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The Soap Box: Detention law a disgrace

Author
Barry Soper,
Publish Date
Wed, 30 Sep 2015, 7:52AM

The Soap Box: Detention law a disgrace

Author
Barry Soper,
Publish Date
Wed, 30 Sep 2015, 7:52AM

Let's face it. The Aussies have always had a chip on their shoulder. The country was founded as Britain's penal colony and it's a legacy they'd prefer to forget.

So what they're now doing is trying to salve their shame by turning God's Own into their own penal colony. Sending Kiwis who've broken the law packing if they'd spent a year or more behind bars. These are the same Kiwis they were happy to have in their country since they were toddlers who grew into productive workers paying tax, but without getting the benefits their Aussie co-workers get.

There's little wonder now why the brain drain across the ditch had dried up and Kiwis are coming home, and that's excluding those who've given the boot because they've broken the law.

The palaver of the Aussie politicians in recent years now rings hollow.

Although she had nothing to do with the recent law change, Julia Gillard spoke in Parliament's bear pit here four years ago laying it on with a trowel about how close we are.

She talked about the many alliances Australia had around the world but said New Zealand alone was family.

The Aussie Senator who chaired the select committee bringing in the new law to deport criminals Ian McDonald went further last night.

"We love New Zealanders," he said, "they're very close to us, but they're not Australians."

If we treated Australians in this country the way they are now treating us in theirs they'd the squealing like stuck pigs.

Their new law deporting Kiwis who've spent 12 months or more in jail is a disgrace, mainly because it's retrospective. Someone who's done their time and has been released back into society can now at any time be rounded up, chucked into a detention centre while they decide whether to deport them.

There's a reason why many Kiwis who've been living in Australia for years with their families haven't renounced their New Zealand citizenship. It's because they're Maori and to whanau back in this country it'd be inexcusable.

So far this year we've deported just two Aussie criminals after they'd done their time while they've kicked out more than 150 of us and counting.

Muldoon once said that Kiwis leaving this country to live in Australia increased the IQ of both countries.

See, it's an Aussie plot to redress the balance!

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