Australia announced Friday that boatpeople will no longer be resettled in the country, unveiling a hard-line policy to curb people-smuggling that will see all unauthorized arrivals sent to poverty-stricken Papua New Guinea.

Australia announced Friday that boatpeople will no longer be resettled in the country, unveiling a hard-line policy to curb people-smuggling that will see all unauthorized arrivals sent to poverty-stricken Papua New Guinea.

"From now on, any asylum-seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as a refugee," said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, announcing his harsh new border protection policy in an election year.

Asylum-seekers arriving at Australia's far-flung Christmas Island will be sent to the Manus Island processing centre on Papua New Guinea and elsewhere in the Pacific nation for assessment, with no cap on the number that can be transferred.

Rudd's new policy was announced as Indonesia agreed to tighten visa restrictions for visitors, who currently enjoy visa-free entry to the sprawling Southeast Asian nation and can then pay people-smugglers for passage to Australia. 

Earlier a boat, carrying about 150 suspected asylum seekers, capsized off Australia's Christmas Island, leading to four deaths.