Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Letters: Karel Sroubek plot thickens

Northland Age
14 Nov, 2018 11:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Karel Sroubek.

Karel Sroubek.

The one constant about the Karel Sroubek case is that every day seems to reveal more uncertainty. But while we are no closer to either a resolution of the case, or even a clear understanding of why Minister Lees-Galloway has acted the way he has, some things are a little clearer.

For a start, Lees-Galloway did not grant Sroubek permanent residence — that happened in 2008 (albeit under a false name), before Lees-Galloway was even in Parliament, let alone Minister of Immigration.

We also know, by deduction, that the decision to grant permanent residence must have been considered so straightforward by immigration officials at the time that it did not require reference to the then Minister, because officials have now conceded the only Minister they have ever discussed the case with is Lees-Galloway, after October 2017.

And, somewhere along the way, presumably after Sroubek's imprisonment in 2016, officials discovered the false identity and reissued the permanent residence in his correct name.

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway has been under fire since this Karel Sroubek debacle began.
Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway has been under fire since this Karel Sroubek debacle began.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When Sroubek became eligible for release, officials raised the case with Lees-Galloway, seeking his confirmation that the standard deportation provisions should apply. Here is where the situation starts to get murky.

It appears — for reasons which are not yet known — that Lees-Galloway declined to confirm Sroubek's deportation, choosing instead to defer the requirement for five years, thus upholding Sroubek's permanent residence and allowing him to stay here.

In the wake of the ensuing uproar, and the release of more information about Sroubek's background that was apparently and curiously not known previously to officials, Lees-Galloway has ordered a reconsideration of the case. But that has only made things more difficult.

Lees-Galloway is already under strong public and political pressure to just overturn Sroubek's permanent residence immediately and send him on his way. That is the one thing he cannot do — for reasons of natural justice in the event of any subsequent push for a judicial review of his decision-making — so Lees-Galloway has to be seen to now have followed due process, which will be time-consuming.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

And while this rolls on, he has to suffer the death of a thousand cuts on almost a daily basis.

This whole saga raises many questions of judgement, most of which come back to Lees-Galloway.

While he cannot be held responsible for the original residency decision, which happened long before he became Minister, he has to be held responsible for the decision to effectively confirm Sroubek's residence by deferring the usually automatic deportation decision for up to five years.

There have to be serious questions as to his reasons why.

Discover more

Letters: Join the celebration

16 Oct 05:30 AM

Letters: 'Extremist' 1080 claims expose the hysterical few

17 Oct 11:30 PM
Business

Switzer Residential Care call for Govt action on nursing crisis

22 Oct 09:30 PM

Letters: State of SH10 unacceptable Mr Twyford

23 Oct 05:30 AM

Moreover, his failure to offer anything approaching a credible explanation of his actions starts to bring his wider judgment and suitability to hold ministerial office into question.

His subsequent bizarre behaviour (hiding awkwardly behind pillars to avoid journalists and less than stellar defences of his position in the House) raises even more doubts.

No doubt officials will find compelling reasons over the next couple of weeks to enable Lees-Galloway to overturn his decision and Sroubek's residency. But that will not excuse them for the original decision to grant residence to Sroubek, and not pick up until much later the false identity he was using.

With allegedly improved information sharing between relevant government agencies following the 2014 Smith/Trainor passport fraud case, there should have been no reason for not picking up Sroubek's real identity much earlier.

The discovery that Sroubek used a false identity to gain residence all those years ago was a sufficiently serious matter to have been to the attention of the Minister of the day at that time.

There needs to be some explanation for this, and steps taken to ensure future Ministers are not subject to similar blindsides.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Probably the worst news for Lees-Galloway is that while the Prime Minister did not seem at first to know too much, or even be all that interested, in the Sroubek case, she is now engaged and becoming irritated and frustrated by what is being disclosed.

He will also be well aware that two Ministers have already fallen this year over performance and conduct issues, and will be increasingly concerned not to become the next one to go.

He will have realised that what officials disclose when they eventually report back will determine not only Sroubek's fate, but also his own.

PETER DUNNE
Wellington

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

Invasive sea spurge found at Spirits Bay, threatening native plants

Northland Age

Kaikohe to welcomes two officers in unity ceremony at marae

Northland Age

'Grateful no one was killed': Man clambers on campervan to rescue pensioner hurt in twister


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

Invasive sea spurge found at Spirits Bay, threatening native plants
Northland Age

Invasive sea spurge found at Spirits Bay, threatening native plants

Sea spurge, an invasive weed, was found at Spirits Bay, 60km from the nearest site.

16 Jul 04:00 AM
Kaikohe to welcomes two officers in unity ceremony at marae
Northland Age

Kaikohe to welcomes two officers in unity ceremony at marae

16 Jul 02:00 AM
'Grateful no one was killed': Man clambers on campervan to rescue pensioner hurt in twister
Northland Age

'Grateful no one was killed': Man clambers on campervan to rescue pensioner hurt in twister

15 Jul 03:26 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP