Deport orders rejected
EIGHT killers and 66 other brutal thugs with shocking convictions for violence are among the foreign-born criminals the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has saved from deportation since 2010.
Tribunal members also overturned decisions made by delegates for the Immigration Minister to rid Australia of 17 rapists, paedophiles and other sex offenders, 33 drug dealers and 23 armed robbers.
News Corp has identified 164 cases in the past eight years where the AAT has rescued criminals whose visas were cancelled or not granted — with 98 cases since 2013.
Ministerial delegates argued the deportations and other visa decisions were necessary to protect Australians and that almost all of the people they wanted to kick out of the country had “substantial criminal records”.
The latest statistics reveal the AAT is now overruling more visa decisions made by delegates for minister Peter Dutton than it is supporting.
AAT members reviewed 13,755 visa decisions made by delegates in the past financial year, rejecting 5276 of them while only affirming 5110.
An AAT spokeswoman last night said tribunal members were required to apply the law enacted by the federal Parliament, including any relevant ministerial directions.
“The tribunal is required to consider additional information that may not have been before the original decisionmaker and conducts hearings to test evidence,” she said.