Russell Crowe and Australian citizenship...A response.

It has been a tough week in the fandom. There has been a whole bunch of wheeling and dealing, half-truths and just plain outright lies over the source and distribution of bootlegging and piracy. And now the issue of Russell’s Australian citizenship and permanent residency has arisen. As it turns out Russell has never applied according to Australian Immigration authorities. Most fans around the world don’t really care because they are interested in his acting ability, not where he lives. As an Australian I am feeling slightly conned and very annoyed at the way he treats Australia and Australians. But this time Australia is fighting back and standing up for themselves like Australians do.

Over the past couple of days Russell Crowe raised the issue of his lack of Australian citizenship again on his latest tour to promote The Water Diviner in the United Kingdom. This isnt the first time he has raised the Australian citizenship issue and used it to take a dig at Australia and their immigration policies, in particular those concerning New Zealanders. Late last year Russell boasted Australia had denied him citizenship in the country where he and his family lived. This time the British media reported he had applied twice for citizenship and been denied. The Australian Immigration Department stepped in and reported not only has Russell Crowe has not applied for Australian citizenship, he has also not applied for permanent residency. (So of course he can’t get Australian citizenship regardless of when he was or wasn’t living there).

Despite every resource available to Russell (including a large fortune and success) he or his people have never filled in required paper work and applied. I am finding it hard to see why he should be given special treatment as thousands of immigrants including New Zealanders, come to Australia and do become permanent residents and Australian citizens by filling out the paper work, applying and doing the time. Every year thousands of immigrants come under a range of categories including students, refugees and family reunion. They often come to a country where English is not their first language, their qualifications are often not recognised, they come from a range of traumatic backgrounds, without financial resources, take jobs others will not do and live in a strange country without the support of a family and community. After years of hard work and without a lot of fuss they willingly make a new life for themselves and their family, take permanent residency and/or citizenship and all it entails with its rights and responsibilities.

Many people overseas on social media seem appalled at the idea Australia has not given one of their 'national treasures' citizenship. I personally feel like I have been conned and made a fool out of by someone who has chosen to speak out about, take advantage of and even criticise Australia whenever he sees fit. I am feeling particularly conned after the release of The Water Diviner in Australia on Boxing Day, his patriotic talk about Australia and the support Australia and Australians gave his movie.

I hope Russell has the good sense to stop speaking for Australians. Please. Because well there are hundreds of Australians both born in Australia and from overseas who live there with permanent residency or citizenship, who can and can speak with honesty and from the heart. Russell should stop whining and using his lack of Australian citizenship to gain attention for whatever takes his fancy overseas or fill out the paper work and apply.  

Despite all of his talk and deception I have always really known Russell has never been too fond of Australia or Australians. I wrote the following comments about my interpretation of his interest in Australia last year in another post about some interviews I read about The Water Diviner. The following article appeared in an Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald about Russell Crowe and his alleged quest for citizenship.

“…Until now I have always been under the impression Russell Crowe was never really fond of Australia or Australians other than his family and a few friends. Yes, Australia was the place he grew up in and his sanctuary where he could live an ordinary life with his wife and family after he had made it in Hollywood. There is no doubt he definitely appreciated that. However, I have always believed he was never particularly fond of Australia and Australians which was fostered mainly by his use of social media. Maybe it was the way Australia and Australians showed their lack of appreciation for exactly what he had achieved professionally and then there was the citizenship issue.

When it came to his work, making movies and telling stories I believed Russell Crowe genuinely thought everyone did everything better than Australians as he always chose to work someone else even though it meant being away from his family. Then there was the lack of support in sport for any Australian team other than his Rabbitohs. Whether his words about telling Australian stories and making movies about Australian stories remain true we will have to wait and see. Over the past he has shown an interest in some Australian stories including Batavia and the Tim Winton novel Dirt Music. He has also made some interesting documentaries for example, the story of his take over of the South Sydney Rabbitohs with Peter Holmes a Court and another one on the Sydney gang, the Bra boys. So that is true.”...A response to some of Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner interviews… Wednesday, 17 December 2014 Fandom an Unexpected Journey.

Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship, says Immigration Department by Karl Quinn 26 March 2015 Sydney Morning Herald. (no copyright infringement intended).

Russell Crowe grabbed headlines this week when he told the UK's Radio Times magazine that he had twice been rejected in his application for Australian citizenship. 

The only trouble is, the Immigration Department has no record of the New Zealand-born actor ever applying to officially become an Australian Crowe, who moved to Australia in 1968, first raised the issue in 2013, claiming that "apparently I fall between the cracks". Those cracks are a section of immigration law that demand that he must have been resident in Australia on February 26, 2001 (he wasn't) or have spent 12 months here in the preceding two years (due to filming and promotional commitments for Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind, he hadn't). 

The Daily Telegraph reported that in 2006 that Crowe had "intended to become an Australian citizen at an Australia Day concert on the lawns of Parliament House" but the event was canned because "the government wasn't able to facilitate the process in time", according to a spokeswoman from Channel 10, which was to broadcast the ceremony. The report went on to say that "seven years on, Crowe still hasn't satisfied the protocols".

However, that is not at all the same as Crowe having his application for citizenship rejected in 2006 and 2013, as has been widely reported this week.

"They changed the law for New Zealanders," he told Radio Times. "It's so, so…unreasonable."

However, the Department of Immigration has told Fairfax it has no record of either Crowe's applications or its alleged rejections.

"According to Departmental records, Mr Crowe has not submitted an application for a permanent visa or for Australian citizenship," the department said in a written response to questions.

"Should Mr Crowe apply for and be granted a permanent visa, there are a variety of options that he may use to meet the eligibility requirements, including the residence requirements." 

However, that is not at all the same as Crowe having his application for citizenship rejected in 2006 and 2013, as has been widely reported this week.

"They changed the law for New Zealanders," he told Radio Times. "It's so, so…unreasonable."

However, the Department of Immigration has told Fairfax it has no record of either Crowe's applications or its alleged rejections.

"According to Departmental records, Mr Crowe has not submitted an application for a permanent visa or for Australian citizenship," the department said in a written response to questions.

"Should Mr Crowe apply for and be granted a permanent visa, there are a variety of options that he may use to meet the eligibility requirements, including the residence requirements."