Govt won’t reveal where deported Kiwi crims will be

The Government is refusing to reveal where Kiwi criminals deported from Australia will be housed for isolation amid concerns the high-security facility will be a “magnet for attention”.

A total of 30 New Zealanders will be deported from Australia this week, in a resumption of the controversial practice that had been on hold due to the coronavirus lockdown in both countries.

Health Minister Chris Hipkins said yesterday Kiwis being deported from Australia due to their criminal convictions would be housed in their own special, secure facility.

Exactly where that facility is would remain under wraps.

“They’ll be staying at a dedicated hotel. It will have extra security attached to it,” Hipkins said.

“We’re doing this because we have to, not because we want to.

“This is Australia exporting their problems to New Zealand and we have long disagreed with their policy of deporting these people.”

The location is so secret, Hipkins wouldn’t confirm if they would be staying in Auckland.

When asked why the Government was being so tight-lipped, Hipkins replied “for a variety of reasons”.

“We don’t want it to become a magnet for attention.

“Ultimately, these people have done their time. They’ve been deported from Australia but there are actually no grounds to detain them.

“We couldn’t put them in prison, for example. That wouldn’t be justified.”

When asked if they would be put in a military base, Hipkins said they would be housed “somewhere where they will be secure for the period of their isolation”.

“They are being deported from Australia . . . we have to find a way to ensure that these people can reenter New Zealand safely and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”