Repeat violent offender to be deported as a 501 after losing appeal to remain in Australia

A repeat violent offender who Australian authorities view as a continued threat is to be deported back to New Zealand. Photo / 123RF

Kingi Hoani Paewai has amassed a list of black marks for violence, weapons, traffic and drug-related offending, plus offences against the Australian police and justice system.

One of his most recent offences was against his former partner, whom he struck in the legs with the blunt edge of a tomahawk.

But now the Australians are saying goodbye to him, with a final decision that re-affirms a decision to cancel his visa.

The 42-year-old New Zealander, who moved to Australia in 2007, where he ended up in prison for a total of 12 years, has failed in repeated efforts to reverse that decision.

Paewai’s visa was cancelled in March 2021 under Section 501 of Australia’s Migration Act because of his “substantial criminal record” and because he was serving a prison sentence.

Returnees to New Zealand are called “501″s, a denomination referencing the section of Australia’s migration law they are deported under.

Australian reporter Jordan Fabris at Brisbane Airport in March 2021 as 501 deportees are escorted on to a repatriation flight. Screenshot / Channel 9

The Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal has this month on review upheld a decision made in June not to revoke the cancellation of Paewai’s temporary visa.

The tribunal said that having regard to all of the primary considerations and the relevant other considerations, it was not satisfied there was ‘another reason’ why an earlier cancellation decision should be revoked.

He had argued that his offending was in part caused by previously undiagnosed mental health problems, including complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for which he was receiving treatment he planned to continue with.

Paewai said sending him back to New Zealand would put his recovery and rehabilitation at risk as he has no family support here and may resume contact with anti-social connections.

He said there were “a lot of unresolved gang-related issues” that would put him in danger if he returned; his ties to Australia through his partner, children and extended family were strong and they would be “seriously impacted”.

Paewai arrived in Australia in September 2007. In January 2021, he was convicted and sentenced to prison for charges that included aggravated assault causing harm.

He is currently in Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre in Western Australia.

On the same day his visa was cancelled in 2021, Paewai sought to revoke the decision, which sparked a series of appeals and reviews.

In September 2021, he was invited to comment on additional information, including a New Zealand Police Criminal History Report dating back to 1998 and his incoming passenger cards dated September 7, 2007, noting he had not declared his criminal convictions.

Paewai’s record of criminal offending in Australia started two years after he arrived.

His record includes violence or violence-related and weapons offences; driving and traffic-related offences including reckless speeding and dangerous driving; drug offences; and offences involving public officers, including police and court orders or sentences, escaping custody and providing a false name and address.

He has also been the subject of violence-related restraining orders for the protection of several of his partners, including the mother of his now-adult son, who lived in New Zealand.

In addition to the tomahawk incident against his former partner, he also hit her across the face with his hand, and then with a mobile phone. The assaults continued until Paewai was eventually arrested and imprisoned.

The tribunal said Paewai accepted that his offending was serious, was remorseful and regretted his actions and the impact his anti-social behaviour has had on the community.

He had made efforts to change his behaviour and had engaged in multiple rehabilitation programmes to address anti-social behaviour.

He had learned about addiction, parenting strategies, family violence (noting he had been both a victim and an abuser in the past), consequential thinking and negative peer associations.

He has had treatment for anti-social offending behaviour and substance abuse, anger management, drug and alcohol abuse and was taking part in online recovery meetings, plus attending mental health counselling and addiction support.

However, Australian authorities felt his offending should be viewed as “very serious”, having regard to his history, multiple terms of imprisonment and the frequency and trend of increasing seriousness of his offending.

The tribunal said Paewai had a number of his family members in New Zealand, and there was no evidence he would not have access to the same services available to other citizens.

“The tribunal can infer New Zealand’s social, medical and economic support systems are of an equivalent quality to those available in Australia and there is little impediment to the applicant maintaining basic living standards in New Zealand.”

It was ultimately not satisfied there was any other reason why the cancellation decision should be revoked, and that the correct or preferable decision was to affirm the non-revocation decision.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.