Latest / The Front / A shocking three-decade criminal rampage
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Before we begin. This episode is full of adult concepts
- 0:03Speaker 1: and language from the Australian. Here's what's on the front.
- 0:10Speaker 1: I'm Claire Harvey. It's Wednesday, June five. A quarter of
- 0:18Speaker 1: disability workers quit in the past year, many to get
- 0:21Speaker 1: higher wages in aged care. That's the takeout from a
- 0:24Speaker 1: new report which also shows widespread fraud in the NDIS
- 0:29Speaker 1: where providers are using funds to obtain drugs. The Federal
- 0:36Speaker 1: government's Affordable Housing Agency spent more than twenty four million
- 0:39Speaker 1: dollars on consultants and six million on executive salaries last
- 0:44Speaker 1: year without building a single dwelling under the government's promise
- 0:48Speaker 1: to create forty thousand social and affordable houses. That's an
- 0:52Speaker 1: exclusive live on the Australian dot com dot a You
- 0:56Speaker 1: right now today, the shocking story of a New Zealand
- 1:02Speaker 1: born criminal who's been offending across three decades in Australia
- 1:07Speaker 1: and why the federal government has failed to send him
- 1:10Speaker 1: back home. In nineteen seventy eight, a four year old
- 1:19Speaker 1: boy arrived in Australia to begin a new life with
- 1:22Speaker 1: his family. He's Glen Taylor, born in nineteen seventy four
- 1:27Speaker 1: in New Zealand. He's left Australia at times over the years,
- 1:30Speaker 1: but has been here since two thousand. He's a New
- 1:34Speaker 1: Zealand citizen, not an Australian. Here's what the Administrative Appeals
- 1:39Speaker 1: Tribunal says about Glen Taylor.
- 1:42Speaker 2: The applicant has an extensive criminal history between nineteen ninety
- 1:46Speaker 2: three and twenty twenty three, who was convicted of over
- 1:49Speaker 2: thirty five offenses, including common assault, contravening, apprehended domestic violence, order,
- 1:54Speaker 2: drug possession, assault, occasioning actual bodily harm and stalk intimidation offense.
- 2:01Speaker 1: He has more than thirty five convictions and has served
- 2:03Speaker 1: jail time for offenses including shoplifting, resisting police, carrying implements
- 2:08Speaker 1: for breaking into cars, assaulting police, threatening witnesses, and breaching
- 2:13Speaker 1: COVID rules. In two thousand and seven, while drunk, he
- 2:17Speaker 1: entered the house of his partner, who had an AVO
- 2:19Speaker 1: against him, threw a metal ash tray and screamed at her,
- 2:24Speaker 1: you are the reason I'm going to jail. I'm going
- 2:26Speaker 1: to fucking kill you. I'm going to use your face
- 2:29Speaker 1: as a bloody dart board. She barricaded herself and the
- 2:33Speaker 1: children inside the bedroom and called police. Taylor bashed a
- 2:38Speaker 1: man on a train after he refused to hand over
- 2:40Speaker 1: his phone. He terrorized a neighbor, He breached more AVOs.
- 2:45Speaker 1: He attacked and threatened police, resisted arrest and damaged property.
- 2:49Speaker 1: He used ice and abused alcohol. He sent one hundred
- 2:53Speaker 1: messages to a woman who'd taken out an AVO against him,
- 2:56Speaker 1: and threatened dire consequences if she didn't withdraw the AVO.
- 3:01Speaker 1: In April twenty twenty three, his visa was canceled on
- 3:04Speaker 1: character grounds, and Taylor appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
- 3:10Speaker 1: He presented evidence he'd completed a remand domestic abuse course.
- 3:14Speaker 1: In July twenty twenty three, Taylor was convicted of breaching
- 3:17Speaker 1: an apprehended domestic violence order and his visa was again rejected.
- 3:22Speaker 1: He went back to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, saying he
- 3:26Speaker 1: was sober and sorry for what he'd done. Aat Deputy
- 3:34Speaker 1: President Antoinette Yunes, a solicitor and psychologist who was appointed
- 3:39Speaker 1: by the Morrison government after serving as an advisor to
- 3:41Speaker 1: former Minister Michaulia Cash, heard his case. We've used a
- 3:46Speaker 1: voice actor to bring you her words.
- 3:49Speaker 2: During the hearing, The applicant accepted the seriousness of his conduct,
- 3:53Speaker 2: and although there were occasions where he could not recall
- 3:56Speaker 2: the specifics of his conduct, he nevertheless expressed remorse and
- 4:00Speaker 2: apologies for his conduct. The Tribunal is satisfied that the
- 4:04Speaker 2: applicant's apologies and expressions of remorse are genuine. The applicant
- 4:09Speaker 2: contended that his criminal record should be considered in light
- 4:12Speaker 2: of his traumatic brain injury which occurred in Australia in
- 4:15Speaker 2: nineteen ninety seven.
