November 04, 2015

Australia's hard-line immigration policies hit closer to home

located:	Australia
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

On Saturday New Zealand and Australia faced off in the Rugby World Cup but the two countries' politicians have also been going head-to-head after 80 New Zealanders have been deported from Australia since December - many who have lived almost their whole lives in Australia and have little or no remaining connection to NZ.

This is a result of controversial new Australian law which deems that people who have served prison sentences of 12 months or more can be deported without notice, even if they have been convicted of relatively petty crimes.

A couple of weeks ago a quadriplegic man was dropped off at Auckland airport after serving a short sentence for self-medicating with painkillers. He'd lived in Australia for 36 years and suddenly found himself back in New Zealand with no personal connections and only a week's accommodation voucher as support from the Australian government. No financial backing, no place to live, no notice.

Other Kiwis awaiting deportation from Australia are being held in prisons on Christmas Island where asylum seekers are also held in very poor conditions. Although fairplanet, among other human rights advocate voices, has always deplored the inhumane treatment meted out to asylum seekers there, extending this maltreatment to their mates across the Tasman Sea turns the delusion up a notch.

New Zealanders and Australians might use big talk when it comes to the sports field, but really they consider each other brothers. Just this year they jointly commemorated the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli during WWI where both countries' soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder in a campaign which gave both young nations standing on the world stage.

Australia, although many times larger and more populous than New Zealand, has always been the 'poor cousin' when it comes to human rights. The country notoriously gave Maori the right to vote in Australia before its own indigenous peoples when a law limiting the voting rights of "uncivilized people" made an example of the surprising civility of New Zealand's native people.

With a new Prime Minister at the helm, it will be interesting to see whether Australia can pull itself out of the shameful human rights reputation afforded during Tony Abbott's leadership. so far, not so good.