Father with bikie links, fiance, to be deported despite having lived here since age two

A BELOVED father and fiance is set to be deported to the UK despite having lived in Australia since he was two.

The Immigration Minister has stripped Paul Burgess of his permanent residency visa on character grounds because he had a bikie gang connection.

• Two senior Adelaide bikies banished to immigration detention

A BELOVED father and fiance is set to be deported to the UK despite having lived in Australia since he was two.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has stripped Paul Burgess of his permanent residency visa on character grounds because he has a criminal history and had a bikie gang connection.

But his family and lawyer say he was only a member of the Comancheros for two months in 2013 and that his crimes are “not of the same nature” as those of others who have been kicked out of the country.

Mr Dutton has sweeping powers to cancel visas without notice, and The Advertiser revealed earlier this month that two Adelaide men had been deported to Christmas Island — Mr Burgess and Mongols treasurer Andrew Peter Stevens.

Mr Burgess’s fiancee, who declined to be named, said he was “not the face of organised crime”.

“His whole life has been here,” she said.

“Peter Dutton (talks about) the misery inflicted on mums and dads; well none of that has been inflicted by Paul.

“The only misery being caused is on our five-year-old Australian son who has been left without a dad.”

One criteria for cancelling visas is that a person has to have been sentenced to prison term of 12 months or more.

In 2003 Mr Burgess was sentenced to 15 months for assault and robbery, but he only had to serve three months.

His family says he is no angel but has been unfairly targeted.

Mr Burgess was taken from his home with no warning and sent to the Christmas Island detention centre to await his fate. His lawyer hopes to take the case to the Federal Court but concedes the case could be “futile” because of the arbitrary nature of the laws.

Solicitor Mitchell Simmons, of McDonald Steed McGrath lawyers, said the authorities made it “as hard as possible” to help Mr Burgess.

“Under these powers, the Act says they don’t have to follow natural justice, or procedural fairness,” he said.

Mr Simmons said it seemed to him the Government had already deported many serious criminals and was now going after smaller fish.

“It’s just not of the same nature,” he said, adding that Mr Burgess had not been charged with any crimes relating to bikie activity.

In a “notice of visa cancellation”, Mr Dutton notes that deportation would cause severe hardship.

“I have considered that he would experience severe emotional and psychological hardship in being separated from his family,” he wrote.

He told The Advertiser that “criminal bikie gangs pose considerable threats to the Australian community”.

“Protecting the Australian community is the highest priority of the Turnbull Government,” he said.

“If foreigners are involved in serious criminal activity, I won’t hesitate to cancel their visa and have them removed from our country.”