More than two dozen New Zealand citizens were removed from Australia last week as the Australian Border Force (ABF) continues to remove non-citizens who fail to comply with their visa conditions.
Twenty-eight men were removed on two charter flights to Auckland on Tuesday and Wednesday (27 & 28 October).
The majority of those removed had their visas cancelled under s501 of the Migration Act 1958 for failing the character test, whilst three had their visas cancelled under s116 of the Act.
The s501 cancellation cohort had been convicted of a range of serious criminal activities in Australia including armed robbery, causing grievous bodily harm, torture, deprivation of liberty and domestic violence offences. Two had links to Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.
Prior to their removal they had been detained in immigration detention facilities in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Provisions under the Migration Act 1958 allow the Minister for Home Affairs to cancel a visa if a person is considered to not be of good character.
A person can fail the character test for a number of reasons, including but not limited to circumstances where a non-citizen has a substantial criminal record.
Non-citizens who are found to not meet character requirements, and whose visas are cancelled, are not entitled to remain in Australia.
