Oz Kiwi comment

While the Government has offered some concessions to New Zealanders since this article was first published, the sorts of horror stories it highlights – single mothers in poverty, domestic violence victims with nowhere to turn, and children denied basic disability support – remain all too common today.

Fighting for a Fair Go: The Plight of 300,000 New Zealanders Living in Australia

11 October 2013 Grace Edwards – Onya Magazine

Look beyond the jibes about New Zealand’s ‘west island’ and Australia’s ‘seventh state’ and you’ll find that the jovial face of the ANZAC bond has a dark side. It has allowed legislative changes effected under the Howard government, drastically restricting the rights of many New Zealanders living in Australia, to fly under the radar for over a decade. Most Australians and New Zealanders alike simply assume that since New Zealand migrants have the right to live and work in Australia indefinitely, it is only ‘Kiwi pride’ which stops New Zealanders checking off a list of simple formalities and becoming fully-fledged Australian citizens. Few are aware that those who arrived after 26 February 2001 are not eligible for citizenship and a whole swathe of services the rest of us take for granted, no matter how long they have been living here.

Read the full Onya Magazine article].