January 20, 2025
A violent former immigration detainee convicted of kidnapping and break and enter, and freed under the High Court’s NZYQ ruling, says he has been “set up for failure” and claims most detainees are “not even threats to the public”.
Tatenda “Tate” Chabarika, speaking to The Australian after being released from prison following an affray conviction last week, said funds dedicated to monitor dozens of ex-detainees – including murderers, sex offenders and other violent criminals – should have been redirected to rehabilitation efforts.
Chabarika’s visa was cancelled by the Morrison government in 2018 after he was sentenced to nine years’ jail for violent offending. Five years earlier, he had been sentenced to a year in prison for six fraud and dishonesty offences.
Upon completing his non-parole period he was taken to an immigration detention centre where he was held until the High Court ruling, which found indefinite detention was unconstitutional and allowed for more than 150 detainees to be released.
The 33-year-old, who says he is now on his fifth bridging visa, was convicted of affray last Tuesday following his arrest in December, and sentenced to a nine-month community corrections order.
He unleashed on the federal government after being released from custody, saying he had not been provided with enough support during his time inside or after being released from immigration detention.
“What they’re doing right now, the government, is political pointscoring with this immigration issue,” he said as he was released from Cessnock Correctional Complex in the NSW Hunter Valley. “Most of us, we’re not even threats to the public, like they say.”
Chabarika, who is originally from Zimbabwe, claimed the government was “political pointscoring” with immigration issues and said millions of dollars allocated to the Australian Border Force and Australian Federal Police to monitor the released detainees should have been put towards the “rehabilitation” of himself and other detainees.
“That was the worst experience of my life, I can tell you that much,” he said.
“The fact that we got released, and most of us, after spending so long in there, and we get released without any sort of supports whatsoever, is criminal, if you ask me.
“They’ve pretty much set us up for failure. The government is political pointscoring.”
Chabarika said he was “not worried” about multiple charges he is facing in Western Australia following incidents involving threatening, obstructing and causing harm to commonwealth officials while he was being held at Christmas Island immigration detention centre.
“Those charges, man… I’m not worried about those charges because those charges were placed when I was under illegal detainment, unconstitutional detainment … so I’m going to defend myself.”
He said while in detention he was subject to guards “stomping on our heads” and bashings, and that other detainees were subject to sexual abuse.
“I’ve been out here, all I’ve been doing was working, I run my own business now cutting grass and all this stuff, all I’ve been doing was working and try to help people, which is the reason why I found myself back in here (prison), because I try to help somebody,” he said.
“And when the law comes, what do they look at? ‘Oh, he’s got an ankle bracelet on, they arrest me straight away’ … they don’t look at the bigger picture. They don’t look at what happened, which is exactly what I explained in court today and why I got released.
“I’m the type of guy who sees a homeless person, all right, and I’ll give him money to go get something to eat, I go buy him a drink. I’m the type of guy to help people in need. All right, my past does not define who I am.”
More than one-quarter of the foreign offenders freed under the High Court’s NZYQ ruling have been charged with a crime since their release, with the Coalition heaping pressure on Labor to better protect Australian communities.
Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said Australians were “paying the price” for weak national security and border protection policies of the Albanese government.
“They have the power to re-detain these non-citizens under laws rushed through the parliament 13 months ago but have not been used once,” Senator Paterson said. “Violent visa holders who should be off the streets have been allowed to stay free in the community and commit new offences against innocent Australians. Only a Dutton Coalition government will put community safety first.”
