Russell Crowe cries foul over Aussie citizenship

[webfact]

Crowe cries foul over Aussie citizenship

MELBOURNE: -- HE'S appeared on Australian stamps, but it appears Russell Crowe has been licked in his bid to become an Aussie.

THE New Zealand-born Oscar-winning actor says he has twice been rebuffed in his application to become an Australian citizen.

The 50-year-old Gladiator star has told British magazine Radio Times that, despite moving to Australia as a child, he has been thwarted in his attempts to take up citizenship.

"I've been voted one of Australia's 50 national treasures. I've even had my face on an Australian stamp, the only non-Australian to do so, apart from the Queen, of course. It's so, so ... unreasonable," he said.

Crowe said a law change was at the root of the issue for New Zealanders wanting to become Australians.

Full story: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/crowe-cries-foul-over-aussie-citizenship/story-fni0xqi4-1227278132496

-- Herald Sun 2015-03-25

[Berkshire]

"The time for half measures and talk is over..."

Couldn't help myself.

[samran]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

[Costas2008]

I always thought he is an Aussie.

I like the actor but I wouldn't lick him on a stamp.

[neverdie]

Attitude issue Rusty ?

[Seastallion]

Samran put it in a nutshell.

[slipperylobster]

I always thought he is an Aussie.

I like the actor but I wouldn't lick him on a stamp.

...Me too.

In fact, licking him at all sounds a bit awful. Stamp or no stamp.

Edited March 25, 2015 by slipperylobster

[Jai Dee]

One nonsense troll post has been removed from this thread.

[Soutpeel]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship.

OK but why did they do it ? just curious ?

[samran]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship.

OK but why did they do it ? just curious ?

They cynic in me says political opportunism. If you aren't a PR or citizen, your access to social services is severely curtailed.

The kiwi 'dole bludger' (read pacific islander with NZ citizenship) stereotype was somethng to be exploited by Howard and his conservative merry men in the early 2000's. The other was a back door path to Australian citizenship for migrants who went to NZ first then to OZ. I think there was the claim that the NZ wasn't paying its 'fair share' in SS payments. I seem to recall this was the same time the Australian government dudded British pensioners.

As usual the facts are the opposite. NZ's as a group have a lower unemployment rate than Australians. In terms of NZ citizenship, the government there increase the wait time from 2 years to 5 years, so NZ was hardly a backdoor way into Australia any more. Similarly, in relative terms, NZ hosts more Australians as a percentage of population than the other way around, so Australia really screwed kiwi's on the equity front. NZ's a group certainly contribute more to the system than they take out.

It was easy political point scoring, at the expense of our closest neigbour and our closest ally.

Its been a decade an a half since the agreement and only now the downside is becoming apparent.

Families long established in OZ, kids who moved there when young, totally excluded from access to social services. Not just talking about the dole here, I'm talking about access to womens shelters in the case of abusive spouses, university loan scheme, emergency assistance following natural disasters, national disability insurance scheme etc. People who have litterally grown up in Australia since the law changes find out that they aren't full members of the community, and people who have lived and worked for decades and find themselves in a bit of trouble later in life being told to 'go home' to get help.

It stinks.

Edited March 25, 2015 by samran

[tx22cb]

The quickest way to get Oz citizenship is to be a world-class sportsperson - then you will be given your passport and fitted for a gold jersey.

[monkey4u]

I guess investing in the South Sydney Rabbito's wasn't enough to do the trick

Stop speaking like a KIWI next time you apply

[surfinglife]

Has anybody told him that in order to get his Aussie citizenship he would need to get half of his brain surgically removed? Stick with the Kiwi passport mate!

[jerojero]

Poor poor millionaire celebrity didn't get his way. Too bad. For once treated like millions of regular people denied fair treatment.

[OOLEEBER]

The quickest way to get Oz citizenship is to be a world-class sportsperson - then you will be given your passport and fitted for a gold jersey.

Green & Gold.

[malcoml]

Samran,

Can you quote those facts?

The fact is quite a number of kiwis are dodging the law in their country so come to Australia.

We need the ability to deport these people. Once they are citizens it won't happen.

Not sure why Russell Crowe is being knocked back. The minister has the ability to approve it.

[ezzra]

His 'love and affinity' to Australia can be summed up and put on the back of one of

the stamps bearing his mug... I'm sure....

[samran]

Samran,

Can you quote those facts?

