Immigration visit law change doesn't go far enough
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RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Kiwi dad Dane Moule's desperate bid to see son in Aussie lands him in court
By Tracy Neal, Open Justice reporter of Dane Moule was sentenced in the Nelson District Court on charges linked to him forging two passports and travelling in and out of New Zealand for three years. Photo: Open Justice/Tracy Neal A man with a "chequered past", including a conviction list spanning 12 pages, was aggrieved when his partner left and took their infant son to Australia. It was the catalyst for Dane Antony Moule to forge two passports so he could travel between New Zealand, Australia and Fiji for three years using the false travel documents, clearing Customs and Immigration each time. Moule told police he "used a fake passport to travel" because he knew he wouldn't be allowed into Australia, where his son was living. Judge Tony Snell noted Moule's extensive criminal past included 83 previous convictions for drug matters, including importing heroin, violence, dishonesty, fraud, sexual offending and driving matters. The 61-year-old today narrowly avoided prison, partly because of health problems he suffered, and was instead sentenced to 12 months of home detention on two representative charges laid under the Passport Act for false representations and using forged and false New Zealand travel documents. The charges carried a maximum of 10 years and five years in prison, respectively. Moule's guilty pleas followed an amendment to what was initially eight separate charges. His lawyer, Mark Dollimore, said in the Nelson District Court that Moule had formed a relationship in the early 2000s and his son was born, but then his partner left with the child for Australia. "He knew he couldn't get to Australia because of his conviction history and he wanted to see his son, and try to re-bond with him," Dollimore said. "This is what fuelled him to do this." According to the police summary of facts, Moule asked an associate to complete the first of two passport applications in May 2015. The New Zealand passport was processed and issued by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) in his associate's name, but with Moule's photograph. The following month, Moule travelled from Auckland to the Gold Coast, clearing Customs with the passport, knowing it was false, police said. Moule used the same passport to fly back to New Zealand, arriving in Christchurch a few weeks later. He booked another trip to Australia in January 2016, using the same passport to travel from Auckland to Brisbane, returning eight days later. There was then a hiatus in Moule's travels until February 2018, when he travelled to Fiji, using a different, falsely obtained passport. He acquired this second passport in 2016, using the same associate to complete the application in his name but again using Moule's photo. In February 2018, Moule took off for Nadi, having cleared Customs using the forged passport before travelling back to Auckland nine days later. He was eventually caught by the facial recognition technology now used in passports. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) issued passports that were then checked by immigration systems when people left or entered New Zealand. At the border, New Zealand Customs used eGates to match the picture of someone's face in their ePassport with the picture it took of them at the gate. Visual inspections were also used, acting group manager of border operations Paul Williams told NZME before sentencing. He said that in circumstances where a passport was genuinely issued, but fraudulently obtained, it would not be easily identified by an eGate or a Customs officer. The DIA began issuing New Zealand biometric passports in 2005, but dozens of false passports were discovered during security checks before a new online passport renewal system was introduced in late 2012. DIA general manager of operations Russell Burnard told NZME that "falsely obtained genuine passports" were rare with none discovered since July 2024. He said Moule's actions were detected as part of a data-matching security project undertaken in late 2020 after an update of its facial recognition algorithm. In May 2021, Moule's image from his original passport in his own identity was matched against the images from his two falsely obtained passports, and the police were notified. Judge Snell said it was essential the integrity of the New Zealand passport system was protected. He said in Moule's case, aggravating features were the level of sophistication and premeditation. "The level of deception was high," Judge Snell said. From a sentencing starting point of two years and nine months in prison, Moule was awarded discounts for his guilty pleas and health status, which whittled the endpoint to two years. The sentence of 12 months of home detention was to be followed by six months of post-release conditions. Immigration New Zealand border director Geoff Scott told NZME that providing false, misleading or withheld information was a serious offence that increased risks for New Zealanders. He said false and misleading information was an issue immigration authorities across the world sought to eliminate, and INZ worked closely with its domestic and international partners to achieve this. The DIA said it was continually reviewing its manual procedures to minimise the risk of human error. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Police seek public's help after spate of suspicious fires in Northland
