NZ upset by Giles decision to replace ‘direction 99’ rule on deporting criminals

New Zealand has expressed its disappointment at a new direction that will lower the threshold to deport foreign criminals from Australia as the Albanese government seeks to regain control over the troubled immigration portfolio.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles released a new rule – known as “direction 110” – on Friday morning to replace the previous “direction 99” which was blamed for dozens of convicted criminals being released into the community rather than returned to their country of citizenship.

The federal opposition quickly attacked the government for not going far enough, saying it should have toughened the direction’s language even further to ensure that as many former criminals as possible are removed from the country.

Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles, announces a new ministerial directive on Friday.Credit: Joe Armao

Giles, who has faced ferocious attacks and calls to resign from the opposition, said the new direction would instruct administrative review officials to prioritise the “protection of the Australian community and common sense” when making their decisions.

“The new revised direction will make crystal clear that the Australian government expects community protection to be given greater weight when it comes to visa decisions,” Giles said of the new direction, which will take effect on June 21.

“It makes it clear that the safety of the Australian community is the Albanese government's highest priority and includes this as a key principle of the decision-making framework.

“It also elevates the impact on victims of family violence and their families into one of the existing primary considerations, reflecting the government’s zero-tolerance approach to domestic and family violence.”

Asked by a New Zealand journalist whether the new policy was a “betrayal of New Zealand”, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that “we regret the decision Australia has made”, while noting the country was allowed to set its own immigration rules.

“It’s just not right that people with no connection to New Zealand are deported to New Zealand,” Luxon said on Friday.

“We need to monitor the implementation of it.

“I note that prime minister Albanese has also assured me that a common-sense approach will continue to apply.”

Luxon has campaigned on reducing crime in New Zealand and cracking down on criminal gang activity.

The new direction still says decision makers must consider the impact on a non-citizen’s family members and their connection to Australia when deciding whether they should be deported for committing a crime.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said that “this new Direction 110 doesn’t give much change in circumstance at all, and it will still give rise to the sort of outcomes that we’ve seen in allowing these people to stay in our community”.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said he had “no confidence” the new direction would keep Australians safe “because it continues to have ties to the Australian community as a primary consideration and that will leave the [Administrative Appeals Tribunal] to make decisions like they have been before”.

“What the government should have done is gone back to the old direction under the previous government that had ties to the Australian community as a secondary consideration [and] that put community safety first,” he said.

Giles refused to say whether he had made a mistake with the previous direction, saying: “I’m taking responsibility for putting in place a direction that sends a clear signal to decision makers and the Australian community about how they should go about making these decisions.”

Giles said he had discussed the change with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who said last week he was concerned that the new direction would lead to the mass return of Kiwi criminals with little connection to the country.

The Coalition has blamed Labor for dozens of decisions by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that cited direction 99 as a factor in letting applicants stay in Australia despite decisions by the Department of Home Affairs to deport them because of their criminal convictions.

A key concern about direction 99, which Giles signed in January last year, was that it made the “strength, nature and duration of ties to Australia” a primary consideration in visa decisions, unlike earlier directions under the Coalition.

Giles last week said the government was using drones to track released detainees, a claim he later retracted.

“I’ve been clear in the parliament that I relied on information provided by my department and I clarified that,” Giles said.

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