Australian refugees may get temporary visas

Canberra: Australia's Parliament appears close to creating a new class of temporary visas for refugees that will prevent those who arrived by boat in recent years from making Australia their permanent home.

More than 30,000 asylum seekers who arrived on Australian shores since August 2012 have yet to have their refugees claims assessed because the government doesn't want them to stay permanently.

The government wants the Senate to pass legislation on Thursday that would create a temporary three-year visa for the genuine refugees among them.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has declined to say whether his government had the support of the six minor party and independent senators it needed to get the legislation through on the Parliament's final sitting day of the year. But he describes discussions with them as "constructive.”