{"id":223717,"date":"2026-01-08T19:24:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T19:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/223717\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T19:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T19:24:27","slug":"kiwis-at-departure-gate-reveal-why-theyre-leaving-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/223717\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiwis at departure gate reveal why they’re leaving"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was one of the most read on 1News.co.nz in 2025. It was first published on November 6.<\/p>\n

Last year was promised to be the one when New Zealand closed the income gap with Australia and stemmed the exodus across the ditch. Instead, more Kiwis than ever headed to Australia in search of a better life. What’s driving them? Cushla Norman headed to the departure gates at Wellington Airport to find out. <\/p>\n

When former Prime Minister John Key set the 2025 goal in 2008, Australian incomes were 32 percent higher than Kiwis\u2019. The gap has apparently narrowed: incomes are now 24 percent higher, according to Treasury figures, and yet the exodus has only increased. More on the income gap later, but first, who exactly is going to Australia and what are their main motivations? <\/p>\n

From cop to hopeful miner<\/p>\n

Shayne Amner is taking a punt \u2013 leaving New Zealand and his family without a job lined up across the ditch.<\/p>\n

Watch on TVNZ+ as Kiwis at the airport explain why they’re heading off<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a little bit nerve wracking. Haven’t been without a job in the last 10 to 20 years,” he says.<\/p>\n

\"Shayne<\/p>\n

Shayne Amner (Source: TVNZ)<\/p>\n

He hopes to work in a gold mine near Perth, where his partner\u2019s younger brother also works. \u201cHe’s only 21 and he’s making $130,000 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old plans to move his family over once he\u2019s settled in, and hopes to stay there for at least five years.<\/p>\n

The main drawcard for him is higher wages, making it easier to get a mortgage. \u201cEven when I was a police officer for about six years, I never got over $100,000 in that whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘You get to have a break for lunch’<\/p>\n

Emergency department nurse Caroline Webb, 31, has 10 years\u2019 experience but still couldn\u2019t land a job in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI applied for, I think, four jobs. And I didn’t get an interview for any of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caroline<\/p>\n

Caroline Webb (Source: TVNZ)<\/p>\n

She\u2019s secured a job in Tasmania where, she says, the conditions are better. \u201cThey’ve got ratios, just means you have like a fewer number of patients to look after and increases patient safety and workload, and you get to have a break for lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grandparents swap Wairarapa for Gold Coast<\/p>\n

Ivan and Bronwyn Bratina are returning to the Gold Coast after three years in Wairarapa. They had already lived on the Gold Coast for 23 years.<\/p>\n

\"Ivan<\/p>\n

Ivan and Bronwyn Bratina (Source: TVNZ)<\/p>\n

They consider themselves Kiwis, but their five grandchildren were born in Australia. Seeing them grow up is the main reason they\u2019re moving.<\/p>\n

Bronwyn says there was no negotiating as to which side of the family upped sticks. \u201cWeather’s better over there,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n

Melbourne more ‘awake’ than Wellington<\/p>\n

Marketing manager Sach is catching a flight to Melbourne, having spent a month visiting family and friends in her hometown of Wellington. After a stint of living in London, Melbourne seemed like the best move, she says. “We just weren’t ready to come back home yet. We had moved over to London and we were heading back. I think in terms of job opportunities and things to do, Australia kind of seemed like the best next step for us before considering coming back home.”<\/p>\n

\"Marketing<\/p>\n

Marketing manager Sach <\/p>\n

“Wellington is an amazing city,” she says. “It had so much going for it but there has been a dwindling down of activities and of places to go, our favourite restaurants shutting down.” <\/p>\n

That’s not the case in Melbourne, she says. “Everything is still very much wide awake and open.”<\/p>\n

Leaving with no intention of return<\/p>\n

In 2024, there was a net migration loss of 30,000 people from New Zealand to Australia \u2013 the largest since 2012.<\/p>\n

New Zealander Mark Berger has been helping Kiwis move across the ditch for the past 12 years with his online relocation service, NZRelo. He\u2019s noticing people aren\u2019t just treating Australia as an OE, they\u2019re setting up homes for good.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it’s permanent relocations, and that’s reflected with the likes of permanently moving the KiwiSaver funds across to Australia. And we’re seeing a lot more older people following their children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kiwis<\/p>\n

Kiwis Ivan and Bronwyn Bratina have five Australian-born grandchildren. (Source: TVNZ)<\/p>\n

Migration gathers momentum<\/p>\n

About 600,000 New Zealand-born people live in Australia. On top of that, there\u2019s about another 100,000 overseas-born New Zealanders there, estimates Auckland University sociology professor Francis Collins,whose focus includes international immigration. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s a huge draw for a lot of people who will have social connections over there.\u201d<\/p>\n

If people have family in a place, they\u2019re more likely to go there, helping migration to gather momentum, he says.<\/p>\n

\"Forme<\/p>\n

Forme prime minister John Key saw the income gap as fixable. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

