More rights for Kiwis in Oz overdue

Just about every family in New Zealand has close relatives living and working in Australia. This can be mutually beneficial, providing all sorts of opportunities not found in this country, while Australia profits from an ofteneducated, ready source of labour.

In some ways, it has been all too easy. New Zealanders can work in Australia automatically, the wages are usually higher, and the largest cities have more glamour. More than 500,000 New Zealanders live across the Tasman.

All is usually well and good until something goes wrong. New Zealanders, often having paid all the relevant taxes for many a year, may find themselves and their families ineligible for income support, student allowances, disability support and whatever.

They cannot vote, join the armed forces or work in various government jobs.

New Zealanders have a hotchpotch of both rights and limitations. They are second-class citizens in many ways.

The journey beyond the special category visa via permanent residency and Australian citizenship is difficult, fraught and expensive. Most New Zealanders will not fit in the special “skilled” categories, and they stay on the temporary visas forever.

It was in the early 2000s that Australia clamped down on benefits for New Zealanders. It has been loath to change anything since, whatever the injustices.

This might change after the positive meeting late last week between New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and new Australian leader Anthony Albanese.

Albanese said proposals for a realistic pathway to Australian citizenship should be ready by Anzac Day next year. A little caution, however, is in order until the details are clearer. The proof will be in the pudding.

Perhaps, given the desperate shortage of workers around the Western world, Albanese’s apparent openness is, in part, a desire to entice even more New Zealanders. But whatever the motivation, improvements in the prospects for SCV holders are desperately needed.

Albanese has also promoted a plan for long-overdue rights to give New Zealanders access to the vote, as Australians have here. Australian politicians will only really pay attention when it affects their personal prospects.

Albanese also commented on more “common sense” being applied to the 501 issues, New Zealand citizens being sent back on crime and bad character grounds. This is certainly a change in tone from the previous talk of “taking out the trash”.

All in all, Ardern’s trip to Australia and her talks with Albanese were unexpectedly productive. More rights for New Zealanders working in Australia are long overdue.

— Otago Daily Times