Friends with benefits

Australia's welcome mat for Kiwis won't spark a rush to the departure gate on its own, but we do need to make our own backyard more attractive

- PETE MCKENZIE

For a brief moment, there was a celebration. A year after a sympathetic Labor government swept to power in Australia, New Zealand's diplomats and politicians found success in their long campaign to secure a reliable path to citizenship for New Zealanders living across the Tasman.

Until the 1990s, New Zealanders arriving in Australia automatically received permanent-resident status and could access most healthcare and welfare services. But those entitlements were progressively weakened and in 2001, the John Howard government removed the safety net. The decision of current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reverse Howard's changes means 380,000 New Zealanders in Australia now have a path to the security and stability they have lacked for decades.

His Kiwi counterpart, Chris Hipkins, could hardly contain his excitement at an Australian citizenship ceremony during a flying visit following the announcement, joking and laughing on stage with Albanese. Hipkins hailed the reforms as the biggest "in a generation" and said he expected they would "make an enormous difference" to relations between the two countries.

His excitement was understandable: political reporter Henry Cooke, writing in the Australian edition of the Guardian, called it "a major win". Joanne Cox, leader of campaign group Oz Kiwi, told Stuff she was "very happy" with the changes. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, of all people, acknowledged it as a victory.

The significance of the achievement could be seen in the Australian government's concern about electoral backlash: Albanese announced the decision on a Saturday morning before Hipkins arrived, in what seems to have been an attempt to minimise news coverage (Dan Tehan, the opposition Liberal Party's immigration spokesperson, was quick to voice concern that the changes might increase pressure on Australian housing and welfare; Australia's Daily Mail warned its readers to "prepare for a Kiwi invasion!").