Australia's Immigration Minister Senator Chris Evans says New Zealand should share some of the burden of resettling the Sri Lankan refugees from the Oceanic Viking.
The New Zealand Government has said it won't help, because it doesn't want to reward people who try to jump the queue.
But Senator Evans told the ABC that New Zealand has a responsibility to take some of them.
"They have traditionally been a resettlement country for people found to be refugees in Indonesia," he said.
"What we've been saying is as part of the Bali process there's got to be burden-sharing around the region."
"It's interesting of course that a couple of the boats we've intercepted recently were on the way to New Zealand...we've intercepted them and taken them to Christmas Island, so I think New Zealand understands it's got to be part of the burden-sharing," he said.
Last week, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said he was not surprised New Zealand rejected Australia's request to take asylum seekers.
Mr Crean said he spoke to New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Singapore about the Sri Lankans.
"What they're looking for is the broader solution, not the case by case," the Australian minister said.
Earlier, two brothers sent back to Sri Lanka after being caught among a boatload of people sailing to New Zealand said they were expected to each pay $US2000 ($NZ2700) on arrival in NZ.
The brothers, Buddhi and Kumar, were among 50 young Sri Lankans who had already paid up to $US1500 in advance for the chance of a new life in New Zealand, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.
But their five-weeks on the open seas in the hold of a fishing boat ended in an Australian camp for illegal migrants.
The refugees nearly died when their boat ran aground at Horn Island off the northern tip of Queensland, and on being caught were held on Christmas Island for five months by the Australian authorities.
"I thought we would die when we ran out of food and water, but we got help from Indonesian fishermen," said Kumar, a 25-year-old mechanic.
"I'd still like to try again."
NZPA