Albanese hails citizenship deal a ‘win-win’ for Australia and NZ
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met his New Zealand counterpart Chris Hipkins in Brisbane to mark their citizenship deal.
The two leaders attended a citizenship ceremony today after the Australian government announced the easing of rules that will allow an estimated 400,000 Kiwis to claim Australian citizenship this year.
Speaking after the ceremony, Albanese said the agreement was a “win-win” for people from both countries.
He said the citizenship deal recognises Kiwis living in Australia who have contributed to the national economy through paying taxes.
“I see this as being a common-sense approach and also being consistent with the rules are there for Australians in New Zealand – it’s different there, only five years, but we might talk about making a slight change to that period of time.
“You know what true friends do? They have equal relations and that’s the partner that NZ and Australia have.”
Hipkins, speaking alongside Albanese, said “this is simply a question of fairness” for New Zealanders and that “these people are already living in Australia”.
The two leaders will hold further talks about national security issues later today, including potential New Zealand involvement in AUKUS that lead to the sharing of military technologies, and economic matters.
Albanese earlier today praised New Zealand’s role in maintaining the strategic value of the Pacific Island forum.
Hipkins said both New Zealand and Australia were committed to defending essential values but faced a “challenging security situation” in the Indo Pacfic region.
