Max was earning more as a dishwasher in Australia than as a university-qualified environmental monitoring technician back home in New Zealand. He is among a record number of people leaving the country.
Something to remember when reading these headlines, is that Australia is a ridiculously wealthy country, in large part due to mineral wealth, and anyone in NZ can just go there and get a job.
It has almost nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with making more money.
New Zealand has had a constant outflow of people to other countries that ebbs and flows for at least 40 years. I left during a previous surge. Home prices are too high, wages are too low, and better opportunities can be found abroad. When other economies start slowing down, a lot of people return to NZ.
Something to remember when reading these headlines, is that Australia is a ridiculously wealthy country, in large part due to mineral wealth, and anyone in NZ can just go there and get a job.
It has almost nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with making more money.
If that’s the case why is it record numbers now?
Australia has had mineral wealth for a very long time, that’s nothing new.
New Zealand has had a constant outflow of people to other countries that ebbs and flows for at least 40 years. I left during a previous surge. Home prices are too high, wages are too low, and better opportunities can be found abroad. When other economies start slowing down, a lot of people return to NZ.