Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s blitz on foreign-born criminals has seen thousands of visas cancelled

A BLITZ on foreign-born criminals by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has seen thousands of visas cancelled, including those of murderers, sex offenders and other crooks.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has cancelled the visas of thousands of foreign-born criminals. Picture: Kym Smith

HUNDREDS of violent thugs and sex perverts were among the almost 1200 foreign-born criminals stripped of their Australian visas last year.

Their deportation orders were issued during Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s ongoing blitz to rid the nation of as many offenders as he can.

“We have zero tolerance for non-citizens who put Australians in danger and think they can exploit our visa system,” Mr Dutton told the Herald Sun on Wednesday.

“We take the safety and wellbeing of Australians very seriously, anyone who thinks they can come to our country and commit crimes can think again.”

CRIME BLITZ ON BIKIES AND OTHER CROOKS

PETER DUTTON’S VISA LAW DEPORTS 158 BIKIES

SHANE MARTIN DEPORTED

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has cancelled the Australian visas of thousands of foreign-born criminals.

Under tough changes made to migration laws in December 2014, Mr Dutton now has greater powers to cancel the visas of foreign-born people who fail to meet minimum character standards, or who have been convicted of an offence involving a jail term of more than 12 months.

Figures provided to the Herald Sun reveal that since the law change, the visas of 3241 killers, crooks and creeps have been cancelled.

Being a member or associate of an organisation reasonably suspected of being involved in crime is now sufficient for Mr Dutton to cancel a visa for failure to meet character standards.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs fall into that category, which is why 168 senior bikies — including Richmond great Dustin Martin’s Rebels bikie dad Shane — have been kicked out of the country since 2014.

Richmond AFL star Dustin Martin's father Shane Martin is one of scores of people who have had visas cancelled. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The 3241 foreign-born criminals ordered out of Australia since December 2014 include:

1325 people convicted of assaults, grievous bodily harm and other violent crimes.

535 drug traffickers and dealers.

395 rapists, paedophiles and child pornographers.

61 murderers and 27 people convicted of manslaughter.

27 people whose visas were cancelled on national security or organised crime grounds.

871 offenders charged with white collar and other crimes.

Of the 3241 foreign born criminals whose visas have been cancelled since December 2014, 541 of them were from Victoria.

There were 217 foreign nations in Victoria stripped of their Australian visas last year, including 69 violent criminals.

Five of the 217 were convicted of murder or manslaughter, 24 of them were paedophiles and eight were convicted of rape and other sex offences.

Another 38 from Victoria committed serious drug offences and 23 who committed armed robberies in Victoria lost their visas.

Not all of the 3241 foreign-born criminals ordered out of Australia have left yet as many have lodged appeals against their deportation orders.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is getting rid of as many foreign-born criminals as he can. Picture Kym Smith

Mr Dutton said Australians were grateful for law-abiding visitors who contributed positively to the country; however he said there were always those who thought they could use and abuse our laws and harm our citizens.

“We have strong measures in place under section 501 of the Migration Act to deal with these criminals; they are not welcome in our country,” he said yesterday.

Of the 1198 visa cancellations in 2017, the most occurred in New South Wales, where there were 430 cancellations, followed by Queensland with 300, then Victoria with 217, Western Australian with 179, South Australia with 43, the Northern Territory with 16, ACT with eight and Tasmania with five.

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