Kiwi faces extradition to Australia over alleged assault charges

The Court of Appeal building in Wellington. The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal from a Kiwi man fighting extradition to Australia. Photo Mark Mitchell

A Kiwi man faces extradition to Australia for historic crimes after he lost an appeal.

Raymond Joseph Tukaki faces six charges of violent and sexual assault on his ex-partner and young child while he was living in Darwin almost 20 years ago.

Australia has been trying to get the 42-year-old Bay of Plenty contractor extradited since 2016 so he can be tried in the Northern Territory.

But Justice Helen Winkelmann, in her Court of Appeal determination, dismissed arguments that leaving his whanau would cause Tukaki extreme hardship.

She also did not agree that extradition would be unjust or oppressive due to the amount of time that had passed since the alleged offending.

Tukaki, who previously used the last name Reid, has been charged with two counts of assault and one charge of sexual intercourse without consent on his then-partner between January and March 1999. The three remaining assault charges related to one of the partner's two young children.

Tukaki met the woman in July 1998 while she was holidaying in New Zealand. A month after she returned home, he travelled to Darwin and they resumed their intimate relationship and she fell pregnant with the first of their two children.

Tukaki returned to New Zealand in about 2000 and apart from a short trip in 2002 has never been back.

The complainants only made police complaints in 2009 and he was not charged until 2013.

Tukaki appealed earlier decisions that he should be extradited to Australia arguing, through his lawyer, that he should not be extradited due to the length of time which had passed since the alleged offending and his personal circumstances which included links to his whakapapa.

He also stated he had a wife and family in New Zealand - but there was no detail given about the responsibilities to his family and whether it would cause hardship. Instead he highlighted his connection to his culture and that he now lived according to tikanga principles.

But Winkelmann said moving Tukaki to a place where he would have no support was a usual incidence of extradition.

She found there were no compelling or extraordinary circumstances to uphold his appeal. As a result, the appeal was dismissed.

Tukaki could only be tried in Australia for the alleged offending so a decision preventing his extradition would have resulted in New Zealand becoming a safe haven for him on those specific charges, the judgment said.