Kiwis still flocking to Australia for jobs

Labour Party leader Phil Goff. Photo / Mark Mitchell

An Australian job expo in Auckland where more than 6000 people lined up to find out about work across the Tasman shows National's economic management has failed, Labour leader Phil Goff says.

Australian firms wanting New Zealand workers were overwhelmed by the response at the Oz Job Expo in Auckland this weekend, with many receiving more applications than available jobs, TV3 reported.

"It's hardly surprising Kiwis are seeking a better deal in Australia given that wage earners here finished last year worse off than they started, with wage increases averaging just 1.7 percent, less than half the level of the inflation rate of 4 percent," Mr Goff said.

"The big issue at the last election from (Prime Minister) John Key was that he was going to close the gap, that gap has got wider... John Key said most Kiwis would be better off under a National government. Well, most are demonstrably worse off, and what's more, they are going backwards."

Losing workers would have a negative impact on the economy, he said citing the building industry that had tanked despite the need for more homes.

"When we recover from this recession we are going to find a huge shortage of skilled labour, of materials, an industry that is not geared up to respond. That will be a disaster for New Zealand."

The brain drain had also occurred under the previous Labour Government.

"But it was at the height of the global financial crisis (end of 2008)... now we should be in recovery and this is further evidence that we are not," Mr Goff said.

He said New Zealanders want to know what the Government is doing to create more jobs, and when it will start to do so.

"Not gimmicks like cycle ways and job summits but real policies that will get our economy moving."

Labour would focus on research and development, raising skill levels, and better monetary policy, Mr Goff said.

Mr Key said New Zealand was gaining more people than it was losing, and the number of New Zealanders crossing the ditch fell from about 28,000 in 2007 and 2008 to 21,000 in 2010.

"Australia has been the best performing economy in the developed world, so it's natural that some New Zealanders will ship over there. But obviously we are trying to change the economic picture to encourage more New Zealanders to stay," he said.

Mr Key said New Zealanders have incentives to stay, including lower house prices and lower personal tax rates.

"If we want to close that tide of people going across the Tasman, you have to lift after tax wages in New Zealand. We are doing, I think, quite a good job of that given the conditions we face," Mr Key said.

- NZPA