Northlanders moving to Australia for better work-life balance and to escape soaring living costs

Northlander Brianna Dickson [right] is moving to Australia with her partner Boston Welsh and their eight-month-old son Billy. Photo / NZ Herald

When Brianna Dickson’s partner got a job offer in Australia, the Northland couple didn’t think twice before deciding to pack up and move across the ditch.

With soaring living costs in New Zealand, including record-high petrol and food prices, Dickson and her partner Boston Welsh had been struggling to make ends meet while trying to raise their young son.

Their decision to move to the Gold Coast in late August was “all for the money”, Dickson said.

“My partner got offered a job over there which would be silly not to take.

“I’m a stay-at-home mum and wouldn’t be able to be if we don’t move.

“With only having one income, unless you’re a single mum, you don’t get much help from the Government.

“On one income it’s pretty impossible to raise a kid.”

Boston Welsh and Brianna Dickson are heading across the Tasman in August for a better-paid job and lifestyle.

Twenty-two-year-old Welsh, a landscaper by trade, was offered a job as a professional caulker, sealing windows, pipes, and other seams to provide waterproofing for residential and commercial buildings.

Moving to Australia means Dickson, 22, can be a fulltime mum to Billy instead of going back to work, which she would have to do if the couple stayed in Whangārei.

“We had been thinking about it six months ago but never really looked into it, then we got a call one day and it was like ‘you know what, let’s just do it’,” she said.

“We’re obviously struggling here.

“We can’t really enjoy ourselves anymore without stress.

“If we enjoy stuff, it comes with a financial burden.

“We wanted to go to the zoo in Auckland with our son, but how expensive is gas? It’s just horrible.

“If you want to go to the swimming pool, it’s $20. Going to the park is free but you can only do that so many times.

“Over there the job is better paying, we can have a better work-life balance.”

Dickson said rental properties in Australia are cheaper compared to Whangārei.

The four-bedroom houses listed in Whangārei are all around $700 to $1000, she said, whereas in Australia they average $450 to $500.

The couple have already convinced three friends to join them.

“They are all moving over in September.

“They see us doing it and think ‘so can we’ - money is the incentive.”

Dickson and Welsh aren’t the only Northlanders moving to Australia, lured by attractive salaries and lifestyles.

Stats NZ couldn’t provide figures for Northlanders moving to Australia.

However, there was a net migration loss of 13,400 people from New Zealand to Australia last year, the largest annual loss since 2013.

Real Property Kerikeri owner Vince Buxton said he recently returned from a holiday on the Sunshine Coast where he bumped into several New Zealanders who had moved there in the last 12 to 18 months “and seem to be thriving and enjoying it”.

While people were still moving to Northland to enjoy what the region had to offer, some were feeling “anxious” following Covid-19, recent bad weather, and rising levels of crime, Buxton said.

The bout of storms which caused main highways to be repeatedly closed, cutting the region off from the rest of the country, had also been unsettling, he said.

“Northland is still an attractive place to be.

“But at the end of the day, we’ve gone through a strong period of uncertainty with Covid, and people do get unsettled and think the grass is greener.

“People are unsettled at the moment because of crime, challenges of education, and access to healthcare.”

Real Property Kerikeri sales consultant Sharon Roberts said two clients had recently made the decision to sell their Northland homes and buy in Australia.

Real Property Kerikeri sales consultant Sharon Roberts said she knows of two clients who have recently made the decision to buy over there, including a couple in their late 60s, and “a client who said he’d had a gutsful”.

“He said New Zealand was not going anywhere... the usual things we’re hearing at the moment. He bought a penthouse in Australia and off he went.”

There were also many “general conversations” with people pondering the option within the last year, she said.

“We generally hear unless changes are going to happen, people are not going to hang around.

“It’s good quality people that are going, they don’t complain or shout, they just vote with their feet.

“The Australian Government has made it very attractive for New Zealanders now, it’s a lot easier to secure your future there.”

In April, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a new direct pathway to citizenship for eligible New Zealand citizens who have lived across the Tasman for at least four years.

This means Kiwis living in Australia who qualify will now be able to vote, and access full housing and health and welfare supports.

Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen said there needs to be more investment in infrastructure to ensure connectivity and resilience in the north. Photo / Tania Whyte

Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen said he was not convinced a “massive brain drain” would result from the policy change.

A large number of Kiwis had already left for Australia, even before the policy was announced, he said.

However, “there has been that growing level of outflows from New Zealand to Australia, the worst in a decade”.

“What we are seeing is there has been much larger movement in recent times, now the borders have reopened, people are making up for lost time.

“Some Northlanders will be considering what’s available in other parts of the world.”

Olsen said while some are choosing to live overseas, there is still population growth happening in Northland.

“Northland is still a pretty good place.”

Olsen said it’s common for Kiwis to move to Australia and overseas; a lot of his friends in their mid to late 20s had left to travel around Europe.

“That always happens and always will happen, but we have to think, how do we make sure we attract those people back?

“Increasingly that’s the focus.

“There needs to be more investment in infrastructure to ensure connectivity and resilience in the North.

“That focus on resilience, having governments willing to put in big money to make big changes, will be important.”

• This story has been updated as Stats NZ provided the Advocate with incorrect information regarding Northlanders leaving to move to Australia. They do not currently have any exact figures for this.

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, health, business and animal welfare issues.