Australian govt to fight Xenophon deportation

The federal government will continue demanding explanations from Malaysia after failing to convince authorities to let South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon stay in the country.

The independent senator was detained and deported from Malaysia upon arrival over the weekend – a decision he says came from “the highest levels of the Malaysian government” because of his support for pro-democracy reform.

He arrived in Melbourne on Sunday after an eight-hour return flight, saying he believed he was the first Australian MP ever to be deported and he was ready to fight such a travel ban in court.

“I’m now on a watch list,” he said.

“I don’t know how many years or decades it will be before I’m allowed to set foot in Malaysian soil, which is a great pity.”

Senator Xenophon had been travelling to Malaysia as the head of an unofficial parliamentary delegation to review the country’s electoral system.

He and other Australian MPs were to meet Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, as well as the minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammed Nazri, and members of the group Bersih – the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections.

But immigration officials told Senator Xenophon there was a technical glitch with his passport when he arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

He said he was then detained and deported upon being found to be a security risk.

“I think that they’ve made a big mistake,” he said.

“This was going to be a low key visit … I think it’s spectacularly backfired on them.”

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government had immediately tried to convince Malaysia to allow Senator Xenophon into the country.

“We will continue to pursue this issue with the Malaysian government,” she told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr said he had already spoken with his Malaysian counterpart to express his surprise and disappointment at the deportation but hoped the incident would not erode bilateral relations.

“I said I thought no ill could come of having an Australian senator there to observe the elections,” Senator Carr told reporters at Sydney Airport on Sunday.

But the Malaysian government took strong objection to foreign interference in their election campaign, he said.

Local Malaysian media reported that Senator Xenophon was barred because he had attended a banned demonstration last year.

“Malaysia is a free and democratic country but no one is above the law,” a government-issued statement said.

Former prime minister and foreign minister Kevin Rudd said Australia’s response should be “robust,” considering the senator’s treatment.

“Detaining any member of an Australian parliament, in the way in which Senator Xenophon appears to have been detained, is just unacceptable,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“We are robust about our democracy and therefore we should be robust in our response to our friends in Kuala Lumpur.”

Senator Xenophon said his planned court appeal will likely mean he’ll have to testify via video link since he was no longer allowed into Malaysia.