Quarter of young Kiwis plan to leave NZ — poll

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One in four young Kiwis would rather live somewhere other than their home country, especially those from shaky Christchurch, the Herald Sun reports today.

A media poll found 24 per cent of New Zealanders under the age of 30 were either “considering” or “definitely” leaving to live overseas.

While the poll didn’t say where they planned to set up base, recent figures show Australia is heavily favoured.

A net exodus of 3300 Kiwis came to Australia in May followed by 3100 in June – the heftiest departures across the ditch in 30 years.

Labour’s economic development spokesman David Parker told Fairfax New Zealand the number of young people planning to leave was “shocking”, and placed the blame squarely on the conservative National government.

“That’s terrible and it’s because the Kiwi dream is beyond their reach, partly because house prices are beyond their reach and put more out of reach by our tax settings, which benefit the people who own multiple houses because of tax advantages,” Parker said.

The polling shows people in quake-hit Christchurch and elsewhere in the South Island were the most inclined to depart.

The trans-Tasman drift is one of the few pieces of bad news for the government, which has been polling with constant strength ahead of the country’s November 26 general election.

Prior to winning the 2008 election, National leader John Key campaigned heavily on reducing the stream of young New Zealanders jumping the ditch, and narrowing the wage gap.

“The wage gap with Australia is growing rather than narrowing as the Government promised. The underlying problems in our economy are entrenched and they’re not being fixed,” Parker said.

The Government defended the results, saying living overseas was a rite of passage for many Kiwis, so it was natural some people would be thinking of heading offshore in the future.