John Key\u2019s 2025 goal to close the gap<\/p>\n

In 2008, the former National Prime Minister agreed, as part of a confidence and supply agreement with Act, to close the income gap with Australia by 2025.<\/p>\n

Former National Party leader Don Brash was given an advisory role to Key’s government and charged with coming up with ways to solve the problem. His 2025 Taskforce recommended a host of economic reforms, including cutting government spending, shaking up welfare, selling most state assets, and raising the pension age. It was rejected by Key.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former National Party leader Don Brash (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

Economic commentator Micheal Reddell helped write one of the reports. \u201cJohn Key found the recommendations distastefully right wing, I think it would be fair to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe obviously saw that sort of thrust of recommendations as politically toxic. That, of course, was his choice. But the problem was that, having set the goal, he then didn’t substitute a serious agenda for making progress his own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Economic<\/p>\n

Economic commentator Micheal Reddell <\/p>\n

\u2018Ritualised bloodsport\u2019 of blame<\/p>\n

People voting with their feet provides endless political fodder for any opposition party.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s sort of a ritualised political bloodsport and they copy each other,\u201d says Francis Collins. <\/p>\n

\"Head<\/p>\n

Head of Social Sciences Auckland University Professor Francis Collins <\/p>\n

Key made a big deal about emigration in the lead up to the 2008 election by standing in Wellington\u2019s premier sports stadium to illustrate the numbers leaving to Australia.<\/p>\n

About four years later, David Shearer, then the Labour leader, did the same thing, pointing out even more people were leaving since Key had promised to stem the tide.<\/p>\n

In 2023, while in opposition, Christopher Luxon warned \u201cmore New Zealanders will find themselves dropping their children and grandchildren off at the airport\u201d if urgent action isn\u2019t taken on the economy.<\/p>\n

These days, Chris Hipkins and Labour are making hay out of the issue. \u201cWhen I speak to other parents outside the school gate or at birthday parties, one of the questions that is front of mind for all of them is, when our kids are entering the workforce, are they going to stay? When they go off and do their OE are they going to come back?\u201d he said in Parliament recently.<\/p>\n

\"Leader<\/p>\n

Leader of the Opposition Chris Hipkins (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

But once in office it\u2019s a different story. As Collins says: \u201cEither there’s a decision there’s little we could do in [addressing the exodus], or the relationship with Australia at a kind of governmental level is too important to try and cause issues there.”<\/p>\n

Gap narrows but \u2018no sustained progress\u2019<\/p>\n

On paper, the income gap has closed in the past 16 years from 32 percent to 24 percent. This is based on OECD numbers that compare purchasing power across countries.<\/p>\n

But Michael Reddell says the OECD data is more useful for studying a particular point in time, rather than for tracking changes over a period because there can be fluctuations with the purchasing power parity exchange rates.<\/p>\n

He says New Zealand has still made \u201cno sustained progress\u201d in closing the gap, with productivity widening slightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, Australia is not a great productivity country itself. They’ve had weak productivity growth, but we’ve just done slightly worse than they have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Iron<\/p>\n

Iron ore stockpiles waiting to be transported from Karratha, Western Australia, 2023. Iron ore is Australia’s most lucrative product, followed by coal, then gold.\u00a0 (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

Reddell thinks there was a missing link in the taskforce regarding the role of immigration. He suggests New Zealand adopt a less open policy, running about a third of the numbers it does now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you’d expect to see if the population was growing more slowly is interest rates would be lower. Cost of capital that firms are facing would be lower. The exchange rate would be lower. And the exchange rate is the big thing that affects the competitiveness of firms thinking about exporting or competing with imports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Productivity matters<\/p>\n

Reddell quotes line from economist Paul Krugman: \u201cProductivity isn’t everything but, in the long run, it is almost everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says it\u2019s about making the most of what we\u2019ve got. \u201cThat’s natural resources, it’s people, it’s business opportunities that are here. If we can’t make material inroads in that then we will always stay again the poor cousin, and we never were.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New Zealand’s most lucrative product is various forms of dairy. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

‘There’s no quick fix’<\/p>\n

The former chair of the now defunct productivity commission Ganesh Nana says it\u2019s promising that the income gap has narrowed, but Australia remains a significant attraction for job seekers and retaining them is a complex, long-term challenge that would require an integrated policy programme, covering a wide gambit of issues including (but not limited to) housing, natural resources, climate adaptation, immigration, M\u0101ori\/iwi and business development, health and education. <\/p>\n

\"Ganesh<\/p>\n

Ganesh Nana (Source: Q+A\/Irra Lee)<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these together, appropriately implemented, would be vehicles facilitating lifts in incomes for all. But it wouldn\u2019t be quick,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

A slow solution but, according to Nana, the only one. \u201cThe last thing we need is more ‘siloised’ policy interventions with expectations of quick returns.”<\/p>\n

Watch on TVNZ+ as Kiwis at the airport explain why they’re heading off<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was one of the most read on 1News.co.nz in 2025. It was first published on November…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5901,219,42,917,43,135,550,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-223717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-1news-recommends","tag-economy","tag-headlines","tag-immigration","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-social-issues","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}