A Kiwi has convinced authorities his strong ties to Australia outweighed the likely effects of deportation. Photo / 123RF
A Kiwi has convinced authorities his strong ties to Australia outweighed the likely effects of deportation. Photo / 123RF
Kiwi-born Joel Poara Toroa moved to Australia when he was 10, but when meth took hold it almost ruined his life.
He’s now narrowly escaped being deported back to New Zealand by Australian authorities who felt the hardships he’d face back in his country of birth outweighed the risks to Australia from his history of drug dealing.
Toroa, who said the experience of visa cancellation was scary, has managed to convince the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal to reverse a decision earlier this year to cancel his visa.
It would have meant he was on the next plane back to New Zealand – a place he barely knows and where he has limited ties.
He said such a move would be “absolutely devastating” and he was terrified of losing his family.
A Kiwi who grew up in Australia has won his case against deportation, unlike the thousands who have been sent back to New Zealand over the past decade under the 501 policy. Photo / Australian Border Force
“He does not want to return to New Zealand. Everything he has, and loves is in Australia,” the tribunal noted in its June 20 decision.
Toroa has a sister in New Zealand but his immediate family including his father, his adult son, siblings, nieces and nephews, his ex-partner, her sister and their mother, and his nieces and nephews-in-law are all in Australia.
“I’ve already broken their hearts and to cancel my visa would just destroy them beyond words,” Toroa said in his determined bid to stay.
The 43-year-old arrived in Australia in March 1990, aged 10. Seven months later he was granted a temporary visa.
He started using cannabis and methamphetamine recreationally when he was 19, a habit he kept to himself.
By 2016, he was using meth twice daily and it had become “more than just a bad habit”.
It contributed to the breakdown of his relationship with his son’s mother and by 2017 it had impacted his performance at work to the point he quit his job and went into financial hardship.
Toroa’s criminal offending started in 2002 with a one-off incident considered minor.
In May 2018 he was fined in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court for a series of offences including possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of drug paraphernalia and stolen property, and destruction of property.
The following year he was convicted on multiple charges of dealing methamphetamine and other prohibited drugs, for which he served time in prison before he was fined last year on an assault charge.
He was also offering to sell drugs to children, including the son of a family friend.
Toroa claimed to have quit meth “cold turkey” in late 2017 and then cannabis in 2019 prior to going into custody.
Toroa’s visa was cancelled in May 2020 on the basis he failed to pass the character test, which was applied to those sentenced to prison for 12 months or more.
Australian authorities said a primary consideration in deciding whether to revoke the refusal or cancellation of a non-citizen’s visa included protection of the Australian community from criminal or other serious conduct, the strength, nature and duration of ties to Australia, the best interests of minor children in Australia and expectations of the Australian community.
Toroa then sought to revoke the decision, but it was declined, which led to the application to the tribunal for a review.
He said in evidence the years of offending leading up to his prison sentence had been an eye-opener and had taught him a lot of things, mainly that “it’s not worth it”.
“It taught me that it’s stupid. It got me in trouble. I’m not about to do something that got me in trouble again.”
The tribunal heard how he had managed to remain free of drugs in prison, how he had completed a number of courses designed to help him and that he’d held privileged and trusted employment positions, such as the prison’s head librarian.
Toroa has been detained at Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre in Western Australia since January this year, where he continued rehabilitation through a dedicated recovery course.
The tribunal applied a substantial and lengthy assessment of multiple points to help it reach its conclusion to reverse the decision to cancel Toroa’s visa.
It found on balance that the risk to the Australian community, should Toroa commit further offences, weighed “strongly against the revocation of the cancellation decision”, but that the strength, nature and duration of his ties to Australia weighed strongly in favour of revoking the cancellation decision.
The tribunal also said it was “unique” that Toroa had communicated plans, should he be sent back to New Zealand, to seek ongoing support from sources beyond his family and friends.
“It’s clear from the applicant’s evidence and statements from his family that his return to New Zealand would result in great emotional anguish,” the tribunal said in finding overall that Toroa’s strength, nature and duration of ties to Australia weighed strongly in favour of revoking the decision to cancel his visa.
NZME has attempted to reach Toroa for comment via his lawyer in Western Australia.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
