CANBERRA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- More than 800 convicted criminals were stripped of their Australian visas in 2018, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has confirmed.
Australia's governing Liberal National Party coalition (LNP) in 2014 introduced mandatory visa cancellations for anyone sentenced to 12 months or more imprisonment. Once those offenders finish their prison sentence, they face deportation from Australia.
As a result, the government has cancelled 4,150 visas since it took power at the end of 2013, seven times the number of those cancelled in the previous five years by the former Australian Labor Party (ALP) government.
"There's no place in our country for people who come here and harm Australians," Dutton told News Corp Australia on Monday.
"We welcome people from all around the world, but those few who think they can live in Australia and be involved in criminal actions need to know they won't be staying long."
According to the Department of Home Affairs, 100 visas were cancelled for child sex offences in 2018, 125 for assault, 53 for domestic violence, 34 for rape and other sexual offences, 13 for murder and 56 for armed robbery.
More than 500 criminals who had their visas cancelled were convicted of violent crimes.
David Coleman, minister for immigration, citizenship and multicultural affairs, said there was "no tolerance for those who put Australians in danger."
