For the sake of family

The Blairs of Otara are moving to Brisbane. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Otara chef Shane Blair took a couple of years to be persuaded that his young family would be better off in Australia - but now he's finally ready to give it a go.

His wife Petrina, 23, a customer service worker for NZ Couriers, has been suggesting a move for almost three years.

"I have my mother's brothers and sisters in Brisbane. They have all told me they are glad they moved to Australia and they wouldn't consider coming back to New Zealand because life is better over there," she says.

But Shane, 24, has never been out of New Zealand and his whole family is still here. He and Petrina moved back in with his mother last year when she needed help to pay the mortgage.

"When [Petrina] first mentioned us going to Australia to live, that was pretty hard," he says. "I was really comfortable with where I am and what I was doing. For me personally, I'm scared of change. What persuaded me was just my little family - my two daughters and my wife.

" I've got to make it work for them. And if that means moving to Australia for it to happen, we can try it out. If it doesn't work out, we can always move back to New Zealand."

Shane and Petrina both grew up in South Auckland, Shane in the same Otara house the family now shares with his mother, stepfather and a younger sister.

He now earns $45,000 plus bonuses as head chef at Republic Bar and Kitchen in Manukau City.

"His father died when he was in his teens," Petrina says. "His mum is quite proud that her two sons are the way they are, because they grew up in Otara without a father and their mother hardly being around. Both [sons] have professional careers."

But Shane believes he could earn much more in Australia.

"I've been looking on Seek for head chef jobs in Brisbane and they're offering A$75,000 [$98,739] to $90,000 a year," he says. "That's a huge jump."

The couple's first daughter, Alexus, is now 3. Their second baby, Mya, was born only three months ago but Petrina has already gone back to work full-time, leaving the baby with her mother who also lives close by.

"Because I only get three months' maternity leave, I have no choice but to come back to work for us to afford to live," she says.

"The mortgage is okay, we can afford it, but it's just the cost of living as a whole is much more expensive. A few years ago $100 used to go a long way at the supermarket. Now you can spend $100 and not even fill up half your trolley."

She earns $30,000 a year at NZ Couriers but a friend in the courier business says she should have no trouble getting more than A$40,000 a year in Australia. "And that's just normal customer services."

On top of that, she believes the family would get more Government support.

"In New Zealand, because we earn too much, we are not allowed family assistance. But if we move to Australia, we can get it because most citizens are entitled to it," she says. (Actually the family should be getting $60 a week from the in-work tax credit here and would keep getting a partial tax credit up to an annual income of $91,227.

In Australia the basic tax credit for two children is A$51 a week and the family would keep getting a partial credit up to an income of A$107,018).

Petrina believes Brisbane will be a better place for her girls to grow up than Otara.

"We like living in Otara because it's close and central and everything, but you can imagine the crime rate in New Zealand getting more and more and more," she says.