centre where Kiwis are being held.

Kelvin Davis arrived on the island on Saturday, and delivered a request to look inside the centre where about 40 Kiwis are waiting to be sent back to New Zealand.

Concerns have grown about Australia's immigration policy, which came into effect in December, under which anyone who isn't an Australian citizen and who has served a prison sentence of 12 months or more can be deported, potentially affecting about 1000 New Zealanders.

Although Prime Minister John Key pushed for exemptions for New Zealanders in his first bilateral talks with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday, the Australian leader refused to budge.

Mr Davis said yesterday he had been talking to detainees over the phone and had heard of worrying conditions.

They told him of fellow detainees self-harming and committing suicide, and one told of being beaten by an emergency response team in a case of mistaken identity.

Viewing the detention centre from a hilly outlook, it appeared to be a "standard prison", he said.

"The thing that strikes me about flying into Christmas Island is just how far away it is from anything."

It was a 20 hour flight from Sydney. "To me that's just absolutely inhumane to separate people that far from their families, their loved ones, their legal advice."

- AAP