Australia's continual deportation to New Zealand of criminals who have served their time is "deplorable", says Chris Hipkins.
It comes after Australia's Channel 9 aired footage of a planeload of deportees in Australia destined for New Zealand. In the television story Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton referred to the deportations as "taking the trash out".
Today, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins spoke about the deportees, saying: "Their criminal offending has been in Australia".
The flight from Brisbane to Auckland was reportedly full of people who’d committed crimes in Australia. (Source: Other)
"Many of them have lived the vast bulk of their lives in Australia. This is a deplorable move by the Australian Government that we completely disagree with, however they are entitled to do it."
"This is Australia exporting its garbage to New Zealand," Hipkins said, before quickly admitting he could have "chosen a better frame of word" for describing the deportees.
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton likened deporting criminals to New Zealand to “taking the trash out”. (Source: Other)
"If that is Peter Dutton's view, he is exporting his rubbish to New Zealand, I didn't mean to suggest that was what I was calling them."
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said that Dutton’s comments "only serve to trash his own reputation".
More criticism of Dutton came from Māori Party's Rawiri Waititi - who said many deportees may be Māori and that "our people are not trash".
"They’re humans. They got to do the time for the crime, I'm not disputing that.
"(But) to be called trash, the Minister (Dutton) should apologise."
"They’re bringing them here without any support, any systems put in place. When they get here, how are they being treated? A country should not be measured how it treats its first class, but by the way it treats its marginalised and its indigenous people."
The issue of Australia deporting criminals with little ties to New Zealand who have served their time, back to New Zealand, has been a contentious issue for the trans-Tasman relationship.
In Ardern's Australia trip prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, she stood next to Australian PM Scott Morrison and said the "New Zealand and Australia relationship is being tested".
"Send back Kiwis, genuine Kiwis - do not deport your people, and your problems.
"We will own our people. We ask that Australia stop exporting theirs."
Today, Ardern said the recent footage of a planeload of deportees in Australia, destined for New Zealand after serving prison sentences does not change her view on the issue - "We strongly disagree with it".
"The Australian Government is within their rights to do what they’re doing, it just so happens that we strongly disagree with it.
"The Australian leadership is very aware of our view on it and it hasn’t changed.
"We’re not going to get into a tit for tat about."
Earlier today, National's Judith Collins called for New Zealand to do the same with Australian criminals who had served their time.
The National leader says NZ can’t be the “dumping ground” for everything wrong that’s happened in Australia with people and criminal behaviour. (Source: Other)
She said that although Australia is “our closest friend and ally in the world, it’s also, though, a sovereign country and it does deserve respect".
"But then so do we in New Zealand,” she added. "And New Zealand needs to also say if Australia is going to send us what they refer to as 'our rubbish or our trash', we should be sending them back theirs.
Australia's 2014 law deports people who commit crimes back to New Zealand - even if they have spent most of their lives living overseas.
Hipkins said the deportees would go to a dedicated MIQ facility in Auckland.
"They're kept separate from other returnees coming into the country. There is extra security."
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