Centre offers homeless Kiwis in Australia one-way flights home
New Zealand citizens who find themselves homeless in Australia are being offered one-way tickets home amid the nation's worsening housing crisis.
A small community centre on the Gold Coast said it had helped hundreds of Kiwis with the last-resort flights over the past 15 years.
Repatriation was often "the best and only option", according to Nerang Neighbourhood Centre general manager Vicky Rose.
"We're talking about a really small pocket of our people here who, through a series of unfortunate events, have ended up where they are."
Ms Rose said the centre had helped about a dozen New Zealanders to return home over the past year.
She said it used its emergency relief funding — which was provided by the state government — to pay for the flights.
"We're the only ones doing what we do — I get calls from all over Australia," Ms Rose said.
The region, between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, is home to the largest proportion of New Zealand-born residents in the country, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.
Most New Zealand citizens live and work in Australia on a Special Category Visa (SCV).
While the SCV gives access to a one-off JobSeeker payment for six months, it has limited access to many government supports including some Centrelink payments and social housing.
A new citizenship process came into effect in 2023 — which would give access to full government support — but Ms Rose said it was often out of reach for the homeless.
"It takes about 12 months to get granted citizenship and it is $580 and so somebody who's homeless, who doesn't have access to money or anything like that, isn't going to be able to come up with $580," she said.
City of Gold Coast is one of three councils in south-east Queensland to recently adopt strategies where people sleeping rough on public land can be fined or have their belongings confiscated if they refused to leave within a given timeframe.
Matangirau Hira, who took up refuge in a tent in Southport's CBD in April, is one of 30 people to have received move-on directions from the council in recent months.
The 65-year-old has struggled with illness and unemployment.
"First, it was an infection I got on my knee … and then, like a heart attack," Mr Hira said.
The New Zealand citizen said he had nowhere else to go and could not access any financial assistance because of his visa status.
"Most Kiwis have to work to get money," he said.
A Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works spokesperson said critical response teams were on the ground "conducting outreach and offering services to those willing to speak with us".
A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said it was aware of the arrangements in place to support its citizens.
"We are not familiar with the specific situation however, we are aware that the Australian federal government provides programs to support non-citizens to voluntarily depart Australia if their circumstances change, and that will make sense for some New Zealanders," the spokesperson said.
But some New Zealand citizens said they could not go back.
Arama Winiata-Marunui said he had been unemployed and sleeping rough since last September due to a back injury.
"I haven't got the best family support back there … there's not much of a life that's for sure," he said.
Ms Rose said the emotional weight of leaving Australia was also a barrier for some people.
"But I just say to people, 'Go home, regroup, heal, gather yourself, touch down with your whānau [family] … and come back with some more to put on the table here'."
She urged anyone considering moving to Australia to ensure they had a secure job, enough money, accommodation and understood their entitlements before making the move.
"People need to know that the sun, sand and surf that they come for is a holiday destination," she said.
"Living here is a completely different thing."
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News.com.au
17 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Delivery driver calls out act that Aussies are sick of
A former paramedic and One Nation candidate has slammed a delivery driving act since turning to DoorDash after stepping away from politics. Cody Scholes is working as a DoorDash employee as his pressure washing business has been slow and he spent thousands on his last campaign. He took a moment to reflect on a key difference between his current job and said when he was a paramedic, saying he was accustomed to people bending over backwards to be kind to him. 'But since I've been DoorDashing, I realise now that people will only be nice to you or treat you with respect if they think that it benefits them,' he said. Mr Scholes claimed DoorDash workers were some of the lowest paid in the country, with a high migrant workforce. 'And the way that people in customer service and restaurants treat us is terrible. It's quite embarrassing for them, I would think, because why, if you're having a bad day, do you feel like you can take it down on people who are some of the lowest paid in the country,' he said. The paramedic turned delivery driver believes that how people treat others when they think they can't get anything from them says a lot about an individual. Mr Scholes called the experience 'disappointing' and said the more he engaged with people in customer service roles, the more he felt let down. He said he was used to being ignored, with staff sometimes turning away from him or berating him over what the customer ordered. Mr Scholes said he had been in customer service roles his entire life and would never treat someone that way. 'It's no surprise to me why so many people in our community feel lonely, feel invisible and feel worthless when you have to go out every day and interact with a society that is so hostile,' he said. Fellow delivery drivers weighed in with similar negative experiences. 'I am a female DoorDash driver in my 40s and I have never been treated so badly in my life. I have a university degree and have been a store manager at Myer in charge of 300 staff,' one said. 'Some staff in KFC and McDonald's just ignore me even though the order is ready they know I am there to pick it up, they make me wait 15 minutes purposely ignoring me then the customers get cold food and I get a bad review.' One said: 'As an ex-ambo, it annoyed me that people would be so nice to me when I had the uniform on, yet as a middle aged overweight female in normal clothes I was ignored completely.' ï¸� 'I used to be an uber eats driver for extra income and I have so many story times about people being rude. But also, there were heaps of lovely people too. I would get more nice people than rude. But the rude moments were eye opening,' another commented. Someone else weighed in: 'The way that food drivers at legit doing god's work. Interesting perspective and I love hearing you share.' One wrote: 'This is sad … I tip all my delivery drivers two dollars. They are so shocked and I say well I'm old-fashioned have a great day and I can see they love it but now I realise why because they treated so poorly.'
