Editorial: Gun violence turns focus on Australia's problematic 501 policy

Australia's policy of sending over New Zealand-born deportees has been a source of tension between the countries. Photo / File

A spate of gun violence in Auckland has drawn attention to a problem that appears to be worsening.

Increased tensions between gangs have been blamed for the spurt in gun crime, and the fear must be that innocent people could get caught in the crossfire. Residents of New Zealand's largest city need to be able to feel safe on its streets.

There have been two alleged homicides in Flat Bush and Mount Roskill in the past week. And there is reportedly a Hells Angels gang link to the Flat Bush incident.

The latest violence has occurred despite the police launching Operation Tauwhiro. By September, police said that 987 firearms had been seized and nearly $5 million in cash, and 865 arrests were made.

Assistant Police Commissioner Sandra Venables said: "Police has been very open this year around some of the behaviours from organised crime groups using firearms against one another, and we also note significant arrests have been made in relation to these gang tensions."

In September it was reported there was a 32 per cent rise in gun crime, and a 49 per cent rise in gun-related injuries in Auckland city during the preceding 18 months, compared with the two previous years.

National Māori Authority chairman Matthew Tukaki has pointed the finger at Australia's policy of sending back '501 returnees'.

He warned of potential Sydney-style gang battles and wants the Government to turn back the planes of deportees.

He said: "There have been concerns for the last several years that new gangs and chapters are getting a foothold in New Zealand because of the rising tide of returnees known as the 501s ... The latest shootings are an indicator of that."

The relationship with our cousins across the ditch has been tested by the deportations of New Zealand-born criminals under Section 501 of Australia's Migration Act. Australia has been sending all non-citizens who fail a character test packing on outward bound flights. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton referred to the practice as "taking out the trash".

In 2019 it was estimated that up to 40 per cent of deportees from Australia re-offend once in New Zealand.

Tukaki pointed out that returnees have often been raised in Australia and are a product of that environment. They sometimes land with few family ties and prospects here. In one new case, a Rebels gang member who has lived in Australia since he was 4 and has a family there is to be deported.

Aside from dumping problematic people on New Zealand's doorstep, some possibly more sympathetic cases have been caught up in the policy.

Earlier this year a 15-year-old boy was deported from Australia to New Zealand. Dr Jarrod Gilbert, a sociologist at the University of Canterbury, wrote movingly of 501 exile Shane Martin in the Herald, kept apart from his family in Australia.

Australian officials without doubt take a hard-nosed approach to gangs.

Western Australia has particularly tough new laws which ban gang members from associating with each other and wearing patches in public.

On February 28 last year Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a joint press conference with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison: "New Zealand and Australia's relationship is being tested. We have a simple request. Send back Kiwis, genuine Kiwis - do not deport your people and your problems."

Any more nuanced reset in policy is unlikely to occur while Morrison is in charge, with the next Australian election due by the end of May.