Members of the Royal New Zealand Airforce and the royal household carry luggage from the royal plane after arriving in Wellington April 7, 2014. Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate are undertaking a19-day official visit to New Zealand and Australia
Members of the Royal New Zealand Airforce and the royal household carry luggage from the royal plane after arriving in Wellington April 7, 2014. Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate are undertaking a19-day official visit to New Zealand and Australia with their son George. REUTERS/Phil Noble REUTERS/Phil Noble

Australian Lawyers Alliance President Greg Barns has confirmed that any non-Australian who has been in Australian prison for 12 months and more may be deported from the country under the new Immigration Act.

Barns claimed that approximately 1,500 people from New Zealand are imprisoned at present, while around 5,000 have been jailed for the past 10 years. “Certainly, you’re looking at the low thousands in terms of the number of people born in New Zealand, who are not citizens, and under this law could be deported back to New Zealand,” The AAP quoted his conversation on Radio New Zealand on Tuesday.

Most of the New Zealanders have spent their lives becoming good members of the Australian community, but they have no connection with their homeland. Barns said that about 200 people from New Zealand are held in detention centres. Out of the detained Kiwis, there are hundreds whose visas have been cancelled. According to the data records, around 100 people have already been deported.

New Zealand’s Christmas Island’s Shire president and Trade Union representative Gordon Thomson said many New Zealanders have reached the nation with pending deportation from Australia. He said that the deported individuals are valuable as they brought productive business with huge job security for prison staff, but he firmly opposed sending Kiwis to detention centres.

“This appalls me that the government is using the Immigration Act to further punish people – many of them have grown up since childhood in Australia. So if you do a year or more in prison, if you’re not an Australian citizen, the default position of the federal government is that you will be deported,” Thomson told Radio New Zealand on Monday, indicating his concern for the New Zealanders in Australia.

Meanwhile, Australian Senator Ian MacDonald said that Kiwis can’t expect special treatment from Australia. “We love our cousins across the ditch but they must be subject to the same laws as everyone else,” he said.

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