Aussies are “Ungrateful Bastards” to Kiwis, says Brother of PM Kevin Rudd
Greg Rudd, older brother of Prime Minster Kevin Rudd had called Aussies "ungrateful bastards" in his fight for Kiwi migrants to have equal rights as Australian citizens.
Mr Greg Rudd is running for senate in Queensland but he upholds that laws rubbing those Kiwis who moved to Australia after 2001 their rights to social security payments and disability care are "draconian."
"I was flabbergasted to discover last week that we've been giving our Kiwi cousins living in Australia the bastard treatment since 2001," according to Mr Greg Rudd' official statement. He appealed for the Kiwis' equal rights to be included in the political agenda and as one of the important issues for the upcoming elections.
"Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd can promise to fix it. It's a no-brainer so get it on the agenda and see what they say," Mr Greg Rudd said.
Spokeswoman for OzKiwi, Erina Anderson, was impressed with Mr Greg Rudd's stand on Kiwi migrant rights. OzKiwi is a group of Kiwi migrants pushing for equal rights in Australia.
"It's great to see a politician of such stature to go all out and call it as he sees it, particularly someone so close to the Prime Minister. We want Australians to be our voice because we don't have one," according to Ms Anderson.
There are more than 30,000 New Zealanders moving to Australia yearly.
A report from Gold Coast Bulletin featured Varsity Lakes ex-pat New Zealander Kathryn Buchanan who arrived to Australia and had been spending thousands of dollars to obtain citizenship through Australia's skilled migrant test since 2011.
Ms Buchanan has a nursing degree but does not have the means to afford the cost of international student university fees amounting to four times more than her Australian counterparts.
She had been living in Gold Coast since 2008 and her battle for citizenship for 12 years continued to fail her.
''I applied for citizenship again in 2012 because I am now a registered nurse and I fell five points short of the criteria for a skilled migrant. It is heartbreaking to get so close. My fear is that if I have children, they can't go to university here because they won't be able to get student loans, if I'm in an accident I'll have no access to financial support and when I retire, I won't get any benefits,'' Ms Buchanan lamented.