‘Rules rob Kiwis of social aid’

The 2001 policies designed to block the “backdoor” migration of Pacific Islanders and Hong Kong Chinese through New Zealand and to lower the cost of social security payments to expat Kiwis bar access to most of Australia’s welfare safety net, including the dole, disability and other payments, apprenticeships and student loans and scholarships.
…..The Australian belief that its welfare system is a “pull” factor which, if available to New Zealanders, would further encourage transtasman migration is belied by the facts.
….Most are hard workers. Their workforce participation rate is significantly higher than for Australian workers, and they are more likely to be employed full-time. Most work in construction or as technicians and tradespeople, with many others employed as social workers and in healthcare…’
Many of these policies apply only to Kiwis, and that’s an injustice and a blot on Australia’s record.

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12 Responses to ‘Rules rob Kiwis of social aid’

  1. mawm says:

    As I understand it, it’s not quite as simple as that. Kiwis come to Australia on a special category visa that allows them to live and work in Oz. Like all other legal immigrants, they have to apply for residency and will get it if they fall into a catagory of need. The problem is that it costs $7 000 …… which most Kiwis won’t stump up for. If they get permanent residency they are entitled to the same benefits as an Aussie. The unfairness arises with those on the special visa who work and pay tax, some for many years, although they are still able to get some things such as medicare.

  2. KG says:

    Well, it’s a reasonably complex business Mawm, but I’d make two points.
    Who pays taxes ought to be eligible for equal treatment.
    The kids of Kiwis are denied access to all sorts of things, yet the parent’s status is no fault of theirs.
    This line in the report was, I thought, very telling:
    “…who have lived in Australia for most of their lives are fully integrated members of society with emotional, cultural and psychological connections that bind them to Australia.”
    Which is a damn sight more than can be said for the bloody Lebanese muslims etc who screw the system for all they can, yet hate Australia.

  3. The Gantt Guy says:

    This was exactly me, before we came home. Lived in Aus for 10 years. Paid a small fortune in taxes, but because of the Special Category Visa (and because I’d never taken the step of shelling out and getting formal Permanent Residency), when the arse fell out of the market at the beginning of 2012, I was on my own.

    It seems inequitable, but it’s merely the downside of the massive benefit we Kiwis gain from being able to enter Australia so easily. And personally, I’m pretty damned proud of the fact I was able to survive for 9 months with no income, and didn’t have to resort to panhandling. It makes one pretty damned resourceful, I have to say.

    The more annoying/frustrating/infuriating part of this is the consequences for superannuation. I think I’ve mentioned before that because of the mandatory 9% superannuation I have a tidy sum stored up in my super account. Now, the rules provide that if you’re experiencing extreme financial hardship you can draw down a small amount of your super (up to $50k). I reckon that being sans-income for 9 months would qualify as “extreme financial hardship”, but no, apparently not. The only way they recognise extreme financial hardship is when you’ve been on welfare for more than 6 months. And of course, we Kiwis can’t access welfare, so I wasn’t experiencing extreme financial hardship under the rules. *That’s* the bit that pissed me off!

  4. Bill The Bunyip says:

    I am currently working as a heavy truck/plant mechanic in the desert area of WA.
    I cannot get permanent residency, even though there is a shortage of those trades as well as trainers, which I previously ran as a business in NZ.
    The problem is that none of these qualifications is of any use when you are over 50. That particular birthday was ten years ago so I have no chance at all.
    However I look on the edge of town and I see all these young men in the refugee camp getting squillions spent on them and as they are all under 18 (insert TUI ad here) they will be able to sponsor their families from shitistan.
    I don’t believe that there will be pensions for anyone in the future and am quite happy looking after myself but the irony of the situation was nailed home when I read a pollie bemoaning that skilled people didn’t want to move and live in the bush. All the money being spent, the permanent immigration staff and all the ancillary staff required to keep the camp open for what? So the Shitstanies can run to the cities and soak up welfare benefits.
    Time for me to go back to our little gold mine and get digging.

