Following his release from prison, Palmer was transferred to immigration detention after his visa was cancelled.
He voluntarily left Australia for New Zealand in August last year and has since been separated from his wife and child, who remain in Australia.
Since then, he has been trying to overturn his visa cancellation.
Last week, the Administrative Review Tribunal of Australia released its decision on an appeal Palmer launched in June.
The tribunal heard Palmer’s offending involved two teenage boys known to him.
Palmer sent one boy sexually explicit images and memes through Snapchat. The material included images depicting sexual acts and other indecent content.
He supplied the second boy with cannabis and alcohol before sexually assaulting him on multiple occasions. The offending escalated over time.
Police later discovered child exploitation material during a search of Palmer’s home.
In sentencing Palmer in February 2025, the District Court of Queensland noted his guilty pleas and took into account his lack of previous convictions, work history, mental health issues and steps he had taken towards rehabilitation.
Authorities then cancelled his visa under section 501 of the Australian Migration Act because of the seriousness of his offending.
A delegate later refused to revoke that decision, prompting Palmer’s appeal to the tribunal.
The tribunal heard Palmer maintained he was innocent despite having pleaded guilty.
According to the decision, he had lived in Australia since arriving in 1986 when he was a few months old, and it was accepted that the consequences of the visa cancellation had been significant.
Palmer’s child has a number of disabilities, and evidence before the tribunal suggested the separation had been difficult for the child and that it would be in the child’s best interests for Palmer to return to Australia.
“The tribunal has regard to the psychological materials which note that the applicant’s removal would have a ‘devastating’ impact on the applicant’s minor child,” the decision stated.
It was accepted that the pair have a close and loving bond.
The tribunal also accepted Palmer’s wife relied on him for emotional, practical and financial support.
She described Palmer as “her world” and, according to the decision, also denied Palmer’s offending took place.
The tribunal found Palmer had established extensive family, social and employment ties in Australia after spending virtually his entire life there.
It further accepted Palmer would face practical, financial and emotional difficulties establishing a life in New Zealand, where he has been living in a shed on a family member’s property.
However, the tribunal found those factors were outweighed by the seriousness of Palmer’s offending and concerns about his lack of treatment.
The tribunal noted he had not undertaken any offence-specific treatment and continued to show limited insight into the impact of his actions on the victims.
It accepted evidence from a psychologist who assessed Palmer as presenting a moderate-low risk of sexual reoffending but noted the assessment was carried out in 2023 and Palmer had not undertaken specialist treatment since.
The tribunal described the offending as serious and noted it involved multiple offences against two victims over an extended period.
It said the case involved competing considerations, including Palmer’s lengthy residence in Australia and the impact his absence has on his family.
But ultimately those factors were not enough for him to be allowed to return.
“The tribunal considers that the nature of the applicant’s conduct and the harm that would be caused if it were repeated is so serious that even strong countervailing considerations, such as the strength, nature and duration of ties to Australia and the best interests of minor children, are insufficient to justify revoking the mandatory cancellation decision,” the tribunal ruled.
The tribunal affirmed the decision not to reinstate Palmer’s visa.
Tara Shaskey is an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She joined NZME in 2022 and has worked as a journalist since 2014.
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