Australia's decision to make it easier for New Zealanders who move there to get citizenship is good news for those who've left or will leave, it's not good news for those of us who stay:
Nurses will see Australia's new citizenship laws as one more reason to leave New Zealand in search of better pay and conditions, says the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.
And an economist has warned that employers - including Government - will need to step up their offerings to those who see the removal of bureaucratic hurdles as one more reason to go. . .
Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels said her reaction on hearing the news was a concern about the added pressure it would put on New Zealand's workforce.
"Australia is actively recruiting New Zealand nurses," she said. "They are holding recruiting hui around New Zealand. We are all competing for the same resource. We need to be competitive with Australia."
Daniels said short-term locum contracts in Australia attracted New Zealand nurses who were able to earn as much as $8000 a week, but even staff roles offered higher pay and better conditions than those for nurses here. There were also better professional development pathways that Australian nurses were paid to pursue, she said. . .
A past Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, quipped that New Zealanders moving to Australia raised the IQ on both sides of the Tasman.
The added attraction of easier citizenship on top of higher pay, lower cost of living less expensive houses and better career prospects could reverse that with a high economic and social cost.
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