ABC News
17 minutes ago
- ABC News
Australia sanctions far-right Israeli ministers
Isabella Higgins: Good morning, welcome to AM. It's Wednesday the 11th of June. I'm Isabella Higgins coming to you from Gadigal land in Sydney. Australia has joined with the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in slapping sanctions on two of the Israeli government's most controversial ministers. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have been targeted for inciting violence against the Palestinian population in a move the Israeli government is labelling outrageous. The US has also condemned the sanctions. Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran is in Jerusalem. We spoke earlier. Matthew, what's the rationale for these sanctions? Matthew Doran : Isabella, good morning. The argument is that the rhetoric that these two men are using each and every day is an affront to human rights and it's encouraging right-wing Israelis, particularly those building and living in settlements in the West Bank, to violently target the Palestinian population. Itamar Ben-Gavir and Bezalel Smotrich are two of the most outspoken members of Benjamin Netanyahu's government and they hold some of the most extreme views in the Israeli political sphere about the Palestinian territories. The National Security Minister and the Finance Minister have demanded things such as the expansion of settlements across the West Bank, pushing the Palestinian population out of those areas. In the last few weeks, the Israeli government has approved another 22 settlements to be built, something the International Court of Justice has previously ruled was unlawful. The men have also made a range of incendiary comments about Gaza, saying that the war should continue, that settlements should also be built there, that the Strip should be destroyed and that aid should be totally restricted. But these sanctions, travel bans and the freezing of assets across five countries are pointed at their rhetoric regarding the West Bank. And the British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, explained the decision earlier. David Lammy: These two individuals, Ben-Gavir and Smotrich, have been inciting violence against Palestinian people for months and months and months. They have been encouraging egregious abuses of human rights. Matthew Doran : That is the British Foreign Secretary, David Lamey, there. For their part, both Itamar Ben-Gavir and Bezalel Smotrich have criticised the sanctions. Mr Ben-Gavir saying he'll continue advocating for the state of Israel and Mr Smotrich effectively treating these, saying that these issues need to be treated with contempt. Israel's Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, also hitting out. Gideon Saar: It is outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kind of measures. I discussed it earlier today with Prime Minister Netanyahu and we will hold a special government meeting early next week to decide on our response to this unacceptable decision. Isabella Higgins: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar there. And Matthew, will these sanctions make much of a difference? Matthew Doran : Well, Isabella, there is sort of strength in numbers here. Australia isn't going it alone and it is important for countries like Australia to take a stand here and to act on their criticism of the Israeli government and these two men in particular. But there will also be many who will accuse the government of doing too little too late here, considering that these two men have been making comments along these lines for a long, long time. Beyond that, the Netanyahu government has shown little interest in listening to the criticism of other countries. So it's unlikely the two men will change direction as a result of these sanctions from five different countries. Isabella Higgins: Matthew Doran in Jerusalem. Isabella Higgins: Los Angeles is braced for a fifth night of protests with hundreds of US Marines arriving in the city as part of the Trump administration's extraordinary response to immigration protests. The California governor has filed an emergency court motion to try and block the deployment of the Marines and thousands of National Guard troops. Tensions are running high with protesters still rallying against the White House's enforcement. North America correspondent Lauren Day is in Los Angeles. She joined me a short time ago. Lauren, it's been a dramatic few days in the city. We know you've been caught up amongst it yourself. What's been going on? Lauren Day: Yeah, that's right, Isabella. Again, much quieter during the day today than what we've seen after dark. There are just lots of teams cleaning up the debris this morning, cleaning up graffiti around the city. And they've got a pretty big task ahead of them. Apparently last night was quieter overall with fewer clashes between police and protesters. But that certainly wasn't our experience. We ended up getting caught up in one of these clashes and getting tear gassed, which was an extremely unpleasant situation. It just really burns your eyes and your nose and your throat and makes it hard to breathe. And you can see why they use it as a crowd dispersal technique, because you just want to get as far away from there as you can when it happens. Also, my colleague ended up getting shot in the chest by some kind of projectile, possibly a rubber bullet or one of these foam rounds that we've seen