But Mr Young has lived in Australia since he was four years old, when he moved here with his parents, and regards himself as Australian. He has a partner and daughter in Sydney.

He finished serving a two-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery and assault on August 18. Three weeks before he was to be released he received a letter from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection advising him that his visa had been revoked.

"I couldn't believe it," Mr Young told the Herald from a mobile phone he had access to at the Christmas Island detention centre.

"I was shattered. I said no, this can't be happening. I've got a daughter here. My whole family [is] here.

"I've been here 26 years. I did all my schooling here. I played all my representative footy here. I worked here. I paid all of my taxes here."

Mr Young, who played lower-grade rugby league for the St George Illawarra Dragons, said it was his first time in jail and he had been looking forward to returning to his family.

On the morning of his release date, My Young was transferred from Silverwater jail to Villawood immigration detention centre, where he was held for five weeks.

Then, on Thursday last week, without warning, he was transferred in the middle of the night to Christmas Island, about 5000 kilometres from his partner of eight years, Nakita Regan, and their five-year-old daughter.

The transfer was akin to a raid and was carried out by officers dressed in riot gear, he said.

"They came at me at 3:30 in the morning. We were fast asleep. They didn't warn us and say get on the ground. They came in with batons and shields and just started giving it to us. I was scared for my life."

Mr Young is one of hundreds of New Zealand nationals whose visas have been revoked since the Abbott government amended the Migration Act to include strict new character test requirements in November last year.

The new measures, contained in section 501 of the Migration Act, provide for the mandatory cancellation of visas for any foreign national sentenced to at least one year's jail, or those convicted of sex offences against children.

As at August 31, 184 New Zealanders were being held on in Australian immigration facilities, according to statistics from the Department of Immigration.

The mandatory deportation of people like Mr Young, who have been long-term Australian residents with few ties to New Zealand, has sparked concern at the highest levels of the New Zealand government.

On Monday, New Zealander Foreign Minister Murray McCully raised the issue with Julie Bishop in New York, where the two are attending United Nations General Assembly meetings.

They agreed a "wider discussion between Immigration Ministers should take place," a spokesman for Mr McCully said.

Mr McCully also indicated New Zealand Prime Minister John Key wished to raise the matter with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Young, of Samoan heritage, said there was a large cohort of New Zealanders at the Christmas Island detention centre.

The 26 detainees who were on his flight from Perth to the island were "mostly from Villawood and mostly Pacific Islanders".

"Around 15 of us were Pacific Islanders and the rest were asylum seekers."

Ms Regan said she was not told her partner had been removed to Christmas Island until she arrived to visit him at Villawood on Friday.

"I rang Villawood continuously and someone told me that they did not want to hear my sob story," she said. "This is a ridiculous in a country like this. They should be sat down with their case officer and told, 'We're moving you.' "

Mr Young said he has been given no indication how long he would be detained on Christmas Island and had not had any contact with immigration officials since arriving.

He has only met with immigration officials once since being placed in detention six weeks ago.

"I only saw them once," he said. "That was it. I've asked them questions but no one gets back to me. A lot of people have been here for three or four years and they are still waiting for an answer."

Mr Young said he was the only person in his immediate and extended family who did not have Australian citizenship.

"I've only known the Australian way," he said. "I've got nothing there [in New Zealand]. No friends, no family.

"If I do go back to New Zealand, there's no point living in this world. My family is everything to me."