Baron Waqa, President of Nauru from 2013 to 2019, lost his seat of Boe in the most recent parliamentary elections. These were held in August of last year.[1]
But this was not the first challenge to Waqa's presidency. In 2014 a motion of no-confidence in the then President was table in the Nauru parliament[2] over a scandal I am going to coin - for ease of reference - as judgegate. In summary, three Australian nationals were forced to leave the country in a chain-reaction sparked by the expulsion of the first. Two of these held important legal positions in Nauru, hence the appellation judgegate.
The first Australian to be deported was Rod Henshaw, who, according to The Guardian, "was living and running a business in Nauru"[3] at the time of his expulsion. The Nauruan Parliament had amended its Immigration Act the night before allowing the minister for Justice, David Adeang, powers to sign deportation orders.[4] Mr. Henshaw had been a former media adviser to the Nauruan government between 2006 and 2012[5] and was declared a "'prohibited immigrant" by the Justice minister.[4]
"I guess the reason I've been shunted is because of the stage when David Adeang was in opposition, I probably wrote a few press releases he didn't particularly like"[5] is what Henshaw speculated about the reasons for the deportation order. He appealed to the Nauru president - Baron Waqa - on the day of his deportation, but the appeal was refused.[5]
The second to be deported was Peter Law, an (aptly-named) Australian magistrate. When Henshaw appealed to the courts over his deportation, Law placed an injunction on the order. He too was then the subject of a deportation order.[6]
At this point, a third Australian steps in. Nauru's Chief Justice Geoffrey Eames placed an injunction on Law's deportation at which point he was also de facto deported as his visa was cancelled while in Australia rendering him unable to reenter the country.[3]
A motion of no-confidence against Baron Waqa was subsequently tabled in the Nauru parliament over the President's handling of judgegate, but the motion did not gain enough votes to oust him.[1]
Nauruan politics is, unsurprisingly, covered little in international press. What is known about the country in the UK is mostly obtained through newspaper reports. In the UK, The Guardian seems to be the main reporter on Nauru. It will not help coverage of Nauruan politics, however, that the visa fee for media has gone up from 200 AUD to 8000 AUD. The change in policy was made a few weeks before the deportation orders.[7]
I don't yet know a lot about Nauru, but one thing I have heard repeatedly is that Nauru is corrupt. This could be in reference to its politics, or a vague understanding that Nauru holds refugees for Australia in poor conditions, or a vague understanding that the phosphate mining industry both created and destroyed Nauru's economy. We can also talk about corruption of the landscape in phosphate mining and corruption of public health in the obesity crisis, but to be specific about these I will write further posts. Nonetheless, for the meantime I hope that this post clarifies the overview of the deportation situations. Not only does the term judgegate classify them as one event in recent Nauruan political history, avoiding thus confusion with other similar events, the collation of different media sources which each only give a partial retelling of the story allows us to map out events chronologically in four parts according the three expulsions of the three Australians from the island and the subsequent no-confidence motion in Waqa.
In turn, writing articles like this helps us build up a clearer picture of Nauru - as sovereign state, island and society.
Sources:
[1] 'Nauru election: president Baron Waqa loses his seat', The Guardian, 25 August 2019
[2] Batsiua, Mathew, 'No confidence motion in Nauru fails', RNZ, 28 January 2014
[3] ''I don't take orders from the chief justice': How Nauru ousted its judicial leaders', The Guardian, 25 May 2017
[4] 'Nauru deports former media adviser Rod Henshaw', ABC News, 29 January 2014
[5] 'Former TV and radio host Rod Henshaw deported from Nauru', Brisbane Times, 29 January 2014
[6] 'Nauru deports its only magistrate and bars chief justice from entering country', The Guardian, 19 January 2014
[7] 'Nauru to increase visa cost for journalists from $200 to $8,000', The Guardian, 8 January 2014
But this was not the first challenge to Waqa's presidency. In 2014 a motion of no-confidence in the then President was table in the Nauru parliament[2] over a scandal I am going to coin - for ease of reference - as judgegate. In summary, three Australian nationals were forced to leave the country in a chain-reaction sparked by the expulsion of the first. Two of these held important legal positions in Nauru, hence the appellation judgegate.
The first Australian to be deported was Rod Henshaw, who, according to The Guardian, "was living and running a business in Nauru"[3] at the time of his expulsion. The Nauruan Parliament had amended its Immigration Act the night before allowing the minister for Justice, David Adeang, powers to sign deportation orders.[4] Mr. Henshaw had been a former media adviser to the Nauruan government between 2006 and 2012[5] and was declared a "'prohibited immigrant" by the Justice minister.[4]
"I guess the reason I've been shunted is because of the stage when David Adeang was in opposition, I probably wrote a few press releases he didn't particularly like"[5] is what Henshaw speculated about the reasons for the deportation order. He appealed to the Nauru president - Baron Waqa - on the day of his deportation, but the appeal was refused.[5]
The second to be deported was Peter Law, an (aptly-named) Australian magistrate. When Henshaw appealed to the courts over his deportation, Law placed an injunction on the order. He too was then the subject of a deportation order.[6]
At this point, a third Australian steps in. Nauru's Chief Justice Geoffrey Eames placed an injunction on Law's deportation at which point he was also de facto deported as his visa was cancelled while in Australia rendering him unable to reenter the country.[3]
A motion of no-confidence against Baron Waqa was subsequently tabled in the Nauru parliament over the President's handling of judgegate, but the motion did not gain enough votes to oust him.[1]
Nauruan politics is, unsurprisingly, covered little in international press. What is known about the country in the UK is mostly obtained through newspaper reports. In the UK, The Guardian seems to be the main reporter on Nauru. It will not help coverage of Nauruan politics, however, that the visa fee for media has gone up from 200 AUD to 8000 AUD. The change in policy was made a few weeks before the deportation orders.[7]
I don't yet know a lot about Nauru, but one thing I have heard repeatedly is that Nauru is corrupt. This could be in reference to its politics, or a vague understanding that Nauru holds refugees for Australia in poor conditions, or a vague understanding that the phosphate mining industry both created and destroyed Nauru's economy. We can also talk about corruption of the landscape in phosphate mining and corruption of public health in the obesity crisis, but to be specific about these I will write further posts. Nonetheless, for the meantime I hope that this post clarifies the overview of the deportation situations. Not only does the term judgegate classify them as one event in recent Nauruan political history, avoiding thus confusion with other similar events, the collation of different media sources which each only give a partial retelling of the story allows us to map out events chronologically in four parts according the three expulsions of the three Australians from the island and the subsequent no-confidence motion in Waqa.
In turn, writing articles like this helps us build up a clearer picture of Nauru - as sovereign state, island and society.
~
Sources:
[1] 'Nauru election: president Baron Waqa loses his seat', The Guardian, 25 August 2019
[2] Batsiua, Mathew, 'No confidence motion in Nauru fails', RNZ, 28 January 2014
[3] ''I don't take orders from the chief justice': How Nauru ousted its judicial leaders', The Guardian, 25 May 2017
[4] 'Nauru deports former media adviser Rod Henshaw', ABC News, 29 January 2014
[5] 'Former TV and radio host Rod Henshaw deported from Nauru', Brisbane Times, 29 January 2014
[6] 'Nauru deports its only magistrate and bars chief justice from entering country', The Guardian, 19 January 2014
[7] 'Nauru to increase visa cost for journalists from $200 to $8,000', The Guardian, 8 January 2014
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