- 4:17Speaker 1: That brain injury occurred when Taylor was assaulted, resulting in
- 4:21Speaker 1: a fractured skull. Miss Yunes accepted that he was a
- 4:25Speaker 1: risk to the community, that he had committed family violence offenses,
- 4:28Speaker 1: and that he still has two active avios against him,
- 4:32Speaker 1: but she accepted that he had strong ties to Australia,
- 4:35Speaker 1: including a sister. Although she said Taylor couldn't live with
- 4:38Speaker 1: her and two adult sons, he believes he has an
- 4:43Speaker 1: adult daughter, and Miss Yunes accepted that Taylor had nieces
- 4:47Speaker 1: and nephews in Australia who could benefit from a relationship
- 4:50Speaker 1: with him.
- 4:52Speaker 2: The Tribunal has satisfied that, given the lengthy period the
- 4:55Speaker 2: applicant has spent in Australia, and although his ties may
- 4:58Speaker 2: not appear to be strong, they are nevertheless ties which
- 5:02Speaker 2: need to be considered in the context of a person
- 5:04Speaker 2: who is vulnerable due to his brain injury and drug
- 5:07Speaker 2: and alcohol dependence. It is reasonable to suggest that it
- 5:11Speaker 2: is plausible that his criminal conduct, particularly the family violence,
- 5:15Speaker 2: adversely impacted on his relationships and the strength of those ties.
- 5:19Speaker 1: The tribunal said it didn't have any evidence of the
- 5:22Speaker 1: impact on Taylor's victims of him being allowed to stay.
- 5:31Speaker 1: The Commonwealth fought against Taylor at every turn in the AAT.
- 5:35Speaker 1: It argued he was a risk to society, he had
- 5:38Speaker 1: no enduring ties to family, he was in fact a
- 5:41Speaker 1: risk to his nieces and nephews because of his history
- 5:44Speaker 1: of substance abuse and violence, and that the Australian community
- 5:48Speaker 1: expects criminals like him to be deported. But the tribunal
- 5:53Speaker 1: said this and this is why Glenn Taylor's case comes
- 5:58Speaker 1: back to the federal government. It's all about Direction ninety nine,
- 6:03Speaker 1: a new policy introduced by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, which
- 6:07Speaker 1: says one of the factors the AAT must consider is
- 6:11Speaker 1: the length and strength of an offender's ties to Australia.
- 6:16Speaker 1: Here's what Antoinette Yune said in her tribunal decision. The
- 6:20Speaker 1: Direction indicates that Australia will generally afford a higher level
- 6:24Speaker 1: of tolerance of criminal or other serious conduct by non
- 6:27Speaker 1: citizens who have lived in the Australian community for most
- 6:30Speaker 1: of their life or from a very young age. Direction
- 6:34Speaker 1: ninety nine introduced the principle that the level of tolerance
- 6:37Speaker 1: will rise with the length of time a non citizen
- 6:39Speaker 1: has spent in the Australian community, particularly in their formative years.
- 6:44Speaker 1: The applicant has been in Australia for most of his life,
- 6:47Speaker 1: including during his formative years. He's on the Disability Support pension.
- 6:52Speaker 1: He has a possible diagnosis of schizophrenia. He has depression
- 6:56Speaker 1: and anxiety.
- 6:58Speaker 2: Although the Tribunal acts the respondent's contentions that the applicant
- 7:02Speaker 2: could continue to receive commensurate treatment in New Zealand, which
- 7:06Speaker 2: has comparable medical services available to that of Australia, the
- 7:09Speaker 2: Tribunal is of the view that the brain injury presents
- 7:12Speaker 2: a significant impediment on the applicant's ability to settle in
- 7:16Speaker 2: New Zealand and navigate a different environment.
- 7:19Speaker 1: The Tribunal except in New Zealand had extensive health services
- 7:22Speaker 1: Tailor could access.
- 7:24Speaker 2: However, that access must be considered in the context of
- 7:27Speaker 2: his brain injury, which would impact his ability to understand,
- 7:31Speaker 2: engage and navigate new procedures. It is not far fetched
- 7:35Speaker 2: to suggest that the brain injury could impact his ability
- 7:38Speaker 2: to find employment, housing, and a support network.
- 7:42Speaker 1: Taylor has a father in New Zealand, but he's nearly
- 7:45Speaker 1: eighty and unlikely to be able to provide much help.
- 7:49Speaker 2: On the cumulative evidence, the Tribunal has satisfied that if
- 7:52Speaker 2: removed from Australia, the applicant would experience significant mental, emotional,
- 7:57Speaker 2: practical and financial hardships which would be difficult to overcome
- 8:01Speaker 2: given his significant brain injury.
