[MotherBear]

[b:45ed03086d]Aussie citizenship changes shock expatriate Kiwi [/b:45ed03086d]
27 December 2005
By MIKE STEERE

An expatriate Kiwi living in Australia is worried that thousands of New Zealanders will be hit by a little-known change to the Australian Social Security Act.

David Faulkner, 41, has been living in Australia since he was six, but he has been stripped of his rights to Medicare and of becoming an Australian citizen. The law change is not a new one, but Faulkner said there were "a lot of people affected right now and they don't even know it". They will get a right shock when they get sick or old or wish to take out citizenship," he said.

The change occurred in 2001, when an amendment to the act meant New Zealanders wanting to become Australian citizens or have rights to Medicare and other social services had to apply for a special category visa (SCV).

Previously, New Zealanders had been given special privileges under the social security agreement between Australia and New Zealand, but the change limited SCV applications to February 26 last year. New Zealanders would have to apply for permanent residency the same as anyone else would. Citizenship was no longer possible for New Zealanders unless they were living in Australia on February 26, 2004, or had been for 12 of the 24 months before 2001.

Faulkner was overseas working for an Australian company off and on between 1998 and 2002 and missed the deadline. There was some publicity about the changes after they were announced, but Faulkner felt there was not enough information explaining the requirements before the February 2004 deadline. Despite living in Australia for more than 30 years and being married to an Australian for 17 years, Faulkner is ineligible for citizenship.

"I'm completely gutted," he said. "I feel sick to the stomach. What more can I say? The only way I can get permanent residency now is to apply with the same process as if you were from anywhere in the world. That's still not an easy process, I can tell you."

He had sent information about his case to Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and was hoping for a response soon. Faulkner believed the act contravened article four of the social security agreement, which required "equality" from each party.

If New Zealand was not shutting Australians out, that would be unequal and a breach, he said. Faulkner said that taking the Australian Government to court would be an extreme measure, but did not rule it out, even with its financial limitations.

"It would be a very expensive road to take," he said.