Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

The court in Pearson v Minister for Home Affairs said, 'Aggregate sentences are often made up of a series of minor offending.' We've had this New Zealand problem, haven't we? We've known this for a while, and it is really putting a strain on our relationship. So I just want to say this.

I think criminals deserve to be locked up. There's no doubt about that. I think everyone's clear on that, where we stand. But if you have someone who came to this country as a kid and has lived in this country for 30 years and learnt how to be a criminal here, isn't that our personal responsibility—and more so for our New Zealand counterparts? This has been going on. And it has not been fixed. How is it fair to deport these people to New Zealand, for example, when they've been here since they were so young? Where's our responsibility in that? These are our Anzacs. We have to be very diplomatic when it comes to New Zealand.