About 1,000 New Zealanders could be caught up in Australia’s tough new immigration policy, Prime Minister John Key says.
Advertisement
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrives for his first official visit to New Zealand on Friday.
It comes after numerous reports of New Zealanders being detained indefinitely in detention centres across Australia and on neighbouring islands, while they await deportation. “I wouldn’t put it in the context of whether they’ll back down; whether they’ll make alterations to their policies to consider the special relationship between New Zealand and Australia”.
It would dominate his talks with Mr Turnbull at the weekend, Mr Key said.
He had pushed the issue with former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose government set the policy, and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, he told TV3’s Paul Henry show on Monday.
Mr Key says the issue will be raised during a bilateral meeting with Mr Turnbull on Saturday, but he can’t guarantee anything will change.
“For a start off, seeing will be believing, but if you look at the plight of New Zealanders in Australia, the sense we’ve been getting from the Australian Government is there’s a few movement happening on that issue”.
Under new rules introduced late last year, anyone who is not an Australian citizen and has served more than a year in prison can be deported.
Last month Justice Minister Amy Adams announced the signing of a new information-sharing agreement with Australia, which would provide more details on criminals being sent to New Zealand, including a summary of offences, case history, fingerprints and photographs.
Labour’s foreign affairs spokesperson David Shearer said the government had been preparing for months for an influx of more than 1000 New Zealanders.
Mr Blackwood’s father has also said he feels there is little political will to help his son.
Advertisement
His office asked where and how many Kiwis there were in detention centres. This afternoon, Mr Key said he was limited in what he could say about what the Government was doing to try and help Mr Blackwood.
