Deporting Kiwis !

When Australia adopted the " Populate or Perish " mantra at the end of the second world war and opened its doors to emigration it granted special rights to citizens of the United Kingdom.  Not only did we heavily subsidize their fare in coming to Australia but we granted immediate eligibility to vote in Federal, state and council elections.  In the eyes of many, we granted a form of Australian citizenship and few bothered to seek a legal definition of citizenship which was so sought after by people from other European countries.

By rule of thumb, where you are born defines citizenship and many kids born in the United Kingdom and brought to Australia as babies had no reason to think they were not automatically Australian.  It came as a great shock if they became convicted of a serious crime later in life and find that Australia could - and would - deport them back to Britain.

Now a very similar situation is roiling relations with our near neighbour across the Tasman, New Zealand.  There has always been a very special relationship between the Aussies and the Kiwi's and it was forged closely when soldiers of the two nations fought side by side in both world wars.  In fact it is mutually celebrated in the ANZAC spirit.

The citizens of these two countries holiday in each other countries without the need for visas and work exchanges are almost formality free.  There are few Aussies who do not know a Kiwi living in their street or one in their workplace.  Apart from a slight accent difference the language is the same and even the two countries flags have a close similarity.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has raised this nationality issue with Australian prime minister Scott Morrison at a recent meeting.  It really is a divergence of outlook.  Australia insists that citizens must undergo the naturalization procedure if they were born outside this country and New Zealand accepts that little Australian kids brought to New Zealand as babies have identical rights with those who are New Zealand born.  In the event they are convicted of a major crime, they are not deported back to Australia.

We actually came close to becoming one country before the dawn of the twentieth century when representatives of the Australian colonies and New Zealand met together to plan a national confederation.  As is the situation now, there was a significant population unbalance and New Zealand decided to go its own way but both defence forces were integrated closely.

There are probably no two countries that have tighten integration than Australia and New Zealand and to conclude a joint citizenship agreement would not be difficult.  There seems little to be gained when a person who has spent the majority of their life in one of the countries and has both home and family there being deported because they have offended at law.

In this instance, perhaps Australia would be wise to adopt the New Zealand custom.  The number of Kiwis deported back to New Zealand usually runs less than half a dozen a year.  It is a point of friction easily resolved.