Kiwi to be deported after living in Aust for 37 years

The teenage daughter of a Kiwi woman who has lived in Australia for 37 years is pleading with the government to prevent her mother’s deportation.

Angela Russell was serving her jail sentence for a theft conviction when she was told her visa had been terminated and that she would face deportation back to her birth nation, New Zealand.

A law that came into play last year permits the deportation of individuals on grounds of serious cases such as sex offenders, killers and drug traffickers.

But the 40-year-old mother of two is being deported on grounds of ‘‘character’’.

Russell’s other convictions for theft, dating back to 2008, were also said to have been taken into consideration when making the decision.

Her lawyer Lyma Nguyen said Russell had complained about the ‘‘unpleasant circumstances’’ she has had to face in the detention centre.

There had been ‘‘multiple attempts of suicides’’ and the uncertainty of an unending detention period was driving people to despair.

‘‘That’s not an environment anybody should be in.’’

Twelve Kiwis are currently detained in the detention centre following reforms of the Australian government’s Migration Act.

Russell’s 16-year-old daughter Breanna is living alone in Queensland and hopes her mother does not have to face deportation.

‘‘I don’t want her to be sent to New Zealand. She has lived in Australia since she was three, all of her family is here,’’ she said. ‘‘I miss her so much.’’ But the teenager said that if her mother is deported she will not be following her mum.

‘‘My life is here but not seeing her makes me sad,’’ Breanna Russell said.

Hundreds of criminals living in Australia also face a similar fate and will be dropped on New Zealand shores over the next five years.

Like Russell, many of these criminals also have also lived for several years across the ditch.

According to a recent report, 119 convicts were deported to New Zealand this year alone as a result of the law change.