Australia's opposition, tipped to win next month's election, is promising to revive tough laws barring thousands of asylum seekers already in Australia from settling permanently.

Asylum seekers making the often perilous journey to Australia are met by the authorities before they make land.

Around 15,000 have arrived this year and immigration is a top issue ahead of September's election.

The Labour government and opposition coalition are vying to take the tougher stance, aware that crucial election-winning seats will be largely won or lost on the economy and border security.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott promised on Friday to revive tough laws barring asylum seekers already in Australia from settling permanently.

Abbott has promised to appoint a military commander to take charge of asylum issues. He said if he wins, the 30,000 asylum seekers currently in Australia would only receive temporary visas even if found to be refugees.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.