Wakeup call

[MotherBear]

Chance to enjoy best of both worlds
Page 1 of 3 5:00AM Saturday June 02, 2007
By Derek Cheng

Why live in Auckland or Wellington when you can live in Sydney or Melbourne and have a similar lifestyle but a much fatter wallet?

Migration researchers and the National Party agree that this is an increasingly important question after the latest Statistics NZ figures, which confirm the trend of the past few years: more New Zealanders are leaving and fewer are coming back.

Alarm bells should be ringing, says National's immigration spokesman, Lockwood Smith.

"We have to realise that we're losing New Zealand-educated people, and that's not a good thing. And that trend is climbing rapidly in terms of those going to Australia."

More here .

[MotherBear]

Kiwis lag behind Oz for pay
By LOUISA GAULT - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 3 June 2007

New Zealand salaries continue to lag behind those in Australia even in industries that have seen big pay increases over the past year.

Despite rising salaries in most sectors because of a shortage of skilled workers, New Zealand salaries are still lower than in Australia.

The 2007 Hays Salary Survey results come less than a fortnight after a Department of Labour report on permanent and long-term migration, showing 615 New Zealanders move to Australia every week, compared to an average of 578 a week last year.

The survey details typical salaries for a range of sectors across New Zealand and Australia and reflect the money being paid or offered by employers for more than 12,000 vacancies handled by the recruiter.

From here .