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The decision follows recent changes to a controversial ministerial directive for reinstating visas for foreigners convicted of serious crimes.
While previous directives prioritised factors such as an individual’s connections to Australia, the updated directive places greater emphasis on community safety.
Around 1am on December 21, 2019, Pewailangi was playing poker machines at a hotel when he stalked a 77-year-old man who had just collected his winnings.
After talking to the elderly man for a short while, the much younger Pewairangi was seen on CCTV repeatedly hitting him on the left side of the head and face.
The man fell to the ground, according to the agreed statement, and Pewairangi told him, “Give me your money,” and pulled $120 from his pants pocket.
The man’s shirt was soaked in blood and his hearing aid was lost during the attack.
The sentencing judge said: “For a young man of this offender’s physical fitness he was an easy target and his attack on his victim was cowardly in every sense of the word.”
Pewairangi came to Australia in 2001 when he was just five years old and his immediate family, including his parents and brother, all live in Australia.
Since his visa was revoked, he has unsuccessfully appealed to the Federal Court and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
In his latest appeal, Pevarangi argued mental health issues including alcohol and gambling disorders, depression and anxiety should be treated in Australia and would be made worse if he returned to New Zealand.
The court heard most of Pewhairangi’s extended family members in New Zealand were either involved in motorcycle gangs or taking drugs.
Pewairangi’s mother previously told the court she fled domestic violence when Pewairangi was 12, taking only his younger brother with her.
She said he has not yet coped well with the breakdown of his parents’ relationship.
The court ordered Pewhairangi to pay the legal costs of the federal immigration minister, who was named as the first defendant in the appeal.
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