Brian Tamaki says Australia refused him entry at Brisbane Airport
The Destiny Church leader says border officials questioned him for 12 hours, cancelled his visa and sent him to New Zealand. Australian authorities have not given their account in the NZ Herald report.
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki said on 22 October that Australian border officials refused him entry at Brisbane Airport and sent him back to New Zealand, disrupting a trip to speak at a church conference. The NZ Herald reported his account; the Australian Border Force had not provided its account in the report.
Tamaki said he had travelled with his family and was pulled aside after landing. He said officers questioned him for 12 hours, then held him overnight under guard in an immigration detention centre. According to Tamaki, officials cancelled his visa before he was sent home. The Herald did not independently confirm those events.
What Tamaki says officials questioned him about
Tamaki said border officials raised his remarks about mass immigration, Islam, Sikhism and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said they told him his presence could disrupt or upset Australian life, particularly for Muslim and Sikh communities. Those are Tamaki’s descriptions of the questioning and the officials’ concerns, rather than an explanation issued by the Australian Border Force.
The Herald said it had approached the Australian Border Force and Destiny Church for comment. Its report included no response from either. Tamaki’s official biography identifies him as the head of Destiny Church International and says the organisation has a church in Brisbane, where he said he had been due to speak at a conference.
Court charge in New Zealand
The border account came after Tamaki pleaded not guilty in Manukau District Court on Monday to a charge of inciting racial disharmony, the Herald reported. The charge concerns alleged conduct in June. According to the Herald, charge sheets describe Facebook posts alleged to have been abusive or insulting and likely to excite ill will. The charge remains an allegation; the plea was not a finding on its merits.
The Herald also reported that Tamaki made remarks on a June podcast about burning mosques and temples if churches were burned in India. He later told Ryan Bridge TODAY that he did not mean the call literally. Tamaki linked the Australian questioning to earlier scrutiny of his comments, but no Australian official account of the border decision was included in the Herald’s report.
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Sources and context
- Controversial minister claims denied entry into Oz after 12-hour interrogationNZ Herald
- Apostle Bishop Brian TamakiBrian Tamaki official website
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.