NZ-bound criminal: Australia’s my home
Deportee gained Kiwi citizenship after being adopted by his uncle despite never setting foot in NZ. Harrison Christian reports.
A man set to be deported to New Zealand despite never having set foot here claims the move is ‘‘inhumane’’ and will tear his family apart.
Forty-year-old Alex Viane, 40, admits he is ‘‘not an angel’’ but that being separated from every person he’s ever known is wrong.
‘‘I’m human and I’ve made mistakes. Why does my family need to suffer further with a forced absence?’’
The convicted criminal was born in American Samoa and became a New Zealand citizen as a teenager after he was adopted by his uncle, who was a Kiwi living in Australia.
Viane moved to Australia as a teenager on a temporary visa and has lived there ever since. Between 1994 and 2008 he was jailed for robbery in company (an Australian charge that means he committed a robbery with at least one other person), drink driving and driving while suspended.
In July last year, Australia’s Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Peter Dutton, cancelled Viane’s visa on character grounds.
A Federal Court of Australia decision this month, dismissed an application from Viane for a judicial review of his visa cancellation.
He must now be deported to New Zealand and is being held in Sydney’s infamous Villawood Detention Centre.
‘‘I am a product of Australia. I grew up in Australia and Australia is my home. I will always consider myself as an Australian,’’ he said.
‘‘Australia is where I have a partner, two daughters, two grandsons and a large family that I am close with. I will also be homeless and jobless, and I’m not sure of the reception that I will receive upon my arrival.’’
He has struggled with alcoholism in the past, and said he feared a relapse after being uprooted from his support networks.
‘‘The key to recovery and rehabilitation is a good support system; a positive environment surrounded by loving family members.
‘‘Being put in such a traumatic and stressful situation and separation from my family could potentially cause a relapse.’’
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last month Australia should only be deporting New Zealand-born criminals who still have genuine links to this country.
Figures released to Sunday Star Times show a quarter of the thousands of New Zealanders forced out of Australia since 2015 have gone on to rack up convictions on this side of the Tasman.
Viane has made a personal plea to New Zealand authorities for help.
‘‘The New Zealand government should become involved in such a case as my own and other 501 cases. It is wrong and inhumane.’’
He will join a growing number of people known as ‘‘501s’’ – Australian residents deported here, named after the legislative statute number.
‘‘This decision leaves all of my family in terrible limbo,’’ he said. ‘‘To some degree, I am a burden on them, emotionally, mentally and notwithstanding financially.
‘‘I have completed successful rehabilitative sentences for my past transgressions.
‘‘This not only further punishes me, but now punishes my family unfairly.’’
Viane’s lawyer, Anthony Romeo, said he was not yet aware of the timeframe for his client’s deportation.
‘‘The prospect of being sent to a country which you have never been to, or stepped foot in, must be truly terrifying for anyone.’’
When Viane eventually arrives in New Zealand, a probation officer will meet him at the airport, who will work with the Prisoner Aid and Rehabilitation Service or other support agencies to help him settle in.