Kiwis Granted Direct Citizenship Pathway in Australia in ‘Historic Decision,’ NZ PM Says

An Australian passport pictured in Brisbane, Australia, on July 25, 2013. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

New Zealanders looking to settle long-term in Australia are in for celebrations as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a direct pathway to Australian citizenship for Kiwis.

From July 1, New Zealand citizens who arrived since 2001 and have lived in Australia for four years and meet the standard citizenship criteria will be eligible to apply directly for citizenship, skipping permanent residency.

It also allows Kiwi children born in Australia automatic citizenship at birth. Under current arrangements, children are required to wait until they turn 10-years-old.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the changes draw both countries closer together as Kiwis taking up dual citizenship are “not lost” to New Zealand.

“This is the biggest improvement in the rights of New Zealanders living in Australia in a generation and restores most of the rights Kiwis had in Australia before they were revoked in 2001,” he said.

“These changes will make a real and meaningful difference to the lives of many New Zealanders and their children by giving those who decide to take up Australian citizenship similar rights to Australians living in New Zealand.”

“Most of us know someone who’s moved across the Tasman. They work hard, pay taxes, and deserve a fair go. These changes deliver that and reverse erosions that have taken place over 20 years,” he added.

The change is expected to impact around 350,000 New Zealand citizens residing in Australia.

Albanese said it was a “fair change” that brought their rights more in line with Australians living in New Zealand.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (R) speak to the media during a press conference at the South Bank Piazza during a visit to Brisbane, Australia, on April 23, 2023. (AAP Image/Darren England)

“Australia is a country built on citizenship. It is only fair the opportunity to become an Australian Citizen is made easier for our closest friends and allies,” Minister for Immigration Andrew Giles said.

“This announcement will make a significant difference to the lives of people already living and working and in our communities.”

The issue of granting New Zealanders in Australia voting rights is still under review. Meanwhile, Australians who have lived in New Zealand for over one year are allowed to vote.

Brain Drain Concerns

While the New Zealand prime minister celebrated the “pleasing” outcome, ACT party leader David Seymour is concerned that it will only encourage more New Zealanders to permanently settle across the ditch.

“Instead of getting played like a didgeridoo by the Australian Government raiding New Zealand’s talent, Chris Hipkins should be telling New Zealanders how his government will boost productivity and make New Zealand a greater place to live,” he said.

“As we lose competitiveness, we lose skilled people and investment. As we lose skilled people and investment, we become less competitive. This is the spiral we must avoid. Do we want to carry on in comfortable decline until we slip away from first-world status, or do we want real change?”

Green party MP Chlöe Swarbrick agreed with Seymour that productivity was important to improve wages.

“New Zealanders also tend to work a lot longer than many of the other jurisdictions that we compare ourselves to. So we’re working longer but also with far less productivity, that is, money that we’re making out of that work,” she told Newshub.

But both prime ministers deny it would occur, with Albanese noting that in recent times, an increasing number of Australians were moving to live in New Zealand.

“I don’t think it will lead to more people from New Zealand coming to Australia. It will just mean that they’re treated better when they’re here. Simple as that. And that’s the objective here,” Albanese said.

Hipkins agreed, saying the change was fundamentally a “question of fairness.”

“In terms of whether it will lead to more New Zealand moving to Australia, I don’t believe it will. I believe it will lead to New Zealanders in Australia being treated more fairly, and we welcome that,” he said.

“But I’m absolutely confident that New Zealanders living and making a life in New Zealand will want to continue to stay in the home of the All Blacks, the true home of the pavlova and the lamington. There is plenty of reasons for them to stay back home in New Zealand.”

One-Way Street for Nurses

The brain drain concerns come after Radio New Zealand reported on April 3 that almost 5,000 New Zealand nurses have registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, indicating an interest to move.

Despite massive nurse shortages in New Zealand, they are being attracted by lucrative short-term contracts of up to A$8,000 a week.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation’s Kaiwhakahaere (director), Kerri Nuku, said many were going for short stints while others would go back and forth between both countries.

“They’re going over, they’re getting better recognition, better pay, short term, and they can bring in additional money to the household budget,” she told RNZ.

In contrast, only 164 Australian nurses have reportedly registered to work in New Zealand.