New Zealand has dismissed reports it refused to resettle single male asylum seekers in Australian offshore processing.
Since 2013, New Zealand's government has publicly offered to settle at least 150 refugees being held on Nauru or Manus Island, but has been rebuffed by successive Australian prime ministers, despite a push by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
But News Corp on Friday reported senior New Zealand departmental officials privately told former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull they weren't open to resettling single men from Manus Island.
Ms Ardern's office said while the prime minister had in the past publicly expressed a preference for women and children to be brought over first under the offer, single men had never been ruled out.
Her officials were not aware of any such directives being made by other departments.
A spokeswoman for New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the offer remained on the table.
"It would be natural to prioritise families because of their high protection needs, but officials have never talked in detail about how to give effect to the offer because Australia has never taken up the offer," she said in a statement.
Anyone resettled would undergo "robust assessment and screening process focusing on credibility, security, risk and settlement", she said.
New Zealand officials have previous acknowledged single men are considered higher risk than families.
The report comes just as Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives in New Zealand for regular talks with his Kiwi counterpart, with the pair expected to face questions over the matter.
