The first asylum-seekers to be sent to Papua New Guinea under Australia's new hardline refugee policy arrived in the impoverished Pacific nation Thursday, with Canberra declaring people-smugglers no longer had a product to sell.
Their arrival formally brought into effect a bilateral agreement reached last month that asylum-seekers arriving in Australia on unauthorised boats will be sent to PNG for processing and resettled there - even if judged to be genuine refugees.
The 40 asylum-seekers, mainly Iranian and Afghan men, were flown from Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island Wednesday night, accompanied by Australian police and medical staff, the immigration department said.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke said it showed Canberra was serious about not resettling boatpeople in Australia.
"Over time, every single person who arrives under these new rules will find the government is true to its word," he said.
"As of now there are the first 40 people in Papua New Guinea who are realising that the people-smugglers no longer have a product to sell.
Asylum-seekers are a sensitive issue in Australia, and one featuring prominently in the lead-up to national elections due this year, which will pit the Kevin Rudd-led Labour government against the conservative opposition headed by Tony Abbott.
Both are promising a harsh stance, with Abbott unveiling rival plans for a military-led operation and detention for arrivals in a tent city on far-flung Nauru.
Despite the tough talk, more than 1,400 asylum-seekers have arrived on 18 boats since the government announced its new stance. Australia's Manus Island facility in PNG is currently only able to accommodate 500, although there are plans to expand it to cater for at least 3,000.
Burke said: "In the coming days there will be more and more flown across" to PNG, with an advertising campaign spelling out the policy in key transit countries like Indonesia and Sri Lanka to be stepped up.
Rights groups have criticised the state of existing facilities at Manus Island, with the United Nations last week saying it was "troubled" by the decision to send asylum-seekers there.
The UNHCR highlighted "significant shortcomings" in the legal framework for receiving and processing asylum-seekers.
The first transfer comes as PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill outlined the costs of major projects Australia has agreed to fund as part of the deal.