being used throughout these protests. He's OK. Thankfully, he was wearing a Kevlar vest. But it's another reminder that media workers aren't spared in the chaos. Now, the L.A. mayor, Karen Bass, gave a press conference a short time ago, and I asked her about another incident involving a journalist, a Channel 9 journalist, who was shot with a rubber bullet earlier this week. And here's what she had to say. Karen Bass: Well, I mean, I think it's terrible. I think it sends a terrible message. As you said, the prime minister of a country had to respond. The president of Mexico has responded. Again, I know,maybe I don't, that these countries look at this and I don't think they thought there was some grand thing happening here that required ICE agents to come and disrupt workplaces or chase people through Home Depot parking lots. Isabella Higgins: That was L.A. mayor Karen Bass. And Lauren, the political situation is just heating up even further. Lauren Day: Absolutely. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has filed an emergency motion to block the Trump administration's deployment of 700 Marines to the city of L.A. Those Marines have now been deployed here, as we understand, alongside 4,000 National Guard troops, a number that was doubled by Donald Trump yesterday, even after he said that the situation in L.A. was under control. The Pentagon has also now revealed that this operation will cost about $134 million US dollars, a huge amount of money, given that both the governor and the mayor say that this is totally unnecessary. I'm at another rally today. It's pretty small, pretty peaceful. They've been singing and chanting. And there's also an interfaith prayer vigil that's scheduled for later today that will be calling for peace. And that's absolutely what leaders here are wanting. But we'll see if that's what they get. Isabella Higgins: Lauren Day in Los Angeles, look after yourself. Thanks, Isabella. Isabella Higgins: Another major IVF bungle has reignited calls for national reform of the sector. It follows an incident at a Melbourne lab last week which saw a patient's embryo being incorrectly transferred to them instead of their partners. Health ministers from across the country will now discuss the issue of regulation at a meeting on Friday. Isabel Mousalli reports. Isabel Moussalli : As a family and fertility lawyer, Stephen Page says he encounters issues all the time with Australia's state-by-state approach to fertility care. Stephen Page : We have instead of one system of regulating IVF clinics, we have eight. It's crazy. There are inconsistent rules from state to state and there should just be one rule. Isabel Moussalli : He's long advocated for these changes but like other experts in the sector, he's repeating these calls in the wake of an incident at fertility group Monash IVF. The company yesterday announced to the Australian Stock Exchange it had mistakenly implanted the wrong embryo in a patient. Stephen Page : I hope they're OK. I just looked at it and thought, 'oh no,' it's that sinking feeling. Isabel Moussalli : Just two months ago, the same company was in the spotlight for another embryo mix-up. A Brisbane woman unknowingly gave birth to a stranger's baby. Monash IVF says it's now extending the scope of an independent review into that incident, along with an internal investigation into the latest one, and it'll immediately implement additional verification processes. Stephen Page welcomes that response but believes nationally consistent regulation would make a difference, along with reducing discrimination and increasing transparency. Speaker 4: Having checks and balances in place will make these events rare as they are and hopefully even rarer than they have been. Isabel Moussalli : National uniform laws were the primary recommendation of a comprehensive review conducted for the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand. The society argues this approach would strengthen transparency, streamline governance and enhance patient care. Report co-author Dr Rachel Swift. Rachel Swift: If anything, it's more important now than it was when we made that recommendation a year ago. I think we have to recognise that these treatments have lifetime impacts on both the families and the children that are created and that is an incredible gift that we're able to give. But with that comes a lot of responsibility to make sure that we protect people. Isabel Moussalli : It's a position backed by Dr Evie Kendall, a bioethicist and public health scientist at Swinburne University. Evie Kendal: This could be the impetus for us to actually campaign for that and say we actually need to have a federal regulatory body, we need to have more federal legislation to control these kinds of circumstances. Isabel Moussalli : But she wants to remind Australians these are unfortunate cases, but rare ones. Evie Kendal: It doesn't look rare when you have two of them hit the media in a very small period of time, but they are very rare. Isabel Moussalli : In a statement, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said this should never have happened and he's put the regulation of the IVF sector on the agenda for the upcoming Health Minister's meeting on Friday. Isabella Higgins: Isabel Mousalli reporting. Isabella Higgins: New research shows almost half of refugees who had professional careers before coming to Australia are still struggling to have those skills recognised. They're