New Zealanders In Australia Could Soon Be Able To Vote

Australia and New Zealand’s Prime Ministers, Anthony Albanese and Jacinda Ardern have met in Sydney today discussing how the two countries can better work together on foreign policy, climate change and labour issues.

On the agenda for New Zealanders living and working in Australia could be the right to vote in elections.

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Albanese said he would ask for a parliamentary committee to consider the change as part of the “normal review process” that occurs after an Australian federal election.

“We’ll be asking the [committee] to consider whether there’s a way to return to systems that have existed in the past of giving New Zealand people who are here in Australia — contributing to society, paying taxes, working — voting rights here in Australia as well,” he said.

“We won’t pre-empt those processes, but it is, I think, a really common-sense position to at least examine over coming months.”

Speaking to media in a joint appearance, Albanese and Ardern detailed plans for a “reset” of the relationship between the two nations.

As part of the plan, Albanese said the two governments would work on Australian citizenship for New Zealanders and have the new plan by Anzac Day 2023.

Albanese also addressed Australia’s “501” deportation policy – which deports people back to New Zealand despite having any real relationship with the country – and said the nation’s government would still deport people back to New Zealand “when appropriate.”

“Where you have a circumstance where someone has lived their entire life effectively in Australia with no connection whatsoever to New Zealand, then common sense should apply,” he said.

“And we’ll act as friends, and we’ll work through those issues in a common-sense way.”

Among other items discussed included the two countries will set up annual bilateral engagement between the two minsters for foreign affairs, defence, finance, and climate change.

"We had a range of positive discussions arising out of this morning and we've released a communique," Albanese said.

"We discussed going forward as well a number of new decisions. One is to have annual meetings between our economic ministers and our international ministers.

"When we say our 'economic ministers', that includes climate change so, our treasurer and climate ministers, working on ways in which we can benefit from the innovation that will occur with the shift to clean-energy economies in our respective nations."

Ardern’s trip to Australia makes it her second already since May – when Albanese was elected as Prime Minister.

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