magnumpi

https://globalnews.ca/news/3975037/p...ains-momentum/

Imagine jetting off to New Zealand for four months each winter without needing to apply for a visa. Or heading to the U.K. to work for a decade without having to sort through work permits and residency applications.

That’s the future being proposed by CANZUK International

DigitalGhost

This could work IMHO especially since the current Australia/NZ system is dependent on meeting certain criteria (e.g. being of good character) and has no route to permanent residence.

Canada would need to drop some of draconian language testing rules first though.

bats

This idea has been around a while. I wonder why the choice of those predominantly white Anglo Commonweath countries?

BristolUK

"What first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?"

JamesM

Each of these countries has far more problems closer to home that they need to be worried about.

For Canada it's Nafta and for the UK it's Brexit.

Pollyana

The current Aus & NZ visa systems have plenty of options by which to gain PR. Australia also has language reqirements - NZ may have, not sure on that.

carcajou

This idea has been around for a long time and will never happen.

What is the benefit to Canada?

Migration would be predominantly one-way, from the UK and New Zealand to Canada and Australia.

Therefore - Canada and Australia will not agree to this.

The Australia/New Zealand system works, despite the traditional economic disparity between the two countries, because New Zealand's population is so small that Australia can absorb the numbers - 15% of all New Zealand Citizens live in Australia, compared to 0.05% of Australian Citizens who live in New Zealand.

BritInParis

Canada would certainly welcome it - it has a new immigration target to hit - and Australia has already stated that an easing of visa restrictions between the UK and Australia would be an essential part of any future UK-Australia FTA.

A pan-CANZUK deal is probably not on the cards in the near future but certainly bilateral deals can and will likely be done post-Brexit.

carcajou

Yes, an "easing" primarily targeted towards "businesspeople" - not an abolishing, or a Free Movement style system.

There is no political or public will in Australia for a substantial softening of the immigration system, nor in moving towards something like a 21st-century Britannia 2.0 led by the UK. In fact the Opposition has promised a vote on becoming a republic if they win the election next year - and they have had a statistically significant lead in the polls for a while now.

BritInParis

Bit of a strawman there; not even the chap who is leading this CANZUK organisation is calling for an unqualified EU-style freedom of movement. Australia seems to be after an E-3 style visa, like it gained as part of the US-Australia FTA, so you'll need to pass various checks and have a job offer. There's no reason why that couldn't be made a reciprocal arrangement.

You're conflating two unrelated things. Australian republicanism, such as it is, has little to do with making migration between the UK and Australia easier and no-one is calling for the resurrection of the British Empire.

carcajou

Really? OP said "Imagine . . . heading to the U.K. to work for a decade without having to sort through work permits and residency applications."

That sounds quite a bit like Free Movement.

Australian republicanism is related. Immigration is a very political issue. Imagine what this scenario may look like through the eyes of someone who isn't British . . . it can look like the UK trying to get the band back together. If someone like Tony Abbott was trying to lead this on the Australian end, the media would go wild.

BritInParis

Not really. EU freedom of movement is quite different from what is being proposed. As I stated in the rest of my post, which you decided to ignore, I don't think a pan-CANZUK FoM deal is going to happen any time soon but bilateral deals can and will.

Both are political issues but that doesn't mean they are related. According to the polling quoted in the article Australians are more keen on this idea than Brits.

carcajou

Did you actually read the article? It's even titled "Push for Free Movement of Canadians, Kiwis, Britons and Australians Gains Momentum." CANZUK even calls itself "The Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation."

Nowhere in the article does it mention any polling taken in Australia, and the entire second half of the article makes the same point I did, quoting experts and academics about historical baggage and imperial nostalgia.

What is described sounds quite similar to EU-style Free Movement. They want something like Aus-NZ with restrictions only in extreme cases, like with someone on a terror watch list, and with a few possible social net conditions in place.

The EU Commission describes Free Movement as the right to "work there without needing a work permit," "enjoy equal treatment with nationals in access to employment," and "to reside there even after employment has finished."

Free Movement - EU nationals - Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion - European Commission

Yorkiechef

So the double negative means it will happen some time soon?

BritInParis

You're getting hung up on the phrase 'Freedom of Movement'; EU FoM and what is being proposed is not the same and I don't think's going to happen, at least in the foreseeable future. Easing of visa restrictions as part of bilaterial FTAs between CANZUK countries will almost certainly happen. Quite right on the polling not being in the OP article; it's here.

Fixed!