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Pressure is mounting on the Home Affairs Minister to deport an accused paedophile back to New Zealand after he was discovered living as a free man on the Sunshine Coast.
In a speech on the floor of Parliament today, Coalition MP Andrew Wallace called for 69-year-old Ronald Thompson to be removed from Australia.
Thompson avoided standing trial in New Zealand on 18 charges of sexual abuse against six alleged victims, due to medical evidence that he was “palliative” with “months to live.”
A Current Affair discovered the former carpet salesman healthy enough to climb stairs unassisted near his waterfront apartment in the tourist hotspot of Maroochydore, Queensland.
Wallace, who represents the federal electorate of Fisher which takes in the Sunshine Coast, said families in the area are questioning why Thompson was “able to enter Australia in the first place”.
“Was the Department of Home Affairs aware of these serious allegations?” Wallace asked.
“Were appropriate character checks undertaken before he was granted entry?”
When questioned by A Current Affair about his apparent miracle recovery since the palliative diagnosis two years ago, Thompson denied he was well enough to return to New Zealand to face trial.
“I haven’t made any recovery,” he said before adding a recent holiday to the Philippines was only possible “in a wheelchair”.
Wallace believes it’s time for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to step in and deport the New Zealand citizen on character grounds.
“Australians rightly expect that our visa system protects the community,” Wallace said.
“The minister already has powers under the Migration Act to act on character grounds. Those powers should have been used.”
“This individual’s ability to stay in this country should be cancelled, and he should be removed from Australia.”
Burke has been contacted for comment.
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Dan Nolan is a senior reporter at A Current Affair in Queensland.From our partners
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