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Kiwis being deported (Read 2062 times)
Sprintcyclist
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Kiwis being deported
Dec 10th, 2017 at 12:55am
 
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Jack Reihana is among a group of men and women, known as the 501s. Deported from Australia, he is now trying to start over in Christchurch.

Forced from the country they call home for their crimes and now trying to make it in the land of their birth. EMILY SPINK looks at how Australian deportees are settling into Christchurch life.

Jack Reihana always knew he would go to jail.

And when that time came, he knew it would be the turning point. He just didn't expect to have to say goodbye to his family and home in the process.

Jack Reihana; "I feel like I've been crucified four times."

The 45 year old is a convicted criminal and among a growing group of men and women in New Zealand known as the "501s" – Australian residents sent back to their birth land, named after the legislative statute number.

Reihana, who moved to Australia as a child, was sentenced to three years' jail for torturing a man, who was an alleged child abuser. He had been "out of trouble" for 20 years before he took matters into his own hands. It is now a major regret.

Jack Reihana is looking to establish a support group for Kiwis being sent back to New Zealand from Australia.

In January 2016, he was deported after Australian authorities cancelled his visa.

"I feel like I've been crucified four times," Reihana said of his journey from jail to deportation. "Australia was home."

Police figures reveal 660 people were removed from Australia between January 1, 2015 and January 19, 2017 under Australian legislation introduced in December 2014, which meant Kiwis who had committed crimes and been sentenced to jail for 12 months or more could be deported.

It is expected up to 1500 will be sent to New Zealand.

It was a Friday night in January 2016, when Reihana stepped off a plane and was met by the "welcoming committee".

"It was the police. Firstly, he wanted to shake my hand and it was like, you never shake a policeman's hand."

Reihana spent his first weekend at a motel and on the Monday, Helen Murphy entered his life.

Known as Mum or Auntie to the 501s, Murphy leads the Christchurch branch of PARS – a group tasked with supporting returning offenders.

Corrections has budgeted $300,000 a year for five years for providers such as PARS to help returning offenders settle back into New Zealand life.

PARs ensures every new arrival has a cell phone, IRD number, can find rental accommodation, see a GP and have food to get them going.

"New Zealand is trying to do the best it can," Murphy said.

David Gray has been deported from Australia and is now working on the justice and emergency services precinct in Christchurch and trying to start a new life.

Reihana said without the support of PARS and the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust, he would not have made it through the last year.

"We've come back to nothing," he said. "It's been hell. I isolated myself. I don't have any friends. I can't go anywhere because I'm used to having a car."

The former truck driver had contemplated suicide. "What is there for us and what is there for me? I'm doing the best that I can."

As a child and a ward of the state, he was put into boys' homes in New Zealand and was subjected to abuse. Since returning after more than 30 years away, he has struggled with flashbacks.

"People say you can't step back in time, but yes you can."

Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust manager Ken Clearwater warned the country was yet to fully grasp the extent of the emotional effects of deportation on returning offenders. He was aware of at least 10 deportees who were sexually abused as children while in state care.

"Some of these guys are a result of that failed system. Because of their behaviours they've been sent back to New Zealand and isolated from their support people. So they're not only dealing with the trauma of getting sent back here, but then there is all the other stuff."

In Christchurch, Reihana has struggled to find employment due to his mental health. He has been in and out of Hillmorton Hospital and is "slowly pulling away from them".

"I've always had food in my cupboards. Coming back here, I struggle to put my food in my cupboards. Sometimes I wish I was in prison."

His main concern is for the welfare of his adult children in Australia. "With all this happening, my kids are the ones that are suffering."

Reihana is now planning a support group that would enable Christchurch's 501 community to meet up, support each other and talk through their experiences. Their first meeting will be held in February.

"We're all hurting, us 501s. People outside 501 don't understand us and what we're going through. They look at us for the crime we committed. They don't look at us as people.

"I admit we've done wrong, but just give us a go."



http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/88722558/australian-deportees-are-filing-into-ne...
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #1 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:00am
 

Quote:
..........GOING FULL CIRCLE

From the moment David Gray was locked up, he knew he would go full circle.

David Gray is now working on the Justice Precinct project.

He was sentenced to three years' prison in Australia on nine charges relating to a home invasion.

He spent time in Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre in Western Australia, before being deported in July 2016. A plasterer by trade, he is now working on the construction of Christchurch's new justice and emergency services precinct.

The irony is not lost on the 50 year old.

Having left New Zealand in 2000, Gray had built up a life and his own building business in Queensland, until his nephew, who was mixed up with a gang, entered his life on Australia Day.

"I just said to myself in jail and in detention that I wouldn't let this get the better of me."

Two months after he arrived in Christchurch, he landed a job with a local construction company. Six weeks later, the self-titled "doer" bought himself a "nice truck".


Gray met Tony Touri at the detention centre.

"Things are looking up."

He considers himself one of the lucky ones, but can see how others might let old habits creep back in once deported.

"A lot of it is that they just don't have the drive and they wait for something better. You can't expect hand outs all your life."

Deportee Tony Touri chose to live in Christchurch to separate himself from gang connections in the North Island.


The pair were among those who opted to take up deportation, rather than stay on in the centres that had been likened to prisoner of war camps.


Tony Touri was deported from Australia before Christmas. The irony of living right next door to the old Addington jail in Christchurch is not lost on him.

