The federal government has announced a sweeping liberalisation of citizenship laws for New Zealanders, making it easier for around 350,000 Kiwis living in Australia to vote and receive government benefits.
Key points:
- New Zealand has for years fought for changes to a Howard-era visa that restricted access to some support and citizenship pathways
- Anthony Albanese says the move brings the rights of Kiwis in Australia “more in line with Australians living in New Zealand”
- The change was announced ahead of a visit by the New Zealand prime minister
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the new “direct pathway to citizenship” on the eve of a visit by his New Zealand counterpart Chris Hipkins, who will then meet Mr Albanese in Brisbane on Sunday.
It’s a major win for New Zealand, which has spent years protesting about the Howard government’s decision in 2001 to establish a new “Special Category” visa for New Zealanders in Australia.
That visa allows New Zealanders to stay in Australia but restricts their capacity to access to some government payments and obtain citizenship without first getting permanent residence through the migration program.
Now the Albanese government has largely rolled back that change, allowing all New Zealanders on the Special Category visa to apply for citizenship without becoming permanent residents first, if they’ve lived in Australia for at least four years.
Mr Albanese first flagged the changes in July last year when he met with New Zealand’s then prime minister Jacinda Ardern and declared he wanted to “reset” the relationship.
The government has already softened its position on deporting New Zealand citizens convicted of serious crimes in Australia.
In a statement, Mr Albanese described the citizenship announcement as a “a fair change for New Zealanders living in Australia” which “brings their rights more in line with Australians living in New Zealand”.
“Many New Zealand citizens choose to live and contribute to Australia, so it is reasonable they have the opportunity to become Australian citizens and enjoy the rights and obligations that come from citizenship,” he said.
The announcement removes a major sore point in the bilateral relationship over the past two decades.
Australians living in New Zealand are allowed to apply directly for citizenship if they have lived in the country for five years and pass basic eligibility tests, and can already access a wide range of government benefits.
Australians who intend to settle in New Zealand can also vote in elections after just one year in the country.
That disparity has frustrated New Zealand officials and politicians, while some New Zealanders living in Australia have also lobbied furiously for expanded rights.
New Zealanders who arrived in Australia after the 2001 changes have also been largely blocked from accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and have restricted access to the disability support pension and the age pension.
Earlier this week, Mr Hipkins said many New Zealanders who had “made their lives in Australia” were in a “kind of state of suspended temporariness”, while Australians in New Zealand enjoyed substantial rights.
“Free movement of people between our two countries is integral to the [economic] relationship, and has been for the last 40 years,” he said.
“So this has been a challenging couple of decades where the free movement has been limited on one side.”
New Zealand politicians have also argued that the fact a smaller proportion of New Zealanders in Australia were becoming citizens when compared to other nationalities proves how many barriers to citizenship remain.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the changes to Australia’s citizenship laws would correct an “injustice”.
“The effect of the 2001 changes was that Kiwis living in our countries are actually treated worse than other migrants,” she said.
“Now that makes absolutely no sense — our Kiwi cousins are our very best friends in the world, and they deserve the same respectful treatment Australians get when they live in New Zealand.”