Dustin Martin’s bikie uncle to be deported

Dustin Martin’s uncle Dean – a CFMEU delegate who was once in a relationship with former Greens senator Lidia Thorpe – is to be deported to New Zealand after his visa was cancelled on character grounds.

A source speaking confidentially to discuss private information confirmed on Tuesday night that Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil had cancelled Dean Martin’s visa.

Former Rebels bikie club president Dean Martin speaks at a rally.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Martin, a former Rebels bikie president, was still in Australia on Tuesday night, but will be removed if he does not agree to leave voluntarily.

Martin is one of more than 20 members of the CFMEU with bikie links whom the union stood aside in Victoria last week following a joint investigation into the construction union by this masthead, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes.

He has lived in Australia for three decades and was operating as a CFMEU delegate at Indigenous labour hire firm A2B.

A federal government spokesperson declined on Tuesday to confirm the deportation because the government was unable to comment on individual cases. The Australian Border Force, Australian Federal Police, Home Affairs and Victoria Police were all contacted for comment.

Martin briefly dated Thorpe when she was a member of the joint parliamentary law enforcement committee in 2021. When details of the relationship emerged in October 2022, it triggered her resignation as Greens deputy Senate leader.

The parliamentary committee had received confidential briefings in the past about bikie gangs and organised crime, prompting concerns about a potential conflict of interest.

The committee found that while Thorpe should have disclosed the relationship, she did not receive any relevant sensitive information and therefore should not be held in contempt.

This masthead does not suggest Thorpe shared any confidential information with any person not authorised to receive it.

Dean Martin and Lidia Thorpe at a Melbourne market in 2022.Credit: Facebook

In 2018, Dean Martin stepped down as Rebels president after his brother, Shane Martin – the father of Richmond star Dustin – was deported to New Zealand.

Moments after Richmond won the 2019 AFL grand final, Dustin said on national television: “I just want to say g’day to dad in New Zealand. I love you mate.” Shane died in 2021 after several failed bids to return to Australia.

The case highlighted the New Zealand government’s concerns about its citizens who had little relationship with their home country being deported despite their longstanding connections to Australia.

Those concerns prompted the Albanese government to implement ministerial direction 99, which said significant weight must be given to a person’s ties to Australia when deciding whether to refuse their visa.

But that directive then caused a political furore this year when it emerged the Administrative Appeals Tribunal had cited it when deciding to release criminals awaiting deportation after serving their sentences.

Some of those people then allegedly committed crimes after their release, sparking intense calls from the federal opposition for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to resign.

Giles eventually implemented a new direction that lowered the threshold to deport foreign criminals.

After resigning from the Greens leadership position because of her undisclosed past relationship with Martin, Thorpe later quit the party entirely after a long-running dispute over its position on the Voice to parliament referendum.

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