The Police Minister will be asking for an explanation - after a wanted man almost made it across the ditch

A 20-year-old Queenstown man was detained by Australian Police entering Sydney last night.

He was wanted in relation to a 15-person brawl on Sunday - where two people were stabbed.

Police say they didn't have enough evidence to issue a warrant until after the man had boarded the plane.

But Minister Stuart Nash says ideally, they want to catch people before they cross the Tasman.

He says he's not sure how this happened - but he'll find out.