A suggested overhaul of Australia's visa system which may potentially create a two-tiered society has been described as an attempt to exploit fear and division.
Cabinet documents obtained by Fairfax Media reveal a proposal for the mandatory granting of a new provisional visa before a person can be granted permanent residency.
"What we are seeing is the (immigration) minister attempting to exploit fear and division within our community, playing the race card at a time when we need unity," Greens leader Richard Di Natale told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
"It seems the minister has learnt the lessons from Donald Trump that race, fear and division are potent political weapons and he is seeking to exploit them at every opportunity."
The proposed changes would remove a direct line to securing permanent residence by ensuring a person is first granted a provisional visa, according to departmental briefing notes.
The reforms were likely to be unpopular in the community given the large number of people affected, and because one in two Australians were either born overseas or had a parent born overseas, the Department of Social Services said.
It flagged concerns the timetable was "too short" to allow proper consideration and implementation and demanded humanitarian entrants be excluded from any social security changes tied to the proposal.
Labor frontbencher Brendan O'Connor said the fact the documents were leaked spoke volumes of the government.
"These are very sensitive issues, how we deal with permanent residents, temporary visas, people with citizenship," he told reporters.
"The fact that document is released mean there is fighting amongst cabinet ministers in this government, and the fighting will not cease."
In parliament, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the document was submitted to cabinet, but not regarded as a cabinet document.
"It was marked protected because it was dealing with matters that were to be submitted to cabinet but was not, in fact, submitted to cabinet," he said.
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