Liberal Democrats senator-elect David Leyonhjelm has proposed an open door asylum-seeker policy that would charge people $50,000 for permanent residency in Australia.
Mr Leyonhjelm, who will join the Senate on July 1, will be one of eight senators from minor parties who will hold the balance of power in the upper house.
He wants to keep access to welfare and other benefits exclusive to Australian citizens and then open up the nation's front door to asylum-seekers - at a cost of $50,000.
"People are coming to Australia, they don't have work skills but they still find it attractive from a welfare point of view," he said.
"(Under the proposed policy) when you get here you're allowed to work, you don't get locked up, but you don't have access to welfare."
It would then become an economic consideration for asylum-seekers, he said.
"If you don't think you can get a job and support yourself, you don't come," he said.
"They would say to themselves: 'Is it worth my while spending $50,000 to come here, knowing that if I can't get a job it's money down the drain'?".
Mr Leyonhjelm said Australia was currently spending a fortune to send the navy out to intercept boats.
"The tariff would be a little bit more expensive than what it costs to pay for a trip to Malaysia to bribe everybody to get in," he said.
"My prediction is that Tony Abbott's policy won't work. He might reduce the number of boats for a little while but I don't think it's a permanent solution."
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