The Coalition has accused the Albanese government of jeopardising Australia’s non-discriminatory migration policy for suggesting New Zealanders could gain the right to vote.
The shadow immigration minister, Dan Tehan, said on Tuesday that the plan to enfranchise non-citizen permanent residents “flies in the face of Labor great Bob Hawke’s commitment to a non-discriminatory immigration policy”.
Tehan made the comments in a wide-ranging speech to the National Press Club raising concerns about Labor’s 35,000 boost to permanent migration and claiming intolerance of religion in Australia might be deterring migration.
In July Anthony Albanese announced that he would consider improving pathways for New Zealanders to become Australian citizens and giving voting rights to those permanently based in Australia, in line with Australians who have lived for a year or longer in New Zealand.
On Tuesday Tehan said Albanese had “flown [a] kite about changing our immigration settings” and argued the policy was inconsistent with a non-discriminatory immigration program because it would “give temporary residents from New Zealand voting rights that other temporary migrants do not enjoy”.
The joint standing committee on electoral matters is considering giving the vote to New Zealanders and Australian permanent residents as part of its inquiry into the 2022 election.
Members of the Commonwealth who live in Australia and were enrolled to vote before 1984 already have the right to vote in federal elections, and are subject to the same fines and penalties as citizens if they do not cast a ballot. Australian permanent residents are able to vote in New Zealand.
Albanese also committed to take a more “commonsense” approach when applying the power to cancel New Zealand citizens’ visas, signalling his government will limit its use on longterm residents of Australia.
Tehan said that Labor intended “to be more lenient when it comes to allowing New Zealand criminals to stay in Australia”.
“[Albanese] needs to provide more details about which criminals he will allow to remain in our country and why.”
At the jobs and skills summit in September, Labor announced Australia’s migration cap will be lifted to 195,000 places.
To the government’s surprise, the policy was cautiously welcomed by the opposition.
But at the Press Club, Tehan said Labor was yet to “make the case for its immigration reforms”.
“Labor are yet to explain how they can run an uncapped temporary migration program and a capped permanent program, while dangling the carrot of permanent residency to temporary visa holders,” he said.
“Under Labor, our immigration settings run the risk of being less targeted. We have seen no detail on what visa classes – both onshore and offshore – are being prioritised for processing. This is causing concern amongst visa holders.
“To be a success, and bring the population with them, Labor will have to explain why their approach won’t have a negative impact on people’s quality of life, our unemployment rate and the environment. This is what is meant by a better Australia not simply a bigger Australia.”
Tehan warned: “If we don’t fill our permanent migration cap with young, highly skilled workers, we will be making a bad situation worse.”
