February 12, 2018
Deportations creating Tasman time bomb
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis believes Australia is creating long term social problems for itself with its policiy of deporting non-citizen ioffenders.
Changes in Australia's visa rules means hundreds of New Zealanders have been sent back across ther Tasman, even if they have lived in Australia since they were children.
Mr Davis says they often face double jeopardy by being placed in detention centres after finishing a prison sentence, instead of being deported immediately so New Zealand can put support around them and they can appeal their visa status without prejudice.
He says it's damaging families.
"When you've got people who have been raised in Australia and are basically a product of Australia, they've got partners and children over there. If they are deported to New Zealand and can't ever go back, basically the Australian Government is splitting up families and one of my concerns is the effect in 15, 20 years of all these split families that are possibly going to create a bigger problem down the track than the one we are trying to solve," Mr Davis says.
It's something he has asked his ministerial colleagues to take up with the Australian Government.
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