Kiwis ‘over the moon’

Kiwis who have lived and worked in Australia for years are ‘‘over the moon’’ at a new pathway to citizenship announced yesterday, though some say the changes will not come soon enough.

The changes, due to come into effect on Anzac Day next year, were announced after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met in Sydney yesterday.

Kiwi Oz advocacy group chairperson Joanne Cox said citizenship meant Kiwis in Australia would have the right to vote and better access to social security and healthcare.

Iris Burgoyne, who has lived in Western Australia and worked in the mines for 17 years without citizenship, was excited by the news.

“Everyone is happy, some people are over the moon.” She has four children with her husband, all of whom were born in Australia but are not considered citizens.

“We have been paying tax the whole time but I don’t feel like we have got many rights here.

‘‘We have watched friends from all around the world get their citizenship at the click of a finger.”

Despite living in Australia for long enough, the couple were reluctant to apply for citizenship after watching other people pay “an arm and a leg” to apply.

Lucas Torr moved to Newcastle from Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty 16 years ago. Over the past year-anda-half he has spent $4000 trying to become an Australian resident.

The train driver, whose wife and two children are Australians, said “it’s about time” for a citizenship pathway for Kiwis in Australia.

“We are Anzacs. Aussies get an easy pathway in New Zealand but not Kiwis here. It should be reciprocated.”

However, Kiwi parents ToniMaree Tino and husband Rob say the changes won’t come soon enough for their 3-year-old son Jeriah. He was diagnosed with autism two months ago. Born in Queensland, he is not an Australian citizen and is shut out of the specialist medical therapy he needs.

Instead, the family will have to try to find the funds to pay for private treatment – at a cost of upwards of $1000 a month. With eight children to feed on one income, Tino said she had to decide what to do without, against getting her son the vital therapies he needed.

‘‘I feel like a terrible parent. We have to weigh up if we pay for food or power this week or do we fork out and go for a speech therapy appointment or occupational therapist to get help with his sensory and social difficulties. What do we do?’’

As a former early childhood teacher, Tino knows early intervention can make a significant impact for an autistic child. While she remains hopeful yesterday’s announcement signals a softening for families like theirs, she needs the changes to happen now.

The Auckland couple have lived and worked in Queensland for 12 years and five of their eight children were born in Australia. However, under current rules, the family only have access to a Medicare health card which covers doctor visits but not specialist treatment. ‘‘Even though we pay our taxes that fund the scheme, we can’t access it.’’

Tino has recently begun the long journey to citizenship via a returning resident visa but the process is long and costly. Under the current rules she can apply for one child to gain citizenship on her application but she worries that Jeriah’s autism would mean they would be considered a burden on the economy.

All of it had placed a huge strain on the family, she said.

‘‘I worry about his future with now the added stress of worrying that I’m failing him because I can’t afford to pay for all his therapies.’’

Tino wants the new pathway to be made a priority.

‘‘I really hope they follow through on what they are saying.’’

Canterbury couple Hamish and Amanda Wright have been in Australia for almost 10 years and welcomed the new pathway.

Not citizens themselves, they are now considering becoming citizens

if they have a child. Up until now the price tag for becoming a citizen has turned the couple off the idea, but recently purchasing property has made them reconsider.

Currently, the couple haven’t fared badly, with Amanda able to get surgeries through the public health system without being out of pocket. But they know that children may change their circumstances and have felt like outsiders. ‘‘It makes you feel quite isolated and insecure,’’ Amanda Wright said.

Without a safety net should their jobs fall through, the couple would have to come back to New Zealand.

The new pathway has given them more certainty in their decision to stay and contribute in Australia.

Albanese also indicated New Zealanders that have lived in Australia for a year may also get voting rights.

‘‘It would be nice to contribute in that way, seeing as we help fund whatever decisions are made.’’

The changes announced will coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Closer Economic Relations Treaty, and will be a serious shot in the arm for trans-Tasman relations and the free flow of citizens.

In addition to the new citizenship pathway, Albanese also said Australia would be applying a ‘‘commonsense approach’’ to 501 deportees, particularly those with little or no relationship to New Zealand.

Cox said that currently children born to New Zealand citizens in Australia can’t get the NDIS [National Disability Insurance Scheme] even though their parents were working and paying for the levy with their taxes. ‘‘Without NDIS they don’t get the treatment that they might need, like speech therapy, physical therapy, surgery and other treatments. So that is quite unfair.’’ Most New Zealanders living in Australia believed citizenship meant more than accessing social security as it was also a way to work in the public sector or serve in the military. Cox was optimistic both Governments would roll out the options by the Anzac Day 2023 deadline because there was ‘‘a strong political will to implement reforms’’.

Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce chief executive Leeann Watson was concerned the new pathway would exacerbate staff shortages already being experienced across Canterbury businesses. She urged the Government to urgently address immigration settings by creating more certainty around visa tenures and pathways to residency, which she believed would ensure New Zealand was seen as an attractive destination for skilled migrants.