Editorial: No justification for Australia s appalling 501 deportations
16 Mar, 2021 04:00 PM
3 minutes to read
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta on the 15-year-old deported from Australia. Video / Mark Mitchell
NZ Herald
EDITORIAL Despite our many common causes and shared endeavours, the much-vaunted Anzac relationship has been sorely tested, most notedly in recent times by the deportations of New Zealand-born criminals under Australia s notorious Section 501 of its Migration Act.
Behind the oft acclaimed transtasman camaraderie, there is a long history of appalling abuse. Exactly 100 years ago, in 1921, Australia banned New Zealand apples because of claims that fire blight, a disease that attacks apple and pear trees and rose bushes, could spread.
The percentage of assaults caused by gang members or affiliates was 58 per cent in the most recent financial year. Union boss Alan Whitely, president of the Corrections Association of New Zealand, said the Corrections Regulations 2005 legislation should be overhauled. He blamed a “softer approach”, and said a lack of discipline in prisons was behind the increasing assaults.
MARTIN DE RUYTER/Stuff
Alan Whitely says a lack of discipline in prisons is to blame for the increasing assaults on guards. Whitely said Corrections staffers were afraid to properly discipline prisoners for fear of being investigated or disciplined themselves, and that there weren t enough adjudicators for the country’s prisons, meaning internal charges often came to nothing.
Waititi says prison alternatives needed 26 Feb 2021 13:45 PM
More Related Stories
HASH(0x35a4158)
Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi says it’s time to look at alternatives to prison.
The Waiariki MP came under fire this week from Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis for his support for rioting Waikeria prisoners.
He stands by his actions, and says a judgment this week on the inhumane treatment of two wāhine in Auckland Women’s Prison shows the system is absolutely broken.
He says with the majority of inmates both male and female being Māori, it’s time for iwi, hapū and Māori communities look at alternatives to incarceration.