The fact is quite a number of kiwis are dodging the law in their country so come to Australia.

We need the ability to deport these people. Once they are citizens it won't happen.

Not sure why Russell Crowe is being knocked back. The minister has the ability to approve it.

Suggest you read the website surrounding the Trans-tasman travel agreement and the Closer Economic Relationship agreement. But cause I'm a nice bloke, here is start for you:

https://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/17nz.htm

Kiwi's with criminal records which have served jail time of more than one year I beleive have to apply for a visa like everyone else. Records are accesible by Australian authorities. We can and do deny entry to these people. Not sure where you are getting your 'facts' from.

I suggest you look at Australian citizenship law. Good character is one requirment. Suspect they'd never make it to Australian citizenship anyway.

Russ was knocked back for exactly the reason said in the article. He was outside of Australia during the transition period for NZ citizens. Despite the fact he grew up in oz, cause he missed that window this route is not possible for him. As I said, it stinks.

[empireboy]

I thought being a pub brawler would have over-qualified him - certianly does in my mind!

[mikemac]

I always thought he is an Aussie.

I like the actor but I wouldn't lick him on a stamp.

...Me too.

In fact, licking him at all sounds a bit awful. Stamp or no stamp.

Australia Post issued a stamp with a naked lady on it years ago, it was 30cents for the stamp and $80 if you wanted to lick it.................

( After watching Mr Crowe's latest movie, The Water Diviner, I would gladly give him citizenship. )

[exo politic]

"Are we not ENTERTAINED!" Sorry Maximus... That's what ya get for building the hopes of some of us Leeds fans! Lol MOT

[ToddinChonburi]

Russell Crowe is an ass and he treats people like dirt. Just ask any one who has been in a movie with him. TMZ

[ICECOOL]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

Just might be because of the 5 to 1 imbalance in immigration between Australia and NZ

[Seastallion]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship.

OK but why did they do it ? just curious ?

They cynic in me says political opportunism. If you aren't a PR or citizen, your access to social services is severely curtailed.

The kiwi 'dole bludger' (read pacific islander with NZ citizenship) stereotype was somethng to be exploited by Howard and his conservative merry men in the early 2000's. The other was a back door path to Australian citizenship for migrants who went to NZ first then to OZ. I think there was the claim that the NZ wasn't paying its 'fair share' in SS payments. I seem to recall this was the same time the Australian government dudded British pensioners.

As usual the facts are the opposite. NZ's as a group have a lower unemployment rate than Australians. In terms of NZ citizenship, the government there increase the wait time from 2 years to 5 years, so NZ was hardly a backdoor way into Australia any more. Similarly, in relative terms, NZ hosts more Australians as a percentage of population than the other way around, so Australia really screwed kiwi's on the equity front. NZ's a group certainly contribute more to the system than they take out.

It was easy political point scoring, at the expense of our closest neigbour and our closest ally.

Its been a decade an a half since the agreement and only now the downside is becoming apparent.

Families long established in OZ, kids who moved there when young, totally excluded from access to social services. Not just talking about the dole here, I'm talking about access to womens shelters in the case of abusive spouses, university loan scheme, emergency assistance following natural disasters, national disability insurance scheme etc. People who have litterally grown up in Australia since the law changes find out that they aren't full members of the community, and people who have lived and worked for decades and find themselves in a bit of trouble later in life being told to 'go home' to get help.

It stinks.

I think you've summed it up nicely.

The kiwi dole bludger thing (indeed mostly Maori and Pacific Islanders) was, I think a real ....not problem, but situation. There were more Kiwis bludging in Oz than Ozzies bludging in NZ.

But the Oz government went overboard, for political reasons.

My daughter is an Australian citizen with passport. She lived with me in NZ and had a baby. She emigrated to Oz last year with her 3 year old NZ-born baby. When he had an accident, Mum could not get treatment for her son without being billed. The child did not qualify for state assistance, even though his mother was a full blown (not naturalised) citizen.

Then there's the Kiwi couple who had a baby in Oz. Lived there for years, and even though the child was born in Oz, because they registered the child as a NZ citizen, he did not qualify for state assistance when he got sick. The parents had been paying taxes for years.

It does stink.

[evadgib]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

...like being a ferang in Thailand

[samran]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

Just might be because of the 5 to 1 imbalance in immigration between Australia and NZ

What's that got to do with the price of fush?

