Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed Australia’s historic decision to provide a new direct pathway to citizenship for New Zealanders living in Australia, saying it will bring the two countries closer together.
Australian Prime Minister Albanese made the announcement this morning, in the 50th anniversary year of the trans-Tasman travel arrangement, which allows each country’s people to live and work in the other country.
“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,” says Hipkins.
Hipkins says Kiwis taking up Australian citizenship will still retain their New Zealand citizenship.
The announcement delivers on Prime Minister Albanese’s commitment that no New Zealander should be left ‘permanently temporary’ in Australia.
“I will be officially celebrating the new policy alongside Prime Minister Albanese at a citizenship ceremony in Brisbane tomorrow, followed by a community barbecue.
“Prime Minister Albanese and I will also visit a cemetery in Brisbane to attend the unveiling of plaques for the previously unmarked graves of soldiers who served during the two World Wars.
“New Zealand will hold a parallel event in Havelock, Marlborough, on Anzac Day to unveil the grave of an Australian Infantry Force private.”
The pathway to citizenship:
· Rights come into effect on July 1, 2023.
Credit: sunlive.co.nz
