Chair of National Māori Authority says country should adopt John Howard’s playbook or risk sparking local gangland wars between deported criminals
A prominent Māori leader has called for a dramatic response to what he labels Australia’s attempts to turninto a “dumping ground” for criminals, suggesting Jacinda Ardern’s government should “turn the planes around”.
“It seems to me the only way the Australians will listen, so we can sit down together and sort this issue out, is that those Australian government-chartered planes should not be allowed to land in New Zealand,” he said. In 2020-21, 946 visas were cancelled under section 501 – including 197 for drug offences and 108 for assault. Of these 946 visas cancelled, 402 were New Zealand nationals, followed by 101 from the United Kingdom.Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning