A young builder I know has already packed up and left for Australia with his family. Mid-thirties, ran his own business, employed several people—the type of go-ahead young man New Zealand needs to retain. But it just got too hard here.
His story isn’t unique. Stats NZ reports that 72,700 New Zealanders departed in the year to September 2025—the highest number on record. About 56% went to Australia. Nearly 40% are under 30, but the rest are established professionals, tradespeople, and business owners who’ve spent years here building something solid. The net migration loss for New Zealand citizens hit 46,400—taxpayers, skilled workers, and families in their prime earning years all choosing to go elsewhere.
The wage gap tells the story. An article in The West Australian reports that bricklayers working on major projects in Australia are earning up to $250,000 a year as the construction boom drives tradie wages to record levels. Land developer Nigel Satterley says major builders are now paying brickies $3.30 to $3.50 per brick. When tradespeople can command that kind of money across the Tasman, New Zealand’s building sector faces an impossible competition for talent.
Australia has its own cost-of-living pressures. But the numbers are stark: average after-tax wages across the Tasman are roughly NZ$7,300 per month compared to Auckland’s $5,700. Housing? Australia’s median sits around NZ$880,000, compared with New Zealand’s $931,000. Even Sydney’s $1.3 million properties become viable when you’re earning 30% more.
Registered nurses in Queensland earn 30% more than in New Zealand. Police officers get far better money and conditions. The gap holds across nearly every profession. Higher wages, similar or lower housing costs, better job opportunities—it’s not about lifestyle anymore. It’s about basic financial viability.
New Zealand’s housing affordability crisis hasn’t disappeared just because prices have dropped slightly. According to recent analysis, our median house price still sits at 6.54 times median income. Anything above 5.1 is classified as “severely unaffordable” by international standards. We’ve gone from catastrophic to merely terrible.
Stats NZ data shows that 28.4% of renters spend more than 40% of their disposable income on rent, with average weekly payments at $465.50. More than half of renters—55.2%—report their income is just enough or not enough to meet daily needs. That’s money disappearing into someone else’s asset appreciation instead of building equity, particularly in Auckland, where rents are much higher.
The exodus isn’t happening in isolation. Government performance ratings have fallen. Dissatisfaction with the cost of living dominates public discourse. People have lost confidence in the country’s direction.
People don’t believe things will get better. That’s fundamentally different from the traditional Kiwi OE—adventure, travel, coming home with experience and savings. This looks permanent. Infometrics chief economist Brad Olsen told international media it’s “off the charts.”
The data supports that assessment. Every month of 2024 broke brain-drain records. The 25-29 age group typically sees monthly departures below 1,500. In 2024, we consistently exceeded 3,000. Double the normal rate, sustained for an entire year.
These aren’t backpackers. They’re skilled professionals making calculated economic decisions, families choosing better futures, and established workers concluding that decades of investment here won’t deliver adequate returns.
The scale is staggering. It’s roughly equivalent to the entire population of Nelson leaving every year.
These people take skills, experience, and earning potential with them. Yes, immigrants are replacing some of that tax revenue, but there’s a lag while new arrivals settle, gain local qualifications, and reach their earning potential. More significantly, we’re losing people with established networks, local knowledge, and immediate productivity—replacing them with newcomers who need time to reach the same level of contribution.
Businesses lose workers. Healthcare loses nurses. Police forces lose officers. Schools lose teachers. These aren’t easily replaced positions, particularly in specialised fields. The gaps they leave create pressure on those who remain, which in turn encourages more departures. It’s a reinforcing cycle.
Net migration numbers look better than citizen departures because we’re bringing in workers from overseas. India, China, and the Philippines account for the bulk of new arrivals—valuable additions, many of whom bring skills and experience we need.
But there’s a fundamental asymmetry. Departing New Zealanders are established professionals with local qualifications, workplace experience, and deep community connections. Arriving migrants need time to settle, gain local credentials, and build networks. Some succeed brilliantly. Others struggle with credential recognition, cultural adjustment, and finding their place in an increasingly expensive country.
We’re essentially running a churn system. Experienced New Zealanders leave. New migrants arrive. The new migrants then face the same economic pressures that drove Kiwis offshore. Eventually, some of them leave, too. It’s an expensive, disruptive way to manage a workforce.
Is this a temporary blip or a fundamental shift in New Zealand’s appeal? The evidence suggests the latter. When established business owners who’ve built companies and employed staff conclude they can’t compete with Australian wages and opportunities, something fundamental has changed.
That builder who left wasn’t running from failure. His business was viable here. But “viable” in New Zealand increasingly means accepting far lower returns than what’s available an hour’s flight away. When you can dissolve a functioning business in Auckland and immediately earn more working for someone else in Brisbane—or restart there with access to bigger projects and better margins—the economic logic becomes undeniable.
We can’t afford this exodus. Not financially, socially, or economically. Every person who leaves represents an investment in education, healthcare, and infrastructure that New Zealand won’t see returns on. Every departure weakens the social fabric and reduces the tax base for the services everyone needs.
Successive governments have dismally failed to address the fundamentals. Labour delivered symbolic gestures and consultations. The National Party promised housing reform but delivered marginal improvements. Neither confronted the productivity crisis, the regulatory burden on business, or the infrastructure deficit, making it prohibitively expensive to operate here. Those who left aren’t making political statements—they’re making practical choices our governments, regardless of stripe, have forced upon them by failing to create an economy where talented, hardworking New Zealanders can build the lives they deserve.
They’re sending us a message. The question is whether we’re listening—and more importantly, whether we’re willing to make the difficult changes necessary to convince them their future lies here, not somewhere else.
But if our governments don’t have the answers—or worse, lack the political will to implement them—what do we do? They’ve already answered that question for themselves.
Steve Baron is a New Zealand-based political commentator and author. He holds a BA with a double major in Economics and Political Science from the University of Waikato and an Honours Degree in Political Science from Victoria University of Wellington. A former businessman in the advertising industry, he founded the political lobby group Better Democracy NZ. https://stevebaron.co.nz