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What’s A Returning Kiwi Worth?

As of the end of June the taxpayer had spent $8 billion on corporate welfare since Covid hit, ostensibly so folk didn’t lose their jobs. Many companies seem to have pocketed the money and sacked staff anyway.

At the same time the NZ taxpayer had paid 1% of that figure to get 20,000 people home at a cost of $80 million. That’s almost the population of Blenheim.

It could’ve happened to anyone as 60% of kiwis arrive back from abroad each year (3 million) so it was pretty much a lottery who got stuck.

Another comparison that could be a bit confronting is that we’ve spent $65 million already on trying to get dead miners out of a hole in the ground. It strikes me as I just value living kiwis adds less than our dead ones, especially when we consider relative costs,

There are 29 bodies of miners trapped which makes $2.2 million dollars each.
which makes 747 living Kiwis flown (no pun intended... it’s the math) home, ‘recovered safely’ for each non recovered dead Kiwi. Unfair comparison... if so why?

Also doesn’t it make sense to let folk in who’ll on average pay more tax in less than three months of being back at work in NZ than it costs to quarantine them?

Despite Covid, New Zealand’s current unemployment rate is lower that 99% of the last ten years. So, homecoming kiwis won’t take your jobs, don’t fret.

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There’s 16,059 jobs currently listed on the seek website alone and I’m guessing most returning want to get to work.

Chances are they’re disproportionately very employable people that New Zealand needs right now.

The New Zealand economy is booming in part due to the handling of Covid being more competent than anywhere in the ‘western world’.

The Economist found the New Zealand dollar is currently almost 24% undervalued.

Just think of all your long lost mates coming home and helping build Aotearoa NZ into a model for the world.

Go on let your family and friends back in, it’ll be good for you.

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