No voice. No democracy. No chance to fight for basic rights.
It sounds like something out of the Middle East wouldn't you say?
Unfortunately it's not. It's the reality for 600,000 hard working NZ citizens in Australia trying to make the place home.
Now imagine this scenario.
It's Monday, you're at work, you're doing your thing and then next thing you know, the economy's suffering and you're made redundant.
In normal circumstances you'd have savings, but employers haven't increased wages since 2008 so effectively, in real terms you've taken several pay cuts.
Compound this with being right before Christmas and being an NZ citizen thrown into the mix.
What you have here is a situation where you just can't win.
New Zealand citizens who arrived in Australia after 2001 do NOT qualify for any Centrelink assistance. You could have been here 50 years, you could have been here for five years. You could have paid taxes from the day you got here and you're given the finger.
Now imagine you have been contributing to your superannuation fund. In normal circumstances that would be an option. You'd withdraw your funds under severe hardship after providing evidence to support that.
But you see, that's not an option.
You see, before you apply for access to your superannuation on severe financial hardship grounds you have to apply for Centrelink. Not only this, you have to be receiving Centrelink payments. But because you're a New Zealand citizen you don't qualify for Centrelink.
If you are not receiving Centrelink payments you do not qualify for early release of your superannuation funds. If you applied for Centrelink and were receiving Centrelink until you found a permanent full time job then I'll bet you wouldn't be applying for early release of your Superannuation funds.
Imagine another scenario.
You're a New Zealand citizen and because you're a New Zealand citizen you have to prove that you're leaving Australia permanently when your funds are transferred to Kiwisaver. In order to do this you must already hold Kiwisaver, and it's assumed that you're leaving Australia permanently when your funds are transferred to Kiwisaver.
What if you're not though?
What if you only need to withdraw a portion of what you've got in your Australian super scheme due to severe hardship? What then?
The real kicker is that if you were from any other country you would be able to withdraw all your funds from your Australian super scheme without any issues whatsoever.
Why isn't it an OPTION to transfer to Kiwisaver? Why is it MANDATORY? And why oh why are NZ citizens experiencing hardship effectively spat on and given the finger by both the NZ and the Australian governments?
Why must people be forced to apply for benefits rather than seeking THEIR OWN MONEY and trying to live independently? It doesn't make an atom of sense the way NZ citizens are treated in Australia.
