There has been some talk in Australia that an easier path to Australian citizenship may be made during 2022-23. The rules were changed in 2001 to stop the common practice of Kiwis arriving in Australia and going straight to Centrelink for welfare payments.
The general feeling in Australia is that it would cost Australian taxpayers a great deal to open up to the practice again.
There is some sense in modifying the SC189 income based visa to make it more flexible. Our advice is that Australia will be most unlikely to revert to easy access to Centrelink and that minimal changes will be made.
The SC189 visa is a good visa allowing Kiwis with at least 3 years income over $53800 access to a permanent visa and citizenship.