Australia must remain our best mate whatever its election result – Editorial

Australia will decide on Saturday if current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese or Opposition leader Peter Dutton will be its next Prime Minister. Photo / AFP

Editorial

THREE KEY FACTS

• The Australian Opposition has pledged to retain the direct citizenship pathway for New Zealanders if it wins the next federal election.
• The policy, introduced in 2023 by the Albanese Government, allows most Kiwis to apply for Australian citizenship after four years of living there, without needing permanent residency first.
• The election is next weekend.

By this time next week we will have a fair idea of who Australia has decided to form their government.

There will be many former Kiwis voting in the federal election on Saturday who made the transition across the ditch and decided to walk the potholed pathway to citizenship.

While most New Zealanders have long been able to live and work freely in Australia, gaining citizenship had been difficult after a 2001 decision by then Prime Minister John Howard to strip the pathway to citizenship.

It meant we didn’t have access to some health and education services across the ditch, despite many living there for decades and Australians enjoying those benefits here.

However, the current Government under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese created a direct pathway to citizenship for Kiwis in 2023, allowing us to apply for Australian citizenship after four years of living there, without needing permanent residency first.

For all of our lifetimes we have enjoyed a unique relationship with Australia and it was encouraging to see on Anzac weekend that the spirit between the two countries will continue with Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s campaign confirming the policy will remain if he wins the election.

A spokesperson for the campaign was categorical: “A Dutton coalition Government will not change the current policy which allows for a direct pathway to Australian citizenship for New Zealand citizens”.

Australia, like many other Western countries, is grappling with a cost-of-living and housing crisis.

It is also facing an immigration debate with critics saying record levels of migrants have put pressure on the welfare system and property market.

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan has said: “Over time, we might see New Zealand citizens come in here to access our welfare system – that has a cost.

“We’re seeing soaring rents, there’s a housing crisis ... so additional New Zealanders come in here because of these changes, what impact will it have on our housing shortages?”

Dutton is also famously remembered for saying the deportation of New Zealanders was akin to “taking out the trash”. And we are all too familiar with broken campaign promises from politicians, as domestic pressure can see swift policy reversals.

Whoever Australia decides will be their next leader, our Prime Minister and Government must continue to work to maintain our special relationship and, if necessary, ease any lingering transtasman tensions.

Sign up to the Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.