Citizenship celebration turns sour in record time

Back in 2011, Kiwis living in Australia were denied government assistance after being caught up in the Queensland floods. But as it turns out, putting an end to a 22-year problem only wins you about six hours of good headlines. Both the Herald and Stuff ran stories about a potential "exodus" of New Zealand workers to Australia following the citizenship change. Its editor Tracy Watkins accompanied those with a stinging editorial about the “big fish hook” in the Australia citizenship deal, which ended: "Will the last one to leave please turn off the lights?". He said people should focus on making New Zealand better for workers, rather than making sure Australia is worse.