ABC, Peter FitzSimons didn’t interview victims for deportation story

A government MP has criticised the ABC for not interviewing victims of NZ citizens who have been deported for crimes.

Peter FitzSimons in New Zealand with deportee Shaun Wynyard. Source: ABC

Assistant Home Affairs Minister Alex Hawke has slammed the ABC for failing to interview any victims during a program about New Zealanders who have been deported from Australia for committing crimes or being found to be of bad character.

Fairfax Media columnist Peter FitzSimons appeared as a guest reporter on Tuesday night’s Foreign Correspondent on ABC TV, investigating why Australia is “detaining, cuffing and deporting more New Zealanders than any other group”.

“I watched the entire program, and I have to say I felt the ABC program did not consider the impact on victims,” Mr Hawke told Sky News.

“There wasn’t a victim on the show, and what we’re talking about is serious criminal offences.

“In the domestic violence cohort I can tell you, there are sexual offences against women in front of their children in many cohorts in different parts of the world in Australia, and they’re serious, serious offences.

“The ABC program did argue, it kind of presented that we are doing something unfair, or that we are doing something wrong.

“The Australian government makes no apology for deporting serious criminals who are not citizens of Australia.”

Mr Hawke dubbed New Zealand Justice Minister Andrew Little claims that Australia is breaching human rights with its hard-line deportation policy “irresponsible”.

“It was disappointing to see the New Zealand Justice Minister in particular not use an opportunity to say to his citizenry here, ‘well, obey the law’,” Mr Hawke said.

“We would as the Australian government say to citizens in New Zealand, ‘well you must obey the law, and if you don’t obey the law you may be deported back to Australia’.

“We’d like to hear the same message from the New Zealand government.”

Assistant Home Affairs Minister Alex Hawke. Picture: Jess Husband

ABC answers criticism

A spokeswoman for the ABC said Foreign Correspondent had interviewed three deportees.

“One received a 12-month prison sentence for domestic violence; his wife was approached but did not want to appear on camera,” she said.

“The second was a convicted drug dealer, and interviewing victims of a drug dealer is not feasible in this context.

“The third was sent back on grounds of bad character and has not been convicted of a crime, so there were no victims to interview.”

The spokeswoman said there was no attempt on behalf of the program to downplay the seriousness of any of the crimes.

“It’s true the deportees were convicted criminals or had been judged to be of bad character, and are hard to empathise with, but their cases do raise some difficult questions of principle -- for example, whether it is correct to keep someone in prison for a long period without charge or conviction, and whether it is fair to deport and separate from their family someone who has done their jail time and officially paid their dues to society,” she said

“The intent of the story was to reveal to the Australian audience the depth of feeling in New Zealand – as expressed by ordinary Kiwis and senior political leaders – about Australia’s policy.

“We were surprised by the level of anger and felt it warranted reporting, given that it potentially impacts on our relations with such a close neighbour and ally.

“Given the strength of the critique from New Zealand politicians, we felt it deserved a response from the Australian Government, which we obtained by way of an interview with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

“It was reasonable for the program to explore such questions. Ultimately, of course, it was left to the viewer to decide.”

Many deportees ‘not telling the truth’

Foreign Correspondent followed the case of former New Zealand soldier Ko Haapu, who had previously worked as security detail for former NZ prime minister John Key and had come to Australia and joined the Rebels motorcycle gang.

Mr Haapu told Foreign Correspondent he had visited a Rebels member in prison but had not been charged with any crime when he was deported.

Mr Hawke said he was unable to comment on any individual case, but that many deportees who spoke to the media were not telling the whole truth.

“If people want to go into the public domain about their case, they should reveal to the public of Australia and New Zealand the full details of all of their cases, including the wrongdoing they’ve been engaged in, and what you see in the media quite often in relation to criminal deportation cases is only part of the story,” Mr Hawke said.

“The vast, vast, vast bulk of the crimes we see are shocking, they are repeat offenders, in many cases people have been warned several times over the past, when we had weaker laws, before this government came to office, they received a warning that if they commit another crime they will be deported. It’s not their first crime, not their first time, and so I’d ask people to look very carefully into the details of any case in the public domain, and there is always more to the case in many cases than you’ll see in the public domain.”

Asked repeatedly whether there was “more to” Mr Haapu’s case, Mr Hawke said he was unable to say.

“I’m unable to speak about any case, and you can ask me a hundred ways but I can’t do it, but I can say look, if you’re involved in a criminal gang and you’re well known as a criminal gang associate, then obviously issues will pertain to your character,” Mr Hawke said.

“They are considerations. If you’re not a citizen of Australia, we have a perfect right to consider your character if you’re here on a temporary visa or another form of visa.

“We do regularly, and we act in the interests of the Australian public, the safety of the Australian public, at all times, and again the Australian government won’t apologise for deporting people with a criminal background, with criminal offences or of bad character.”

The ABC has been contacted for comment.