Interior Minister Dutton has the power to reverse the decision to withdraw, but says he has never intervened in the Betham case. (photo by Sydney Morning Herald)
Hundreds of foreigners whose visas have been cancelled for felony crimes have been revealed to have obtained permission from federal security officials to avoid deportation. One of them, a drug dealer who spent nearly a decade in prison and overseas detention centres, was able to remain in Australia, so the government faces questions.
According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, as Prime Minister Mosuisse (Scott Morrison) and Labour Party leader Sheffield (Bill Shorten) fought a "verbal battle" over border security, the media revealed that criminals facing forced withdrawal of signatures used a rule. To get the interior minister, assistant minister or department official to rescind the decision. Among them, the Bethel (William Sualauvi Betham) case will put the government under questioning.
Batham, a New Zealand man who was jailed for more than 10 years in 2008 for his involvement in a drug cartel, was released and is now "enjoying" a free life in Gold Coast.
Betham was removed by the Australian government in June 2016 and will be repatriated; he appealed. In October of the same year, Betham was released on parole, but was sent to Christmas Island`s (Christmas Island) Immigration Detention Centre because the appeal was still pending. Betham later persuaded officials that the risk of reoffending was low and that he was given a visa and released in 2017.
However, a man claiming to be a Batham cellmate claimed that Betham had boasted to him that his contacts would allow him to get his visa back.
The man is still in detention and is applying for a reinstatement visa. He told the Sydney Morning Herald and the Times that Bethel told him "there is no need to waste money asking for a lawyer." He said:`if you want to go out, return to your family, raise A $80,000 and transfer to an account, I have a good connection. You can go out in a few months.
Mr Betham`s lawyer said it was unclear what information he had provided to his cellmates.
In response to the news, the Home Office said in a statement that it would "take seriously any allegations of irregularities and corruption," but declined to say whether an investigation was under way.
Visas were cancelled for 640 felonies, including Betham, but nearly 1 / 3 of them recovered visas 28 days after filing a complaint with the Ministry of the Interior.
Some cases can be queried through the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) or the Federal Court of Justice (Federal Court), but decisions have never been made public in a number of cases, including Betham, because they were assessed internally by the Ministry of the Interior.
A spokesman for Interior Minister (Peter Dutton) said Betham`s case had never been reviewed by the minister; the decision was made by "departmental officials."
