Deportees due to arrive in Auckland

New Zealand detainees are expected to arrive on a charter flight from Australia on Thursday at Auckland International Airport.

A police spokesperson said 12 detainees - who up until now had been held in detention centres in Australia - were expected to be on the flight and would be met by officers.

Police Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Burgess said the offenders would be required to provide police with their name, date of birth address and fingerprints.

They would also have to give samples of their DNA.

Mr Burgess said police would interview each of the offenders and work out a management plan to make sure they did not re-offend and to help them settle into life here.

Legislation setting up a monitoring regime for deported New Zealanders arriving back in the country passed its final reading this morning under urgency.

Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the riot at Australia's Christmas Island detention centre - including the use of makeshift flame-throwers.

Detainees caused an estimated $10 million worth of damage and New Zealanders are in a core group of suspects, although no-one has yet been charged.

RNZ's John Campbell, who has just left Christmas Island for Perth, said some of those who took part in the riots did so unwillingly but he said some of the weapons in use were potentially deadly.

He said prisoners wielded an assortment of home-made weapons, including lawnmower blades, a chainsaw and a pesticide sprayer turned into a flame-thrower.

Up to 30 New Zealanders have been forcibly removed from the island since the riots a week and a half ago, with roughly two thirds held in the maximum security Casuarina Prison near Perth.

A second group of detainees is expected to arrive next week.