N.Z. given bad name

Press, 5 August 1988, Page 1

N.Z. given bad name

By

STEPHEN HUNT

on the Gold Coast An Australian magistrate has lashed out at the preponderance of offences committed by New Zealanders.

The magistrate, on Australia’s tourist Mecca, the Gold Coast, told seven New Zealanders facing social security fraud charges totalling more than $31,000 that they had let their country down. Mr David Hogan, S.M., told one offender, “There is so much bad press about New Zealanders and you are the third ex-New Zealander who has been in court this morning. “Through the press it seems there is a public awareness as to the preponderance of offences committed by New Zealanders.

“In committing these offences they let down their country and fellow countrymen.”

Seven out of eight people who pleaded guilty to imposition charges came from New Zealand.

The magistrate said, however, that a person’s country of origin had no bearing on his sentencing. New Zealanders flocking to the Gold Coast on holiday be-

lieve they have been the target of discrimination. In the last five months there have been claims of victimisation by bouncers and the police.

' In one incident, two Maoris said they were beaten and kicked by at least a dozen bouncers at Surfers Paradise nightclubs during a brawl; The men described the bashing as malicious, unprovoked and an act of violent racial prejudice.

Another; three Maoris said earlier this year that their lives had been at risk after being beaten by off-duty policemen in Surfers Paradise. They said a group of police had “bashed them senseless” and told n them that Australian police were better than New Zealand police. Charges have not been laid against the police allegedly involved in the incident.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has confirmed there are more New Zealanders per capita in Queensland than in any other state or territory.

The number of New Zealanders out of work in Queensland appears to be one reason for the increase in animosity. The level bf unemployment among the New Zealand community is

almost 50 per cent higher than the over-all percentage “I guess that means if you are going to be an out-of-work Kiwi you are better off in the sunshine state than in cold Melbourne,” a statistics bureau spokesman said. The Social Security Department said that 2818 New Zea-land-born people were living in Queensland and collecting unemployment benefits. Another 359 were getting sickness benefits, 128 special benefits and 4381 received aged, invalid, supporting parents, wives’ or widows’ pensions. New Zealanders must be in Australia for six months before they qualify for benefits. Australians in New Zealand have to wait 12 months.

ill-feeling is also creeping into the state’s South Coast (which includes the Gold Coast) election campaign. The Liberal Party candidate, Mr Bob Quinn, is calling for a crackdown on young New Zealanders on the dole.

“Even many former New Zealanders who have come to invest and contribute to the community are ashamed, at the attitude of their former countrymen,” he said.