Kiwis 'to flock home for the dole'
From correspondents in Auckland
AAP
February 03, 2009 03:22pm
NEW Zealand politicians predict thousands of Kiwis living in Australia will soon start heading home to claim the dole as tough economic times hit.
The country has been fighting to end the so-called "brain drain'' and lure nationals back to its shores since recording one of its biggest migration outflows ever last year.
But now politicians fear people will return for the wrong reasons.
Opposition finance spokesman David Cunliffe said expatriate Kiwis who lost jobs in Australia because of the global economic slump would return home to collect the unemployment benefit.
Restrictions introduced in 2001 rule that only permanent residents can collect social security in Australia.
''(NZ) Prime Minister John Key might get his wish that less Kiwis net go to Australia, but that's probably not for the reasons he would have liked,'' Mr Cunliffe said to Radio New Zealand today.
"We might find that people going to Australia to make big wages come home when they need welfare benefits.''
The comments come after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd revealed that tax revenues had collapsed by $115bn, sending the Budget into deficit.
New Zealand finance minister Bill English agreed tough times would prompt more Kiwis to return home, but it was a trend the country should try to capitalise on.
"If New Zealanders come home we want to make sure we're building the strength of the economy so that when we do get through this recession there are jobs for Kiwis coming back, particularly from Australia, so we don't lose them again,'' Mr English said ahead of a meeting with his Australian counterparts.
Professor Graeme Hugo, an expert in labour migration at the University of Adelaide, said the trend was not yet captured in statistics but was "very likely''.
"It's ironic considering all the efforts to attract Kiwis home, that they'll probably now get them.
"It's important though that they see that what they're getting is an addition to their economy, very employable people coming back, rather than seeing it as more people on the benefit.''
He said New Zealanders were invaluable in the Australian workplace, with a lower unemployment rate than Australian-born workers, "because they participate more effectively in the workforce''.
In the 2007/08 financial year, 46,000 people moved from New Zealand to Australia and only 13,000 went back the other way, making it the biggest net migration since the new laws were introduced.
From correspondents in Auckland
AAP
February 03, 2009 03:22pm
NEW Zealand politicians predict thousands of Kiwis living in Australia will soon start heading home to claim the dole as tough economic times hit.
The country has been fighting to end the so-called "brain drain'' and lure nationals back to its shores since recording one of its biggest migration outflows ever last year.
But now politicians fear people will return for the wrong reasons.
Opposition finance spokesman David Cunliffe said expatriate Kiwis who lost jobs in Australia because of the global economic slump would return home to collect the unemployment benefit.
Restrictions introduced in 2001 rule that only permanent residents can collect social security in Australia.
''(NZ) Prime Minister John Key might get his wish that less Kiwis net go to Australia, but that's probably not for the reasons he would have liked,'' Mr Cunliffe said to Radio New Zealand today.
"We might find that people going to Australia to make big wages come home when they need welfare benefits.''
The comments come after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd revealed that tax revenues had collapsed by $115bn, sending the Budget into deficit.
New Zealand finance minister Bill English agreed tough times would prompt more Kiwis to return home, but it was a trend the country should try to capitalise on.
"If New Zealanders come home we want to make sure we're building the strength of the economy so that when we do get through this recession there are jobs for Kiwis coming back, particularly from Australia, so we don't lose them again,'' Mr English said ahead of a meeting with his Australian counterparts.
Professor Graeme Hugo, an expert in labour migration at the University of Adelaide, said the trend was not yet captured in statistics but was "very likely''.
"It's ironic considering all the efforts to attract Kiwis home, that they'll probably now get them.
"It's important though that they see that what they're getting is an addition to their economy, very employable people coming back, rather than seeing it as more people on the benefit.''
He said New Zealanders were invaluable in the Australian workplace, with a lower unemployment rate than Australian-born workers, "because they participate more effectively in the workforce''.
In the 2007/08 financial year, 46,000 people moved from New Zealand to Australia and only 13,000 went back the other way, making it the biggest net migration since the new laws were introduced.
