Phil Goff says Australian deportees will revert to crime

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has said that it is inevitable people deported from Australia will revert to criminal activity because they have no support when they arrive.

In April, the Police Organised Crime Unit said that the New Zealand Chapter of the Comancheros was set up by deportees from Australia.

Community concerns

Mr Goff said that there is a high level of community concern about the city’s organised crime connections to Australia.

He has asked the government and the Police to look at what more can be done to stop the violence, in response to recent shootings in Auckland.

Shot in the Park

The latest incident occurred on Saturday, July 6, 2019, with a person suffering serious injuries in a shooting in Clover Park.

Of the nearly 1700 people sent from Australia since the start of 2015, more than 40% have been charged with an offence in New Zealand.

Mr Goff said some leaders are concerned about the safety of their communities.

He said the deportee, many of who have lived in Australia so long that they have no memory of New Zealand, arrived in this country with no one to help them establish themselves.

So, inevitably a high percentage will find themselves back involved in crime.

No support group

“They have no contacts, no social network, no support group in New Zealand but they are being sent back to New Zealand and inevitably, a high percentage of those people will find themselves back involved in crime,” he said.

Mr Goff also wants the Police to rein in gangs after the latest shooting.

“What more can we do to make sure that we haven’t got young people in South Auckland shooting each other just like it is the Wild West. It is not good enough; it is not an easy problem to solve but I expect that to be a priority on the list of police concerns,” he said.

Police said that they are actively dealing with recent events in the Counties Manukau District and urged the public to contact them over any gang-related activity.

“These incidents are generally carried out by a small number of people,” they said.

Published under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz

Photo Caption:

1. Phil Goff wants the government and Police to take steps to prevent serious violence in Auckland (RNZ Photoby  Diego Opatowski)
2. A forensic team prepares to enter a property in Clover Park (South Auckland) on July 6, 2019 after a person was shot.(RNZ Picture by Jessie Chiang)