From spot in his neighbouring park, Touri, 48, has a good view of the old Addington prison. He was able to chuckle at his new placement in the Christchurch suburb.

The first few months were the hardest for Touri, who arrived in Christchurch before Christmas and has been on a daily job hunt ever since.

"I'm up every morning and out looking for a job."

Each day he travels around the city by bus or on foot.

Touri left New Zealand in 1999 and in 2000, was made a permanent resident of Australia.

A a drink driving offence led to his deportation.

He saw out six months of his 13-month sentence in Woodford Jail, before he was moved to Yongah Hill, where he remained for just under a year.

Sick of waiting for a decision on his visa and surrounded by "idiots", he opted to be deported.

"It turned my life upside down.

"When I arrived here, I felt like an alien. I feel lost."

Police Association president Chris Cahill said monitoring and support systems for returning offenders had improved under an information sharing agreement signed with Australian authorities, new legislation and government-funded contracts with the likes of PARS, but they were far from adequate. 

"The reality is it's all really short term stuff and it doesn't address the fact some of these people have very few links to New Zealand. They're dumped in a foreign environment, with no whanau and it's pretty stressful."............


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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #2 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:07am
 
I'm not totally for all these deportations, if the person grew here, some have been here all their lives(Barnaby), we bear some of the responsibility for how (s)he turned out, we should deal with it. On the other hand Jack Reihana is behaving like a victim when I bet he never gave his victims a second though. Others deported made sure some people could never see members of their family ever again...

Like this guy
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #3 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:35am
 
my issue is these people live here all their lives and have never become Australians
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #4 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:19am
 
Setanta wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:07am:
I'm not totally for all these deportations, if the person grew here, some have been here all their lives(Barnaby), we bear some of the responsibility for how (s)he turned out, we should deal with it. On the other hand Jack Reihana is behaving like a victim when I bet he never gave his victims a second though. Others deported made sure some people could never see members of their family ever again...

Like this guy


Setanta, I don't believe the character test to be a quaint, little codicil the immigration department can enforce if it feels like it ; it's the law.
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« Last Edit: Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:25am by Mr Hammer »  
 
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #5 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:28am
 
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:35am:
my issue is these people live here all their lives and have never become Australians


How are you Australian?
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #6 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:46am
 
Mattyfisk wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:28am:
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:35am:
my issue is these people live here all their lives and have never become Australians


How are you Australian?


I was naturalised about 20 years ago.
I have an Aust passport

My thinking is, suppose you went an lived in Botswana for a while and really liked it there.
You ended up staying there for many years.
You really should become a 'Botswanaese' according to their laws.
Otherwise, you are not a Botswanaese.
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #7 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:48am
 
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:46am:
Mattyfisk wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:28am:
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:35am:
my issue is these people live here all their lives and have never become Australians


How are you Australian?


I was naturalised about 20 years ago.
I have an Aust passport

My thinking is, suppose you went an lived in Botswana for a while and really liked it there.
You ended up staying there for many years.
You really should become a 'Botswanaese' according to their laws.
Otherwise, you are not a Botswanaese.


You think a Botswanese can become an Aussie?
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #8 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:48am
 

What really peeves me is kiwis around here with a kiwi/all black flag or t-shirt.

This is Australia not New Zealand.
If you like NZ that much, how come you are here ?
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #9 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 3:11am
 
Mattyfisk wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:48am:
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:46am:
Mattyfisk wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:28am:
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:35am:
my issue is these people live here all their lives and have never become Australians


How are you Australian?


I was naturalised about 20 years ago.
I have an Aust passport

My thinking is, suppose you went an lived in Botswana for a while and really liked it there.
You ended up staying there for many years.
You really should become a 'Botswanaese' according to their laws.
Otherwise, you are not a Botswanaese.


You think a Botswanese can become an Aussie?


You didn't answer.
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Sprintcyclist
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #10 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 3:22am
 
No, I didn't.
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #11 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 5:03am
 
That'll halve the strength of the NRL teams and the Rugby sides ...
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“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #12 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 5:11am
 
Mattyfisk wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:48am:
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:46am:
Mattyfisk wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 2:28am:
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:35am:
my issue is these people live here all their lives and have never become Australians


How are you Australian?


I was naturalised about 20 years ago.
I have an Aust passport

My thinking is, suppose you went an lived in Botswana for a while and really liked it there.
You ended up staying there for many years.
You really should become a 'Botswanaese' according to their laws.
Otherwise, you are not a Botswanaese.


You think a Botswanese can become an Aussie?


Only if they're brown or otherwise hued......

On the subject..... Reihana tortured a kiddy fiddler suspect.. stupid but hell... does that deserve to have a life turned upside down?  Gray went down for thirteen months for drink driving.... the Skipper in Parliament is drunk at the wheel many days of the sitting year... (aye, skipper, full steam head?)

Or are their portfolios in crime being 'white-washed'?
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“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #13 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 7:31am
 
Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 1:35am:
my issue is these people live here all their lives and have never become Australians





I cant be certain  but I dont think NZders can take out aussie citiz....as such 

I seem to recall Russell Crowe  complaining about it..

they are given a permanent visa...but they are always a NZder..
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Re: Kiwis being deported
Reply #14 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 8:19am
 
Grappler Truth Teller Feller wrote on Dec 10th, 2017 at 5:03am:
That'll halve the strength of the NRL teams and the Rugby sides ...


Not to mention the club doormen......
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