An Aboriginal man facing banishment to New Zealand is fighting back, accusing the Australian Government of acting unlawfully.
Brendan Thoms, a 30-year-old father of one, is set to be deported to New Zealand because of his criminal history, despite having few connections in Aotearoa and being the descendant of an Aboriginal group, reports ABC News.
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In September, Mr Thoms had his residency cancelled in Australia under the country's Migration Act character test and was detained in an immigration centre.
His detention also came after serving part of an 18 month jail sentence for domestic violence, one of several convictions.
Mr Thom's lawyers have filed a High Court writ seeking his release and damages for what they call "wrongful imprisonment".
Mr Thoms was born in New Zealand to an Australian mother and Kiwi father who later gained Australian citizenship. While he has lived in Australia since the age of seven, Brendan never became a citizen.
His mother also has a certificate stating the family's descent from the Gunggarri people of south-west Queensland.
He is the second overseas-born man of Aboriginal descent since September to take their case to the High Court and fight the country's migration laws.
Lawyers for both High Court cases want to set a legal precedent that a member of Australia's Aboriginal race cannot be treated as an alien.
Solicitor Rod Hodgson said to remove Mr Thoms from the country was wrong.
"Here's a man who came to Australia as a very young boy, he has lived here, he's worked here, he is of Aboriginal heritage," said Mr Hodgson.
"He's been on the wrong side of the law, done the crime, done the time, but now is facing a second lot of punishment being deported back to New Zealand, a place where he has no links."
Mr Thoms' mother said she was concerned for Brendan and his son's relationship.
"Probably one of the main thoughts in the back of my mind was that he will never see [his son] because he wouldn't be able to come back to Australia to see him."
Newshub.
