Man refused entry to NZ for being a bikie

John Millar had a Rebels motorcycle club vest with him. Photo / APN

An Australian man with no criminal convictions was held in a New Zealand jail cell without charge for 12 hours after being refused entry to the country because he is a member of the Rebels motorcycle club.

John Millar arrived at Christchurch airport on December 2 where he was handed over to police by immigration officials after customs found a Rebels club vest in his luggage.

Millar, 34, who intended to join a motorcycle ride with the Christchurch chapter of the Rebels, was transferred to a watch house before being put on a flight back to Brisbane the next day.

Immigration NZ told him yesterday that his membership of the club led him to being refused entry under section 16 of the Immigration Act, the Guardian reports.

That allows authorities to turn back anyone believed to be likely to commit an offence drawing jail time or pose a threat or risk to security, public order or the public interest.

"I've done nothing wrong but I'm being punished," Millar, who has travelled to New Zealand three times in the past 20 months without incident, told Guardian Australia.

"If you were going to do something wrong, why would you take your club colours with you?"

Millar said a customs officer had "made a fuss" about the discovery of a Rebels vest in his luggage, which he had brought along with his motorcycle helmet.

"They put me in a cell and I had no toilet paper, no phone call, no shower, a blanket and a thin little blanket on a concrete floor," Millar said.

"They gave me a little pack of cereal for breakfast."

The incident follows recent Australian government moves to deport residents with New Zealand citizenship on character grounds if they are members of bikie gangs.

Immigration NZ confirmed on Saturday night that a man was sent back to Australia under Section 16 of the Immigration Act for being a gang member.

But they had no further comment to make.