Kiwis upset at how their crims are being punted from Australia

NEW Zealand has kicked up a stink over the way Australia is sending Kiwi crooks back across the Tasman, urging us to soften our tough stance.

NEW Zealand has delivered a diplomatic slapdown to Australia, saying Kiwi crooks are being arbitrarily deported and without due process.

It was also revealed that while 1400 Kiwis have been deported from Australia since 2014, just 11 Aussies have been punted from New Zealand in that time.

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In a formal letter, the New Zealand High Commission said their citizens were being disproportionately targeted by Australia’s tough stance on foreign criminals and urged a softer approach.

“Some New Zealanders are not being given access to what New Zealand considers to be appropriate due process before being deported from Australia,” the Commission stated in a letter to a Senate inquiry into the deportation laws.

“In particular, we are aware of a growing number of New Zealanders who are long-term residents of Australia and have been deported under Section 116 of the Migration Act without facing trial for the alleged crimes that triggered their visa cancellation.”

Bandido Jim Thacker who was deported this month.

The letter warned the deportations were “threatening to undermine the generally very positive trans-Tasman relationship”.

Under the Migration Act, since 2014, foreign citizens sentenced to 12 months in jail or more automatically have visas cancelled, while the Home Affairs Minister has discretionary power to cancel visas on character grounds.

This month, Bandido bikie Jim Thacker was deported four years after he was sentenced to 150 hours community service after pleading guilty to riot, for a minor role in a 2013 brawl between rival bikies on the Gold Coast.

The High Commission recommended NZ’s deportation approach which balances the length of a jail term with how long an offender has lived in the country.