Do you know what assistance a New Zealander who arrived in Australia after 26 February 2001 receives if they lose their job through no fault of their own? Practically none. You may already have known that they are effectively barred from receiving the unemployment benefit, despite paying the same taxes as everyone else. Those who have been in Australia less than ten years have no hope of getting even a cent of assistance from the Australian Government. Those who have been in Australia continuously for more than ten years may be eligible for a one-off payment for up to six months. If they claim this payment at any point, even for a single day, they are ineligible to ever receive any assistance ever again, no matter how long they live here or how much tax they have paid. We have even heard reports of New Zealanders who fulfil the strict requirements for this limited assistance being denied it. What is less well-known is that New Zealanders are also denied two other things granted to all other unemployed residents. - They are barred from accessing their own superannuation. To be allowed to do this an individual must have been receiving a Centrelink payment for more than six months – New Zealanders are obviously unable to fulfil this requirement. - They are denied access to job seeking services. In effect, not only is the Australian Government refusing to give New Zealanders who have lost their jobs financial assistance for which their taxes have paid, but preventing them from helping themselves by using their own money or getting back into the workforce. It seems the Australian Government would rather see New Zealanders financially ruined and locked out of the workforce (with the likely consequences of family breakdown and homelessness) than quickly finding their feet again and returning to being productive tax-paying members of society. How can this possibly be good for Australia?
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 02:30:01 +0000
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