Boots in to send deportees our way

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The sight of handcuffed “501 deportees” being harassed by an Australian reporter while they were taken to a plane was the most depressing of last week and raises concerns about New Zealand's relationship with Australia.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton added his boot, saying the deportees were trash and Australia was safer for having deported them.

It led to Cabinet Minister Chris Hipkins saying that Australia was sending its garbage to New Zealand, in a statement he quickly retracted.

The 30 men and women were returned to New Zealand under the Section 501 provisions that allows people of bad character to be deported if they are not Australian citizens. They will spend 14 days in a state-run isolation facility.

As they were led to the plane they were badgered by 9 News crime reporter Jordan Fabias, who was given special access by the Australian border force, with comments like “our country doesn't want you” and “how does it feel to be kicked out of Australia?”

There has been an understandable reaction on this side of the Tasman, with Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta saying that Dutton was trashing his own reputation.

Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the deportees were not trash, while Judith Collins said New Zealand should respond by sending Australian prisoners back.

It is a hot issue in Australia where Dutton has played this game before, pandering to an ugly section of the Australian public.

There are a lot of people on this side of the Tasman who do not want the deportees here either.

The essential problem is that most if not all of them have spent the greater part of their lives in Australia, and have little to come back to here. For most their criminal behaviour was learned in Australia; a significant number have also continued to turn to crime here, most notably Pasilika Naufahu the Commancheros bike gang leader who was recently convicted of money laundering and supplying drugs, and jailed for 10 years.

Realistically Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has few options. She has repeatedly raised the issue with her Australian counterpart only for it to fall on deaf ears.

The bigger issue is what it shows about New Zealand's relationship with Australia. Ardern says the relationship has not broken down and describes it as excellent, saying she and Scott Morrison speak frequently. That may be true, but on this subject it is a one-way conversation.