21 August 2012

Flood of Kiwis heading to Australia hits new record

A record 53,873 people left New Zealand for Australia in the past year, showing the Key Government has failed to stop the flood of New Zealanders across the Tasman, Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman said today.

Statistics New Zealand figures also show that this year saw the highest emigration to Australia in the month of July in both net and gross terms at 3,192 and 4,337, respectively. 162,504 people have left for Australia under National and net emigration across the Tasman since November 2008 stands at 106,900.

“Over a thousand New Zealanders a week are giving up on waiting for John Key’s ‘brighter future’ and seeking their future in Australia instead,” said Dr Norman.

“In the four years it has been in government, National has failed to create jobs and failed to create hope.

“With 65,000 more people out of work today than when National came to power, National is failing to give young people a reason to stay in New Zealand.

“Instead of tackling the fundamental problems in our economy with a smart, green economic plan, National has produced endless ‘to-do lists’ and vague, far-off economic ‘targets’.

“We urgently need to give our exporters and domestic producers a fair playing field against foreign competition by fixing monetary policy, so that we can get back the 25,5000 manufacturing jobs lost under National.

“Instead, the Key Government is pinning all its hopes on mining, which has added just 600 jobs in the past four years, and a cutting dirty deal with a casino for 200 jobs.

“Young New Zealanders need jobs now, not empty promises and hare-brained schemes. Unless they get them, they will keep heading to Australia,” said Dr Norman.

ENDS

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