experiencing what's known as occupational downgrade and it's more prevalent among women. National work reporter Bronwyn Herbert. Bronwyn Herbert: Engineer Sam Matti worked at a power plant in Baghdad, helping maintain electricity to the war-torn capital of Iraq. But after ISIS threatened him, he fled and his life and career were put on hold. Sam Matti: I left my country within 24 hours and went to Turkey as a refugee. Bronwyn Herbert: He spent two years in a refugee camp before resettling in Australia. Sam Matti: Obviously a new country, a new set of opportunities in front of you. I was really helpful to find something in my field. I'm an automation engineer and I try to apply for as many jobs as possible. Bronwyn Herbert: But his engineering bachelor's degree wasn't recognised. He spent the next two years working in casual jobs, cleaning construction sites and catering at aged care homes. Sam Matti: It was extremely difficult to get a job in such industry without local experience, without the knowledge of the country and lack of networking as well. Bronwyn Herbert: A 10-year longitudinal study of around 2,400 refugees has revealed their employment journey in Australia. Dr John van Kooy led the study from the Australian Institute of Family Studies. John van Kooy : Basically occupational downgrading means that there is a group of people in this cohort that had managerial or professional roles, white collar jobs in business, HR, marketing, IT, that sort of thing, in their home countries. But they've been unable to reach that same occupational status or a similar occupational status even after 10 years of permanent residency in Australia. Bronwyn Herbert: Dr van Kooy says there was a link between employment and social connection. John van Kooy : We found that participants who had friends from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, so diverse friendship groups basically, were more likely to be employed than those who only had friends from their own ethnic background or no friends. Bronwyn Herbert: Dane Moores from the not-for-profit service provider Settlement Services International says the report shows yet again how underutilised refugee skills are in the Australian workforce. Dane Moores : Almost every industry at the moment in Australia is suffering from skills shortages, we've got stagnant productivity and yet here is this tremendous talent source of refugees working below their skill level which if we tapped into could help address all of these skills shortages. Bronwyn Herbert: For Sam Matti, his skills are better utilised these days in his job as an infrastructure project manager with Australia Post, but he hopes future refugees won't face the same obstacles. Sam Matti: Some of the skills and the jobs and the experience locally is so meaningful and so important, but people with overseas qualifications and experience also have experience. Isabella Higgins: Engineer Sam Matty ending that report by Bronwyn Herbert. Isabella Higgins: The aged care sector and federal crossbenches are all demanding the government fund 20,000 new home care packages for older people who need the support. Major changes to aged care were supposed to begin at the start of July, but the government last week announced they were being delayed till November. Here's political reporter Evelyn Manfield. Evelyn Manfield: Robin Rawson was 93 when she died last year. According to her cousin, she was a tough old thing who was determined to live at home. But it was getting harder and Robyn needed more help, as her cousin Kaye Pritchard saw first hand. Kaye Pritchard : For a very private person who never spoke about anything in her life, never complained about anything, she gave me full permission to do whatever I could to use her name so that this would never happen to anyone else. Evelyn Manfield: She says Robin had been approved for a level 4 home care package, the highest one, to help with things like cleaning and bathing. But she was told it'd take 6-9 months before she'd get moved up from her lower level package to get that extra support. Kaye Pritchard : I can remember her saying at the time, well that's not much use to me because I'm going to be dead by then. And she certainly was. Within the next couple of months she deteriorated and passed away without ever receiving any of the benefits that she needed in those crucial last weeks of her life. Evelyn Manfield: About 80,000 Australians are on the home care package waitlist. A replacement program was due to kick in on the 1st of July which promised more funding to shorten wait times and 83,000 extra packages. But last week the government pushed that back to November, along with a range of aged care reforms including increasing the means-tested contributions for those entering aged care. The sector agreed the changes were all too rushed, but it still wants the government to quickly address the home care package backlog. Here's Independent, Helen Haines. Helen Haines: We know that if we wait until November, more and more people come onto the waitlist. And the longer that they wait, the higher the chances are of further deterioration in their health and in many cases people have a premature entry into residential aged care. Evelyn Manfield: She's one of 10 crossbenchers who've written to the government demanding it unlocks 20,000 extra packages from next month. And their push is backed by both aged care providers and advocates. Tom