    • mawm says:

      Aus doesn’t like us oldies :sad: ………..even although we tend to have the expertise and the ‘work’ ethic. Maybe they think that 15 or so years of paying taxes whilst at the peak of your earning career does not cover any potential drain on their welfare resources. They’ve had this 50 or over barrier in place for ages.

      When I emigrated, Aus could have got 2 for the price of one (Mrs mawm is highly specialised as well), but we didn’t even try as the only opportunities that would have been ‘open’ would have been in outer shitsville. http://falfn.com/CrusaderRabbit/wp-content/plugins/wp-monalisa/icons/wpml_negative.gif

  5. Darin says:

    Immigration law is similar to gun control law in that the rules only apply to the law abiding.
    Immigration between like countries and like citizens should be much easier than it is.If a person has no criminal record and has a job lined up or means of support then the process should be open and easy.
    Of course that would never work,not enough feed in the trough for bureaucrats and lawyers :evil:

  6. The Gantt Guy says:

    “Across Australia, the young and talented children of expatriate Kiwis find their careers stunted when they leave school, cut off from higher education and government apprenticeships by costs and policies.

    Increasingly, the impact of the 2001 changes to Australian social security laws and the flow of federal and state exclusions that followed are becoming clear in human, social and economic terms.”

    Another read of this nonsense, and another couple of points/questions:
    (1) why did the parents not take citizenship? One assumes they emigrated for some specialised work which would have appeared on the list and ensured their applications were successful;
    (2) “designed to block the ‘backdoor’ migration of Pacific Islanders and Hong Kong Chinese through New Zealand” only partially-covers it. The other part of the equation was the massive number of NZ’s lazy and indolent who emigrated to Aus in the 70s and 80s, landing in Sydney and spending the rest of their days languishing on Bondi and the dole. Today’s generation who are “missing out” can thank their parents’ friends.

  7. KG says:

    The fact is, that people applying for citizenship in Oz often find they fall through the cracks due to some arcane/obscure minor point.
    “One assumes they emigrated for some specialised work which would have appeared on the list and ensured their applications were successful..”
    That’s a large assumption! Lots of Kiwis came to Australia for work, did very well, liked the place and applying for citizenship never seemed a high priority. You can criticize their lack of foresight, but that doesn’t make present government policies right or just.
    For years, the free flow of people between NZ and Australia benefited both countries, since the cultures are so similar and the economic ups and downs were so often out of sync. NZ imported large numbers of Pacific Islanders when they needed cheap labour but as far as I know they were treated very fairly as far as access to social services was concerned.
    Social services are funded out of taxation–those who pay tax should be eligible. Especially since so many who don’t pay bloody tax are eligible!
    Note, I’m not saying Kiwis who haven’t paid tax in Oz should be eligible. I never have said that.

    • The Gantt Guy says:

      “Lots of Kiwis came to Australia for work, did very well, liked the place and applying for citizenship never seemed a high priority.”

      Put my name in that column!

      Funnily enough, the one time I did look at it, the list of skills in need had “Infrastructure Project Manager” on it. I’m an Applications and Business Change guy, and have never run Infrastructure projects. I rang through and asked the question, only to be told “no, it *has* to be infrastructure”.

      And as to your final point, about taxation contribution equalling eligibility, you’re spot on. The rights of citizenship come with responsibilities, one of which is to fund the civil society. Don’t contribute? Don’t expect any of the rights & entitlements of the citizen. Easy.

  8. KG says:

    Why should Kiwis who incurred huge losses during the Queensland floods, for instance, be excluded from State aid? They’re living here, working here and paying taxes! This is clearly discriminatory.
    John Key won’t go in to bat for them, since anything that helps slow the massive bleed of Kiwis to Oz benefits the Nats, allowing them to claim credit for the slowdown. :evil:

  9. RWT says:

    “Most are hard workers.”

    And there you have the reason why they’re treated like shit.

    If you’re some useless pustule from the middle east for example only here to suckle all you can out of the taxpayers for generations, then you’ll be fawned over and coddled everywhere you go.

    Honestly, we in the west are getting to be too stupid to survive anymore.