Photo: 123RF Police are investigating a spate of suspicious fires in Northland, with the latest involving road cones being set alight. Emergency services were called to a fire on Pataua North Road, Whareora on the morning of 20 May. "At around 7am, about 15 T8 Traffic Control cones were taken from a stretch of road under maintenance, stacked in the middle of the road, covered in diesel and set alight," Detective Sergeant Paul Overton said. "A second set of stacked cones were set alight further up the road." Detective Sergeant Overton said over the past seven months, police have received several reports of suspicious bush and scrub fires in the Matapouri, Tutukaka, Ngunguru and Pataua areas. "We encourage anyone who was in these areas or has any information about any of these fires to get in touch," he said. Anyone with information that could help police's enquiries, are urged to update police online or call 105. Please use the reference number 250520/3428. Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
Scoop
4 hours ago
- Scoop
Proposed Changes To New Zealand Dawn Raid Laws Not Enough, Pacific Advocates Say
Pacific advocates in Aotearoa say a proposed law change for out-of-hours immigration visits - like dawn raids - doesn't go far enough. The contentious enforcement practice involves immigration officers searching homes for people they have reasonable grounds to believe are liable for deportation between 6pm and 8am. It has been criticised for targeting Pacific people, particularly in the wake of the dawn raids of the 1970s and 80s. In 2021, the then-government apologised for the Dawn Raids era. However, two years later, the plight of a Tongan man whose home was dawn raided while his children slept hit headlines. At the time, his lawyer Sione Foliaki described how police and immigration officers showed up at the family's South Auckland home at 5am. "The loud banging was heard first by the children. Of course they didn't know it was police. They were terrified ... and crying and very, very upset and scared," he told RNZ Pacific. "And the parents heard it from upstairs - it was that loud - and they looked out the window from upstairs and saw that it was police. So they ran downstairs to try and calm the children. The case prompted Immigration New Zealand to cease out-of-hours immigration searches, and an official review was ordered . Now, a bill has been brought before parliament seeking to incorporate the review's findings into law. If successful, it would result in extra checks being required before a raid is carried out, and sign-off from a district court judge. However, it does not go as far as banning dawn raids, something Pasifika advocates and leaders have long called for. No dawn raids have been carried out in the country for the past two years. Former National MP Anae Arthur Anae has said the practice was unnecessary. "They've now proved they can do it within the normal hours. They don't need to go and do what they were doing before." Anae has been a long-term advocate for visa-free travel between Pacific Island nations and Aotearoa. Of the 60 countries that have visa-free access, none are Pacific nations. Meanwhile, Australians, UK nationals, and European visitors all qualified for visa-free access. Anae said the double-standard against Pacific was part of the problem. "If you make it very difficult for people to come, when they come they're going to stay as long as they can because there's not guarantee they can come back tomorrow when they go back on time. "I think Immigration [NZ which] created all of this in my opinion should look at themselves and ask themselves these questions: 'Can we find a way of eliminating the need for people to overstay." 'Trying to find a better way of life' Tongan community leader Pakilau Manase Lua agreed with Mr Anae and said New Zealand must face up to the bias in its system. He pointed to trends in immigration enforcement that showed Pacific people, and people of colour are overrepresented. "Why is it justified to target people who are here trying to find a better way of life," Pakilau said. "They're here in the country. In fact, they're actually paying taxes, and some of them are paying PAYE, Even though they're unlawful, they pay taxes by the fact …they're working." Undocumented migrants also contributed via GST when they bought things like groceries and petrol, he said. Green Party Pacific Peoples spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said an amnesty for overstayers was the right thing to do, particularly in light of the 2021 Dawn Raids apology. He supported outlawing out-of-hours immigration enforcement visits. "If they [Immigration New Zealand] have found a way to better engage with our communities, then why is this going to be on the statute books? Why is this going to be part of the rules? It should be removed because we know of the trauma that it does create," Tuiono said. Immigration New Zealand said in a statement that any out-of-hours compliance activity was rare and a last resort. Prior to the 2023 review, the enforcement tactic made up three percent of compliance visits. "While we retain the option of an out of hours visit it has so far not been judged necessary in an individual case," department spokesperson Steve Watson said. "We have also focused on visiting employers and since the…review we have put into practice an immigration infringement regime which allows us to sanction non-compliant employers." Watson also said the department would implement any changes that resulted from the proposed law changes. These were part of the government's wide-ranging Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Bill. The bill was at select committee stage. RNZ Pacific also sought comment from Immigration Minister Erica Stanford, but she did not respond before publication.
