Australia's opposition leader Bill Shorten has praised our Prime Minister for her leadership in New Zealand's offer to take Manus Island refugees.

Jacinda Ardern and Mr Shorten have held informal talks in Auckland for the first time since she became PM.

They also discussed citizenship and tertiary education.

Mr Shorten signalled he's open to changing current laws and wants to strengthen trans-tasman ties.

He said that Australia needs to make a decision in regards to how they support New Zealanders living across the ditch.

"Do we want to support New Zealand permanent residents in terms of their access to higher education in Australia, or are we going to treat them as second class residents in Australia?" he asked.