The Block NZ presenter and former Blackcaps opener Mark Richardson had a cheeky suggestion on how to deal with the potential brain drain that could hit our shores following the new Australia citizenship deal.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Saturday that Kiwis living there for over four years would be able to go straight to citizenship, without needing to become a resident.
The changes restore most of the rights Kiwis had in Australia before they were revoked in 2001 and bring them more in line with Australians living in New Zealand.
From July 1, all Special Category Visa holders will be able to apply directly for citizenship without becoming permanent residents first, as long as they meet a four-year residence and other eligibility requirements. These requirements include passing a character check, adequate knowledge of Australia, basic English competency, continuing to reside in or have a connection with Australia and attending a citizenship ceremony.
Richardson told the Project on Monday that New Zealand should rejoin Australia.
"I mean, it sounds like this is not going to work in our favour, but there is a very, very easy solution. We become part of Australia again.
"We were part of New South Wales until 1841, and I remember life was quite comfortable back then," Richardson joked.
Kanoa Lloyd, another co-host on The Project, joked that there was "absolutely nothing hectic" going on around that period.
"I think it's a pretty extreme reaction to say that we've got to join up with Australia. I think it's just going to suit the people who it was going to suit anyway and they are going to have a better life and better outcomes," Lloyd said.
"There was probably nothing we could do to stop all those nurses jumping up and going other than like just tipping money that we don't really have on them."
Jeremy Corbett, another co-host on The Project, urged Kiwis to think twice before making the move saying the transition to living in Australia isn't easy.
"All those financial considerations aside. I lived in Perth for about four years and it never felt like home. I think you have to be a certain personality to make that move successfully and stick with it," he said.
One of the big reasons Kiwis are thinking about moving to Australia is because of the better pay.
New Zealand's average wage is $77,000 while in Australia it's $102,000. It's not just Australia's average wage that is better, a nurse is paid $72,000 here compared to $96,000 across the ditch.
A teacher makes $32,000 more in Australia ($66,000 in New Zealand and $98,000 in Australia). A builder gets $39,000 more across the Tasman ($64,000 in New Zealand and $103,000 in Australia) and a chef can cook up an extra $16,000 in Australia.
This has seen almost 5000 New Zealand nurses register to practise in Australia since August.
International relations expert from the University of Auckland Stephen Hoadley told The Project on Monday the new citizenship deal is a bit of a "poisoned chalice".
"It's going to create a bit of a brain drain. It's good for those New Zealanders who are living in Australia," Hoadley said.
"They can stay and get all the benefits, but it's going to cause some problems and I think we may be looking back at this whole episode next year or the year after and wonder if we did the right thing."
Hoadley urges Kiwis looking at packing their bags and moving across the ditch to consider the cost of living before jetting off.
"The prices are sometimes higher there than they are here. The cost of power and air conditioning given the extreme temperatures in Australia, the hot temperatures in the summer, for example," he said.
"So it's enormously varied, 700,000 New Zealanders can't be wrong. That is the number living in Australia at the moment, so I'm certainly not going to argue that they're wrong in any sense of the word."
Hoadley suggested Australia is trying to steal our skilled professionals and fill the shortages that they currently have in their labour market.
"New Zealand is easy pickings. New Zealanders fit in better than anybody else into the Australian workforce, into the Australian society," he told The Project.
"They are willing to travel across. So consequently Australia is, as we read in the papers, deliberately targeting certain employment categories in the medical profession, for example, and they're getting a good response."
