WE will decide...

Many, many years ago – millions of years - New Zealand and Australia separated. That is, their land body. What is now known as New Zealand parted from Gondwana, which is now Australia. Nature might have separated their land, but the people who live(d) in these countries built their relationships.

Australia and New Zealand are supposed to have Trans-Tasman relations. We have very similar flags, we are both part of the Commonwealth, we share the Head of Commonwealth (the Queen, at the moment) as our Head of State, we use systems of Westminster representative parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy, we have very similar flags. Anyone born after 1981 would think they'd always needed a passport. But before that, from 1973, the Trans-TasmanTravel Arrangement (TTTA) made it very easy for New Zealanders to come into Australia and for Australians to go to New Zealand. No passport. Before 1973 the people living in UK and Canada were also allowed to enter Australia and other Commonwealth countries easily.

This Australia-New Zealand TTTA was introduced by Australia's Labor party Gough Whitlam and New Zealand's Labour party Norman Kirk. Unfortunately for NZ, Kirk died in 1974 and the Labour party was lead by Bill Rowling, very much like a teacher than a leader in parliament, for a year. He was denigrated by Robert Muldoon from the National party as 'weak'. Whilst Rowling's supporters worked with him, the Labour party lost the 1975 election. The National party were confrontational and aggressive, very much like Australia's recent and latest LNP coalition.

The coalition of Liberal and National parties controlled the Senate and wouldn't pass anything put in by Labor. Australia came into what is described as the “greatest political and constitutional crisis in Australian history” on 11 November 1975. Governor General, Sir John Kerr, dismissed Whitlam – and Whitlam had not suspected that. Even the Queen, as suggested by her Assistant Private Secretary, Sir William Heseltin, had not expected that.

Malcolm Fraser, LNP, was made the Prime Minister by Kerr, and Labor lost the election by a massive swing to LNP.

Serious changes happened from 1 September 1994. Whilst NAFTA (New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement) was followed by ANZCERTA(Australia and New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement) in 1983, LNP, whilst very involved with the CER, changed many of the TTTA, requiring NZers to have a Special Category Visa. From 26 February 2001 the citizenship laws for NZers were made much harder, requiring people who came here to work to apply for permanent residence through the migration program. Howard declared that “We will decide who comes to this country and under what circumstances”, meaning refugees as well as Commonwealth residents, from New Zealand, Canada or many other countries.

The response to refugees wasn't the same as the response to NZers, but LNP's reaction to refugees was getting much worse and scared many Australian citizens – and many NZers. In August those refugees who had survived from the capsize of an old boat were picked up by the Norwegian ship, Tampa. This caused extreme problems when Howard wouldn't allow Tampa to drop the refugees in Australia.

On 19 October 2001, after the devastating loss of an estimated 146 children, 142 women and 65 men from another unnamed boat sinking, supporters wanted to set up a remembrance park and Howard didn't want that near Parliament, so they set it up beside a lake outside Canberra's CBD.

In the following election, ALP took control of VIC, NT and ACT but was still in opposition. They did eventually win the government in 2007 and did a lot of work up until 2013, but didn't reverse any of the changes which had been made to TTTA.

OzKiwi, which works for NZers, has written some information about the visas to help those who have moved here. They say: “New Zealand citizens who first arrived in Australia after 26th February 2001, or who do not meet the Protected Special Category Visa criteria, are considered Non-protected Special Category Visa-holders. [They c]an apply for citizenship if eligible for a Resident Return Visa, the new visa for New Zealanders avaliable (sic) from 1 July 2017.” Information is also provided by the Social Policy provided by Parliament. The DSP – part from NZ and part from Australia, based on years of residency – would have been paid to a NZer in Australia from February 2001 but the eligibility for other Centrelink benefits now is up to the length of residency.

On 19 February 2016 the Prime Ministers from Australia – Malcolm Turnbull, LNP - and New Zealand – then John Keys, National – made an agreement on “Pathway to Citizenship for New Zealanders”. The Library of Congress said that “[t]his follows increasing controversy in recent years related to changes made in Australia in February 2001 that require New Zealand citizens to obtain permanent residence visas in order to access certain social security benefits, apply for citizenship, or sponsor family members for residence in Australia.” The Prime Ministers, according to the Library of Congress, arranged that: “SCV holders who arrived after February 26, 2001, and on or before February 19, 2016, and who have lived in Australia for the last five years and 'shown a commitment and contribution to Australia,' will be able to apply for permanent residence visas.” For many NZers, this is very different than the original TTTA used to be.

Nowadays the Department of Immigration and Border Protection is to be 'strengthened' with a 'super-ministry' which, probably soon, will again change the entry to Australia by people who live in New Zealand - a country which is part of the Commonwealth. Australia doesn't seem to care about that. Whilst the Border website gives a lot of information about travel, they don't give any specific information for NZers.

The constitution in Australia seems to be very different than the TTTA, but it means whatever anyone reads of it. Section 44 says:

Disqualification

Any person who:

(i) is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power; or

(ii) is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer; or

(iii) is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or

(iv) holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth; or

(v) has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more than twenty-five persons;

shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

New Zealand, Canada, and any other Commonwealth countries, are not 'foreign powers'. If they are considered to be a 'foreign power', why are they part of the Commonwealth, with the same constitutional monarchy, with the same law (Westminster). Why isn't Australia a republic rather than a part of the Commonwealth? Any why is Australia discriminating against other Commonwealth citizens?

Commonwealth citizens, regardless of dual citizenship within the Commonwealth, should be the same.

Don't change that!