Can anything stop Kiwis moving to Australia?

10:12 AM Friday Dec 7, 2012

A Qantas flight takes off out of Wellington Airport. Photo / Tim Hales

New Zealanders caught by Australian laws excluding most from social welfare, higher education and access to permanent residency are increasingly becoming guest workers paying full tax but with few rights.

Australian critics of the policies warn that the nation is creating a permanent underclass of expatriate Kiwis, losing significant human and economic potential while storing up major social problems, including poverty and rising crime rates.

Victoria University senior lecturer Kate McMillan said most New Zealanders might see their access to Australia only as an opportunity - without realising the potential pitfalls.

Most Kiwis in Australia have no safety nets in case of injury or misfortune. They have little chance of gaining full rights or citizenship however long they might live there.

Can anything stop Kiwis moving to Australia? Here is the latest selection of Your Views:

Mike D (Queensland) | 10:47AM Friday, 07 Dec 2012

Sure we can - just increase the average temperature in NZ 8-10 degrees, reduce the rain fall by about 80%, create a few more job opportunities, increase the minimum wage by about $3 an hour and provide more housing at a price the average family can afford and I think it may just work....

cyborg (Auckland Region) | 10:47AM Friday, 07 Dec 2012

Why should we want to stop people moving to Australia? We live in a free country, people are free to make up their own minds as to what is best for themselves and their families.

I'm happy here at the moment but would move if it was best for my children and their future. Sorry my children come before anything else, including king and country.

Mike H (New Zealand) | 10:49AM Friday, 07 Dec 2012

This is the debate that New Zealand has to have for no other reason than to contemplate what this country will be like if this exodus continues for another ten years (as it is likely to do).

David Shearer talks about industry assistance and moving to a high wage economy. I think that this is the starting point for a much larger discussion about the economic and social policies necessary to gaurantee a full employment economy in New Zealand. If David Shearer is able to lead this discussion he will be performing a great and important service to this coiuntry.