Christchurch, NZ, Wednesday, August 4,
2004 'Banned'
visitors allowed into NZ By COLIN ESPINER THE Immigration Service approved
34 visits to New Zealand last year by people
automatically banned under the same law being used
by the Government to halt the visit of historian
David Irving. Prime Minister Helen Clark has blocked
the visit of the controversial Holocaust
revisionist on the grounds that the Immigration Act
bars entry to anyone previously deported from
another country. "It's not their (Immigration Service) decision,"
Miss Clark said on Monday
[Aug 2]. "The
way our law is written if he has been deported from
another country he is automatically denied entry to
New Zealand. "It would take a
special positive direction to give him entry and
that I imagine would have to come up to the
level of a minister and I would be astonished if
the minister allowed him entry," she said.
Information obtained from the service yesterday
shows that 81 people were denied entry to New
Zealand under Section 7 of the Immigration Act in
the year to July. The section deals with visitors
with criminal convictions, deportation orders, or a
history of drug possession. This section is being used to ban Irving, who
was deported
from Canada 13 years ago and has a minor
conviction for breaching a German law designed
to clamp down on neo-Nazi groups. But in the same period, 34 visits by people
banned under Section 7 were subsequently approved
on appeal to the service - none of which went to
the Immigration Minister Paul Swain. Service spokeswoman Kathryn O'Sullivan
said the service itself had dealt with all of the
applications for special directions under Section
7. Just six were declined, and five were withdrawn.
The service declined to consider 18
applications. Section 7 of the Immigration Act allows
ministerial intervention for any reason the
Government sees fit. 
Dossier:
attempts by New Zealand Jews to stop David
Irving's 2004 visit FAQ:
Answers to frequently asked questions about Mr
Irving's visit-
Steven
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