Proud New Zealanders living it large in Australia

A New Zealand father living in New South Wales, Australia, has been refused bail after being charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

24 year old Kyle Pehi (above) posted pictures of himself posing with the firearm and 4 month old baby on his family’s Facebook page. Incredibly, more than a dozen people ‘liked’ his FB status and commented on the pictures.

According to the Australian Daily Telegraph:

“It is unclear whether a tip-off lead police to Pehi or whether they discovered the existence of the weapon on their own through his associations.

Police privately expressed dismay at the images but declined to comment due to the matter presently being before the courts…”

The arrest came as part of a police operation to prevent areas of Sydney turning into the “wild west.”

“Kyle Pehi, 24, allegedly posted his trophy photos on his Facebook family album.

But his online boasting also tipped off authorities to one of the many guns they are trying to remove from the streets, and he is now staring down the barrel of a possible jail sentence.

Pehi was arrested on Monday by Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad detectives who raided his home on Garden St, Blacktown, after becoming aware a gun was allegedly on the property…”

Ten fays ago we wrote about another Kiwi in Australia, arrested  for making threats on Facebook to slit the throats of Premier Campbell Newman and his family. Reece Casey failed to turn up to court, allegedly because he didn’t want to be photographed by waiting press.

Reece Kyle Casey, 26, is accused of using a fake Facebook account to threaten to “slit their throats”, referring to Mr Newman and his wife Lisa.

The Courier-Mail previously reported that the post on the Premier’s official Facebook page on January 29 had said the threat was serious and would be carried out.

The message also warned Mr Newman to protect his loved ones, which was taken as a threat against his two daughters, it was reported…” read the rest here

Last year the NZ Herald reported nearly 800 New Zealanders were slammed up in Australian prisons and figures published by Stuff.co.nz revealed that Australia has deported more than 100 New Zealanders in the last 18 months because of criminal offending, or the risk of offending.

Figures provided by the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection show that since July 2007, 420 New Zealanders have been sent home for failing a character test.”