Day 2 - ALP Conference 2018
17 December 2018
Day 2 - a report from the Australian Labor Party conference
Oz Kiwi representatives are in Adelaide this weekend for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) National Conference.
Oz Kiwi today caught up with the biggest advocate for Kiwis in Australian politics.
Jim Chalmers, Labor MP for Rankin (Logan area QLD) has a high Kiwi population. Jim became aware of the issues they face as he spoke with Kiwis who told him their kids can't get HELP loans, have no pathway to citizenship, can't join the ADF even if they have completed a cadetship or can't access the NDIS.
After meeting with Jim in 2015 he has made it his mission to get positive reforms for New Zealanders in Australia.
Jim was the driving force to stop the LNP govt's higher education reforms in 2017 that would see Kiwis pay full fee domestic fees. See the video of him and Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek explaining how they wanted Kiwis to have HELP loans but not at the cost of paying full fees.
Just last week Jim helped get an amendment in the Social Services Amendment Act so Kiwis won't have to wait 4 years before accessing a health care card and concession card.
Labor also worked very hard to stop the 2017 Citizenship Amendment Bill that would see Kiwis wait four years as PR before they could apply for citizenship.