Pregnant Kiwi out of jail as Australian immigration row boils

CANBERRA - A five-months pregnant New Zealand woman facing deportation from Australia was released from a Brisbane jail yesterday as a red-faced federal Government moved to clear up the mess from a series of immigration scandals.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said she had signed the papers yesterday allowing the 28-year-old woman to be released to live with her mother until her future was decided.

The woman's deportation was ordered because of her conviction in 1998 for armed robbery, apparently on the recommendation of the judge who heard the case.

The woman served 5 1/2 years in prison and in November 2003 was placed in home detention before being released on parole last August.

The deportation of foreigners after serious crimes, including New Zealanders who have automatic right of residency in Australia, is not unusual.

But the news that the woman had been locked in Brisbane's Women's Prison rather than confined in an immigration detention centre emerged on the day the Government was to release a damning report into the wrongful detention of one Australian resident and the illegal deportation of another.

German-born Cornelia Rau, a resident who had spent most of her life in Australia and who suffered mental illness, was confined for 10 months in jails and detention centres before her plight became known.

Philippines-born Vivian Alvarez was deported back to her country of birth after a series of blunders.

About 200 other cases of wrongful detention in immigration centres have also been uncovered, severely embarrassing a Government whose policy of mandatory detention of illegal migrants has come under continuing fire.

Prime Minister John Howard yesterday accepted the Government was at fault after an inquiry by former federal police commissioner Mick Palmer that produced a scathing analysis of failings in the system.