- 8:03Speaker 1: And so Tribunal Deputy President Antoinette Yunees revoked the cancelation
- 8:08Speaker 1: of his visa. In other words, Glen Taylor wins. He
- 8:13Speaker 1: gets to stay. After the break, one of Glen Taylor's
- 8:20Speaker 1: victims speaks out for the first time the immigration scandaling
- 8:24Speaker 1: golfing the Federal government could cost Anthony Albanezi his first Minister,
- 8:28Speaker 1: and subscribers to The Australian have been following this issue
- 8:31Speaker 1: in detail for months now. Join US by being the
- 8:34Speaker 1: first to know. Subscribe at the Australian dot com dot
- 8:38Speaker 1: a U We'll be back after this break. One of
- 8:53Speaker 1: Glen Taylor's victims, Jessica Mills, is speaking for the first
- 8:57Speaker 1: time to The Australian today. She was a neighbor of
- 9:01Speaker 1: Glenn Taylor.
- 9:03Speaker 3: What we went through no family should have to go through.
- 9:07Speaker 3: Glenn should have been deported. Why is he still here?
- 9:10Speaker 3: Why if they can let him in? And then there's
- 9:13Speaker 3: criminal charges that have been laid against them time and
- 9:16Speaker 3: time again. How many times did there have to be
- 9:19Speaker 3: laid out for them to actually be like, all right,
- 9:21Speaker 3: this person is not a good person in our country.
- 9:24Speaker 3: Like you come to God's land, you follow the rules.
- 9:28Speaker 1: Jessica Mills told her story to our reporters Alexi Demitriati
- 9:32Speaker 1: and Liam Mendez.
- 9:34Speaker 4: Came very clear, very quickly, and having that chatted with
- 9:37Speaker 4: her across two days. She's a really strong, world smart
- 9:41Speaker 4: and also of course brave woman. Single mum raised her
- 9:44Speaker 4: five relatively young kids on the Central Coast and she
- 9:50Speaker 4: is probably the first voice of a victim standing up
- 9:54Speaker 4: during this crisis, calling for change, saying enough is enough
- 9:58Speaker 4: or when is enough going to be enough? She is
- 10:02Speaker 4: one of many victims across multiple convictions and multiple years
- 10:06Speaker 4: of a New Zealander called Glenn Taylor. Taylor was a
- 10:10Speaker 4: then neighbor of her and her and her family were harassed.
- 10:14Speaker 4: Taylor made a threat to Jessica if she didn't drop
- 10:19Speaker 4: an avo. She took out against him and her property
- 10:22Speaker 4: was vandalized and damaged by Taylor. He was convicted for
- 10:26Speaker 4: those crimes in May of last year. She was keen
- 10:30Speaker 4: to speak out and be a voice, hopefully to enact
- 10:33Speaker 4: some form of change to address the system issues and
- 10:37Speaker 4: make a permanent difference.
- 10:43Speaker 1: Direction ninety nine that's the ministerial policy that has caused
- 10:46Speaker 1: the Albanese government so much grief. It was issued after
- 10:50Speaker 1: intense lobbying by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardun, who
- 10:54Speaker 1: wanted to prevent Kiwis, who had grown up in Australia
- 10:57Speaker 1: and committed crimes in Australia sent back to New Zealand.
- 11:02Speaker 1: Minister Andrew Giles has at various times blamed his department
- 11:05Speaker 1: and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for the mess saying they've
- 11:09Speaker 1: overemphasized the importance of an offender's ties to Australia. The
- 11:14Speaker 1: Minister says he never intended this to keep hardcore criminals
- 11:17Speaker 1: in Australia, and that in fact the direction was supposed
- 11:20Speaker 1: to make Australian women safer by introducing a new requirement
- 11:25Speaker 1: for the tribunal to consider whether an offender had committed
- 11:28Speaker 1: family violence crimes. But the Government has dumped Direction ninety
- 11:33Speaker 1: nine and now it's struggling to avoid dumping the minister himself.
- 11:40Speaker 5: Thanks Speaker. A short time ago I spoke with New
- 11:43Speaker 5: Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters. I spoke to him
- 11:46Speaker 5: about the changes our government will soon be making to
- 11:48Speaker 5: strengthen community safety in Australia. I conveyed to him that
- 11:53Speaker 5: Direction ninety nine has not been working as intended and
- 11:57Speaker 5: that we will be revoking Ministerial Director nine and issuing
- 12:01Speaker 5: a new revised direction to make sure that the protection
- 12:05Speaker 5: of the Australian community out was all other considerable books.
- 12:09Speaker 3: As the Minister concluded.
- 12:10Speaker 1: His answer, thanks for joining us on the front. This
- 12:21Speaker 1: story is moving fast. You can get the latest right
- 12:24Speaker 1: now by joining us at the Australian dot com dot
- 12:27Speaker 1: au