You pay your taxes, often for years, only to be told when you need a hand that you aren't eligible.

Even if your precious ratio did matter, proportionally Nz takes a similar amount as a percentage of population going the other way. They aren't complaining or discriminating against Aussies there...

Edited March 25, 2015 by samran

[samran]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship.

OK but why did they do it ? just curious ?

They cynic in me says political opportunism. If you aren't a PR or citizen, your access to social services is severely curtailed.

The kiwi 'dole bludger' (read pacific islander with NZ citizenship) stereotype was somethng to be exploited by Howard and his conservative merry men in the early 2000's. The other was a back door path to Australian citizenship for migrants who went to NZ first then to OZ. I think there was the claim that the NZ wasn't paying its 'fair share' in SS payments. I seem to recall this was the same time the Australian government dudded British pensioners.

As usual the facts are the opposite. NZ's as a group have a lower unemployment rate than Australians. In terms of NZ citizenship, the government there increase the wait time from 2 years to 5 years, so NZ was hardly a backdoor way into Australia any more. Similarly, in relative terms, NZ hosts more Australians as a percentage of population than the other way around, so Australia really screwed kiwi's on the equity front. NZ's a group certainly contribute more to the system than they take out.

It was easy political point scoring, at the expense of our closest neigbour and our closest ally.

Its been a decade an a half since the agreement and only now the downside is becoming apparent.

Families long established in OZ, kids who moved there when young, totally excluded from access to social services. Not just talking about the dole here, I'm talking about access to womens shelters in the case of abusive spouses, university loan scheme, emergency assistance following natural disasters, national disability insurance scheme etc. People who have litterally grown up in Australia since the law changes find out that they aren't full members of the community, and people who have lived and worked for decades and find themselves in a bit of trouble later in life being told to 'go home' to get help.

It stinks.

I think you've summed it up nicely.

The kiwi dole bludger thing (indeed mostly Maori and Pacific Islanders) was, I think a real ....not problem, but situation. There were more Kiwis bludging in Oz than Ozzies bludging in NZ.

But the Oz government went overboard, for political reasons.

My daughter is an Australian citizen with passport. She lived with me in NZ and had a baby. She emigrated to Oz last year with her 3 year old NZ-born baby. When he had an accident, Mum could not get treatment for her son without being billed. The child did not qualify for state assistance, even though his mother was a full blown (not naturalised) citizen.

Then there's the Kiwi couple who had a baby in Oz. Lived there for years, and even though the child was born in Oz, because they registered the child as a NZ citizen, he did not qualify for state assistance when he got sick. The parents had been paying taxes for years.

It does stink.

The other way around. A kiwi lady I know well, daughter got cancer. Daughter was an australian citizen, mum was ineligible for any assistance.

[Crocbait]

Has anybody told him that in order to get his Aussie citizenship he would need to get half of his brain surgically removed? Stick with the Kiwi passport mate!

Maybe he shouldn't have kept applying to immigration with his pet sheep dressed in sexy clothes under his arm....

[whiteman]

The Russel Crowe factor aside, this story highlights some seriously disparities between how Aus and NZ treat each others citizens.

Despite our long shared history, our 40 year old common economic partnererhip and so called ANZAC traditions, in 2001 Australia enshrined some pretty draconian laws towards NZ citizens. The could live and work in OZ, but it stripped away long established paths to Permament Residency and citizenship. Long established law abiding tax paying kiwi's were not granted access to social services. Over time this has left many in a situation where they are unable to access assistance despite living and working in Australia for decades. Australia will gladly take Kiwi tax dollars, but do nothing in return.

Despite Australia/s petulance, NZ still grants Australian citizens access to PR, citizenship and social security once established in NZ in a straight forward manner, in a way which is not offered when they come to Australia.

It is a highly unfair state of play, where Australia continues to not reciprocate the level of treatment Australians are granted in New Zealand.

...like being a ferang in Thailand

Just in case you forget we are also treated as leppers in Thailand but over the world Thai freely can buy land and get loans and health benifits that all also STINKS

Edited March 25, 2015 by whiteman

[neverdie]

Sounds like it's time for rusty to F off over the Dutch. Head home to the land of the sheep shaggervand get over it.

Maybe he couldn't pass the citizenship test. 55555. Dumb baastard. Just kidding. When he leaves I will volunteer to look after his house and collection of Ducatis.