HARDWORKING KIWIS BELONG ON GOLD COAST
OUT-OF-WORK Kiwis living on the Gold Coast say they feel insulted and angry at being told “it’s time to go home” by acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge.
Of the 50,000 New Zealanders across the city, thousands are not eligible for the JobSeeker payment because of visa restrictions, while only those in permanent, full-time or parttime work are eligible to get the JobKeeper payment.
Mr Tudge this month said “New Zealanders should consider returning to New Zealand if they are unable to support themselves through these provisions, work or family support”.
Helena Rivers says Kiwis are not asking for a “free ride”.
“We moved here to work hard and for the lifestyle, we are just asking for a little bit of help at this strange time,” she said. “Have we just got to find the money to get back to New Zealand, leave our homes, full of our belongings, our car that we are paying off, leave our outstanding power, water and phone bills to get a minimal benefit in New Zealand when most of us have left to make a better life for ourselves?”
Julia Lang-Malone said it was not as simple as packing up her life and “leaving at the drop of a hat”.
Grandmother Helen Heard has two daughters and a son who have children with an Australian citizen and questioned how it was feasible for them to move back to New Zealand.
“Should they abandon their children, and in one case a husband, and return to New Zealand? They have been here since about 2005 and have worked or been stay-at-home parents the whole time. To say ‘go home’ is insulting and just not practical in many cases.”
Hairdresser Kayla Urwin has lived between New Zealand and Australia for 16 years and was working fulltime as a casual for the past four years before losing her job because of the coronavirus.
“I was so angry (at being told to go home),” she said. “We have chosen to make the Gold Coast our home and don’t want to just leave. We Kiwis are so hardworking. If we wanted to be on welfare we’d be at home doing it.”
Ms Urwin, 25, has taken her financial future into her own hands by setting up a home salon in her Pimpama garage.
Now the breadwinner of the household, and with two preschoolers to support, she is determined to keep working and help her fellow Kiwis with affordable prices.
Kayla’z Kut’z was recently featured on the GC Kiwis United Facebook page; a group set up by Gold Coast sisters Marama, Awhi and Piri Gray to link struggling Kiwis who are facing hardship with little or no access to essential services.
“We watched as many of our people started losing jobs and had many uncertainties from how to provide food for their families and a roof over their heads. We started creating food boxes and what started with on whanau (family) quickly doubled with people wanting to help,” Marama Gray said.