of the policy on its citizens. On 8 July, Albanese stated during a meeting with Ardern that his government would commit to amending the Section 501 policy to consider prospective deportees' long-term connections to Australia. In addition, Albanese stated that he would explore expanding voting rights to New Zealanders residing in Australia and pathways for allowing New Zealanders residing in Australia to acquire Australian citizenship. In response, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews expressed concerns that modifying the Section 501 policy would allow foreign criminals to remain in Australia, endangering public safety and security. On 20 December 2022, High Court Judge Cheryl Gwyn ruled in favour of a former 501 deportee known as "G," who challenged the Government's authority to impose special conditions upon his return to New Zealand. She ruled that special conditions such as ordering "G" to reside at a particularly address, supplying fingerprints and DNA, and attending rehabilitative and treatment programmes violated the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and constituted an act of double jeopardy since he had already served time for crimes in Australia which had led to his repatriation to New Zealand. Gwyn's decision has implications for the monitoring regime for deportees established under the framework of the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Act 2015. On 21 December, the Crown Law Office appealed against Gwyn's High Court ruling, citing its implications for the Returning Offenders Act's monitoring regime. In early February 2023, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles confirmed that the Australian Government would maintain the 501 deportation policy but would consider the length of time they had lived in Australia and connections to the Australian community. While New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins welcomed these changes, deportee advocate Filipa Payne argued that these changes were insufficient since they preserved mandatory detention and allowed for the deportation of "dangerous" individuals." COVID-19 pandemic On 30 March 2020, Australian Prime Minister Morrison announced that New Zealanders living in Australia under the Special Category Visa (subclass 444) would be eligible for AU$1,500 fortnightly payments following negotiations with his New Zealand counterpart Prime Minister Ardern. Thousands of New Zealanders, who were unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had been forced to leave Australia after finding they were ineligible for Centrelink payments. On 5 May, the Australian federal government, New Zealand government, and several Australian state and territorial governments announced that they would work together to develop a trans-Tasman COVID-safe