Kiwis In Australia On New Citizenship Pathway

Talks last week between John Key and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have made it easier for Kiwis living in Australia to seek Australian citizenship. 

Prime Minister Turnbull announced the changes recently in a joint press conference during John Key’s trip to Sydney to meet with Turnbull. 

However, the pathway to citizenship was not about work skills, but money. If an individual was to have earned $53,000 over five consecutive years between 2001 and now, they would be able to apply for permanent residence and then eventually citizenship. 

Most New Zealanders living in Australia do so under a special category visa, which, after law changes in 2001 excludes them accessing a range of benefits and support as well as being unable to apply for citizenship. 

More than 300,000 Kiwi’s are thought to be living in Australia on special category visas. Mr. Key estimates that 100,000 of these would meet the criteria.

However, the deal is only applicable to those who had already been living in Australia previous to the announcement last Friday. 

“It takes place up to today, effectively if someone came here yesterday to Australia, then they could work through over the next five years and apply,” Mr. Key said.

Mr Turnbull also recognised the work in which John Key had put into getting the deal across the line. Showing more admiration for the Kiwi leader after he showed high apprasial of Key last year following his appointment as Prime Minister in the wake of the Tony Abbot debacle. 

“It’s an important step and in recognition of the advocacy that John Key has made on behalf of the many New Zealand citizens who are in Australia, who are working here and part of our community,” He said. 

However, whilst Labour MP and foreign affair spokesman David Shearer claims it was a step in the right direction, he believes still there was a long way to go if we were to try and restore the rights which we were privlidged to previous to 2001. 

“There is still a wide inequity in the way New Zealanders generally are treated across the Tasman, including the fact we have no access to social services despite paying taxes there,” he said speaking to 3 News.

“This small concession should be just the start in restoring a more equal relationship with Australia.”

This article first appeared in Issue 1, 2016.
Posted 11:30am Sunday 28th February 2016 by Hugh Baird.