New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister says Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has "trashed" his reputation by referring to the deportation of people who have served more than 12 months in Australian jails to New Zealand as "taking the trash out".
Mr Dutton made the remark in a Channel Nine news segment that aired on Monday, in which reporters were given access to individuals being deported from Australia to New Zealand on character grounds.
In the report, Mr Dutton described the process of deporting what he described as “the most serious offenders” as "taking the trash out".
"It's taking the trash out. Then we can make Australia a safer place," he said during the segment.
"We're talking about the most serious offenders here and our country is safer for having deported them."
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said Mr Dutton's comment "only serves to trash his own reputation".
"They should reflect on how they portray the transfer of people back to New Zealand, but again, Dutton's comments only serve to trash his own reputation," she said.
The Australian Border Force, the agency responsible for deportations, had allowed a Channel Nine crew access to film a flight of deportees being returned to New Zealand.
Under current Australian laws, visa holders who are sentenced to at least 12 months in jail face mandatory deportation. For New Zealand citizens who have spent the majority of their lives in Australia, however, the practice can see them returned to a country they have little connection to.
The New Zealand government has repeatedly criticised Australia for deporting New Zealand citizens after they complete their jail terms in Australia, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern accusing Australia of deporting their problems.
Ms Ardern was pressed on Mr Dutton's comments on Thursday, but said New Zealand would not get into a “tit-for-tat” over the dispute.
"Everyone is aware of our view on this and it is strongly held. The Australian government is within their rights, it just so happens we strongly disagree," she told reporters.
"We're not going to get into a tit-for-tat over it I don't think that takes us anywhere.
”We've actually been totally consistent, the Australian leadership are actually very aware of our view on it and look it hasn't changed ... we will continue to raise [the issue], as long as it exists."
Ms Ardern has consistently criticised the federal government's deporting of Kiwi criminals, claiming that under a "common sense test" many of them would be considered Australian.
"If there is an issue you consider unjust you don't just give up on it - we will continue to raise it as long as it exists," she said.
Meanwhile, the country's COVID-19 Response Minister, Chris Hipkins, was forced to backtrack on Thursday after using a similar analogy to Mr Dutton when referring to the deportees.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Source: AAP
"This is Australia exporting its garbage to New Zealand. Their criminal offending has been in Australia," he told reporters, before adding: "I don't necessarily completely agree with that sentiment, but if that is Peter Dutton's view, it is his view ... probably should have chosen a better frame of words."
He continued to say he did "not mean to suggest" the deportees were garbage, but that he was using Mr Dutton's words.
Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi also took issue with Mr Dutton's description of the deportees, noting that the "majority of those people are Māori".
"Here's the problem: that is indicative of the system that our people are currently working in or living in. So you are calling them trash," he said, according to News Hub.
"They are then brought into our prison system where they are treated like trash."
During the Nine interview, Mr Dutton said Australia had deported more than 700 people from immigration detention over the past 12 months. More than 2,600 Kiwis were sent home between December 2014 and January 2020.
Chris Hipkins was forced to backtrack on Thursday after using a similar analogy to Peter Dutton when referring to the deportees. Source: Getty Images
New Zealand criticised Australia's decision to resume deportations on chartered flights in July last year after they were paused during the coronavirus pandemic.
At the time, Filipa Payne, co-founder of Iwi n Aus, an advocacy group for New Zealanders in Australia, said while many immigration detainees were relieved to be let out of immigration detention, many were also leaving behind families and children in Australia.
“It's very challenging for them,” she said, adding that many of the returned New Zealanders faced homelessness and isolation on their return.
The Australian government has repeatedly defended its policy, which applies to foreign citizens of all countries.
“We deport non-citizens who have committed crimes in Australia against our community," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last year.
