An Australian criminal who has never been to New Zealand is to be deported here.
Forty-year-old Alex Viane was granted New Zealand citizenship as a child without ever having visited the country," the Sunday Star-Times reports. He was born in Samoa and moved to Australia on a temporary visa as a teenager.
Over the past 25 years, Viane has been imprisoned for several unnamed crimes.
He now has an Australian partner and baby daughter, but in July had his visa cancelled on grounds of "character".
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He applied for a judicial review of the cancellation.
"My parents are Australian citizens and I have no family or supportive networks in New Zealand," he wrote in his application.
"I have never been to New Zealand, I have no immediate family or support. I will have no hope of contributing positively to their society."
Justice Robert Bromwich dismissed Viane's plea, the Star-Times reports, concluding he embodied "an unacceptable risk of harm to the Australian community [which] outweighed the best interests of his child and other minor family members".
"After some initial difficulty, Mr Viane will have the opportunity to establish a lifestyle comparable to that of other citizens of New Zealand."
This comes after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last month Australia should only be deporting those who have roots in New Zealand.
Newshub.