Symondson is the boss of Aging Australia, the peak body representing providers. Tom Symondson : We need to see packages start to flow. If we don't see them flow until November, we're just going to see potentially well over 100,000 people waiting. When you're talking about the highest level of package, it's almost $80,000 a year of support. That is absolutely life-changing for an older person who wants to stay at home. Evelyn Manfield: Boss of the Older Person Advocacy Network, Craig Gere, agrees the government needs to step in. Craig Gear: We need to help support people to stay in their home as long as they can. We know there will be a cost to that, but I think in this interim time we should be looking to see what we can to keep people safe and receiving high quality care in their homes. Isabella Higgins: Craig Gere from the Older Person Advocacy Network ending Evelyn Manfield's report. And AM has contacted the government for comment. Isabella Higgins: China continues to expand policing links in the Pacific, despite Australia's efforts to lock out Beijing as a major security player in the region. Here's Foreign Affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic. Stephen Dziedzic: For a while, Chinese police in Vanuatu were keeping a relatively low profile, but now that seems to be changing. Sweeping aerial drone shots posted to social media by China's embassy show Chinese police riding motorbikes gifted to Vanuatu in April in a demonstration for politicians and local media. Vanuatu's Internal Affairs Minister Andrew Napuat praising the donation. Andrew Napuat (translated): Today we came and we saw police equipment that we received, including 10 motorcycles, police uniforms and other uniforms including riot gear. Stephen Dziedzic: Last month, China's embassy also handed over three small police patrol boats to Vanuatu, and while China's police training in Solomon Islands has drawn the most attention, it's also expanding its activities in countries like Vanuatu and Kiribati. Vanuatu's never said exactly how many Chinese police are operating in the Pacific nation, but Chinese police team leader Gao Shaa tells broadcaster VBTC they've now rolled out training in multiple provinces. Gao Shaa : I strongly believe that with our joint efforts we'll have more achievements in our cooperation. Stephen Dziedzic: Australia has declared that Beijing should have no security role in the region, and last year struck a landmark policing pact with the Pacific designed in part to reduce the space for China to operate. But the Lowy Institute's Mihai Sora says by advertising its work in Vanuatu, China is signalling it's not going anywhere. Mihai Sora : It would feel that its police relationship with Vanuatu is fairly well embedded. It's now time to cash in on the optics of that. Stephen Dziedzic: It's not just policing. When Pacific foreign ministers visited southern China last month, they toured one of China's massive new coast guard vessels and watched a maritime emergency drill. Mihai Sora says last year China also registered 26 coast guard vessels to undertake high seas boarding and inspections in a vast swathe of the Pacific Mihai Sora : It sees the coast guard as a non-provocative way to increase its presence in the region and therefore gain that environmental awareness, gain that practice of operating in this theatre. Stephen Dziedzic: A theatre which is getting ever more crowded. Isabella Higgins: Stephen Dziedzic reporting. And that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Isabella Higgins.
News.com.au
39 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Penny Wong spruiks PM's gift of the gab ahead of high stakes Trump meet
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has praised Anthony Albanese's gift of the gab ahead of the Prime Minister's first face-to-face with Donald Trump. NewsWire understands the two leaders are set to meet on the sidelines of the G7 in Canada starting later this week but a time has not been confirmed. With a tariff carve out and defence spending straining relations between Canberra and Washington, Mr Albanese has no shortage of uncomfortable talking points for the US President. But Senator Wong said on Wednesday Mr Albanese was 'pretty good at handling meetings'. 'He's had a lot of experience, not just as prime minister but as a senior minister for a very long time,' she told Nine. 'Look, we don't agree with the President Trump's administration on tariffs. 'We've made that clear. We think it's not consistent with our free trade agreement. 'We don't think it's in the interests of American consumers. 'We think it's an act of economic self-harm. We've made that clear publicly, consistently, and we will continue to do so.' Senator Wong refused to 'speculate' if bumping up Australian defence spending — which the US has demanded be hiked to 3.5 per cent of GDP — would be on the table. 'We'll always do what is required to keep Australians safe,' she said. 'We've invested more money in defence over the next few years, and also forward over the (next) ten.' Senator Wong added that the Albanese government was 'very aware of the circumstances Australia faces' and that building up ties with Pacific neighbours was key to the strategy. 'A great part of my job is to work with other countries because those relationships contribute to stability and security in our region, which is where stability, security and ultimately our prosperity come from,' she said.
