Kiribati parliament votes to remove Australian judge

Kiribati President Taneti Maamau is accused of trying “to bully the judiciary into submission”.

Kiribati’s parliament has voted to remove an Australian-born High Court judge, which paves the way for his deportation by the president.

David Lambourne was stood down by President Taneti Maamau, who tried to deport him in August 2022, in a move the judge said was politically motivated due to his marriage to the nation’s opposition leader.

The High Court chief justice and three Court of Appeal judges were also suspended after consecutively ruling Justice Lambourne should not be deported.

Justice Lambourne accused the president and government of “a concerted attack on the independence of the judiciary”.

“The people of Kiribati, and of the wider region, should be deeply worried by this – an absence of accountability only leads to authoritarianism,” he said in a statement to AAP after the vote on Friday.

“(The president) has attempted to bully the judiciary into submission, by sending a clear message to the court regarding the consequences for judges who rule against him.”

Kiribati’s parliament passed a motion in the early hours of Friday morning to remove Justice Lambourne from office.

A final administrative step for the president remains before he’s kicked out of office.

Mr Maamau levelled character attacks against Justice Lambourne while the opposition accused the president of kowtowing to China during the debate in parliament.

“My removal from office may be imminent but I have not yet exhausted my legal options,” Justice Lambourne said.

Justice Lambourne has been a resident of Kiribati for three decades and is married to Opposition Leader Tessie Lambourne.

An attempt by the government to deport him in August 2022 was frustrated when a pilot refused to accept him on the plane against his will.

Kiribati’s parliament will dissolve in May before national elections.