Girl Key took to Waitangi opts for Aussie

Aroha Ireland will follow her father to Melbourne. Photo / Supplied

The poster child of National's victorious 2008 election campaign says New Zealand has nothing to offer her and she's moving to Australia for good.

Aroha Ireland, 16, said there were no opportunities for young people and she would be moving to Melbourne to live permanently next month.

"I don't see us catching up, we are going backwards while they are getting way ahead," she said.

"There's not many opportunities here."

In 2008, Prime Minister John Key famously took the then 12-year-old from McGehan Close, in the Auckland suburb of Mt Albert, to attend Waitangi commemorations with him.

Aroha said she felt embarrassed by the attention she had received since her encounter with Key and was wary of any further publicity.

She had been teased at school after she was taken to Waitangi by Key and was kicked out of Mt Albert Grammar School for misbehaviour.

Her oldest brother George is also moving to Melbourne.

Aroha has had a fractious relationship with her mother.

She moved into the care of Child, Youth and Family but has been living with her boyfriend at his mother Lisa Spashett's home in Henderson, West Auckland, for the past few months.

The teenager visited her estranged father Jason Ireland in Melbourne last year and said she was so impressed she decided to move with her boyfriend Stuart Spashett, 17.

"My dad moved over three years ago and hasn't looked back."

Her mother Joan Nathan said: "I'm too sad to go to the airport to see her off. If there is better opportunities over there for her, I would rather she grab it with all 10 fingers."

Aroha saved for the trip by babysitting on top of her youth allowance.

A spokesman for Key said yesterday: "We've been clear all the way through that the gap in incomes with Australia has built up over decades and will take time to close again. It is important to note that after-tax incomes in New Zealand have grown faster than Australia over the last three years, so early progress is being made."

Lisa Spashett, who called herself Aroha's second mum, said she was concerned about the couple moving. "They are just kids."

Nathan said Key had checked with Aroha regularly until the start of this year."She hasn't been getting any calls lately," she added.