23 Nov 2011

More skilled workers leaving for Australia

6:18 pm on 23 November 2011

Highly-skilled workers are leaving for Australia in greater numbers than those with lower skills.

Statistics New Zealand figures show a turnaround from when the National Party came to office three years ago.

National Party finance spokesperson Bill English told Morning Report on Wednesday that highly skilled workers were increasingly choosing to stay put, and that more people in the medium to lower income bracket were seeing a greater advantage in moving to Australia.

Figures released to Radio New Zealand show 26% of those crossing the Tasman are in either skilled or highly skilled occupations, up from 16% three years ago.

Those classified as being in semi-skilled or lower skilled work accounted for a fifth of departures to Australia, down from 25% in 2008.

Labour Party finance spokesperson David Cunliffe says Australian employers are cherry-picking the local labour market.

Figures released this week showed a a record 49,000 people left permanently for Australia in the year to the end of October.

Recruitment firm Hudson says accountants, IT workers and government workers are leading the increasing exodus.

Reducing flow to Australia 'will take time'

Mr English says it will take time to stem the flow of New Zealanders to Australia.

Closing the wage gap with Australia was a major plank of National's election campaign in 2008.

Mr English says the gap has grown over 20 to 30 years, and the only thing that will close it is considered and consistent change over time.

He says National is putting policies in place that will support businesses that want to employ people and create opportunities, and he believes considerable progress will be made over the next four or five years.

Party leader John Key told Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon programme that his party had not failed on its 2008 pledge, and that progress was being made.

He said the after-tax wage gap has narrowed and New Zealand has a faster growth rate than Australia.

Mr Key says the question is how to build a country that New Zealanders want to live and invest in.

Labour's David Cunliffe says the exodus to Australia is a problem that is gathering momentum.

"This is an end of term report card that would make you weep. It's just so sad to see New Zealand being hollowed out in a government that's fiddling while our country's future burns," he says.

Mr Cunliffe says higher wages and better jobs are what will keep people in New Zealand.

He also says the answer to stemming the flow to Australia lies in solving underlying problems in the economy, but says Labour has a different policy approach to National.

Mr Cunliffe says it's about increasing savings, lifting exports, and improving the long-term fiscal picture.

"The current government is not willing to take the steps that might do it, like monetary reform that would mean we had a less volatile exchange rate, like a strong savings scheme.

Mr Cunliffe says it has taken Labour to come up with policies such as universal KiwiSaver and increased investment in research and development.

Closing wage gap with Australia not yet started - ACT

The ACT Party says a record high exodus of people leaving for Australia is a blight on the National Party's record.

National Party leader John Key says the problem is a long term one and some progress has been made, however ACT Party leader Don Brash says he is alarmed by the latest figures.

"I'm disappointed with their record in that respect, indeed this is a major reason of why I'm seeking re-election to parliament myself," he says.

"I think they should have done more to close that gap and they haven't really begun that process yet. It is a long term problem, but at the moment they haven't really started the process."

Many of the recommendations relating to the problem made by Dr Brash's 2025 taskforce were considered too radical to implement.

Dr Brash says a revival of the taskforce would be discussed in any post election negotiations ACT has with National.