New Zealanders will be able to obtain Australian citizenship more quickly

With our correspondent in Sydney, Gregory Place

labor arrives Anthony Albany Jacinda Ardern, who assumed power in Canberra last May, saw an opportunity to restore relations with New Zealand’s closest ally.

This weekend, Australia just gave its first proof of love to its neighbor, by allowing some 380,000 New Zealanders who arrived in Australia after 2001 to obtain citizenship, without having to spend several thousand dollars to get a permanent resident visa, then wait four years before being able to. Finally from applying for citizenship.

Back to the spirit of partnership

The news pleases Nathan, who left New Zealand some fifteen years ago to settle in Sydney: “ I really want to become an Australian, to be more protected. And this is important, especially during elections. I hate not being able to vote, when I pay taxes like everyone else. »

A return to the spirit of the partnership concluded between the two countries exactly fifty years ago, whose amendment, in 2001, restricted New Zealanders’ access to Australian citizenship, as well as to social security.

Along with the right to vote, this rapid acquisition of citizenship will also allow New Zealanders to retain or access certain jobs, in the defense sector for example, where Australian citizenship will soon become mandatory.