After some surprising election results, Australians have become a lot more interested in moving across the ditch.
The day after the federal election which saw the Liberal-led conservative government defy the polls and win re-election, the Immigration New Zealand (INZ) website experienced a "significant" surge in traffic from Australian visitors.
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Some 8522 people from Australia visited INZ's New Zealand Now website on Sunday May 19, compared to just 715 the Sunday before.
The surge resulted in 512 people registering their interest in obtaining a New Zealand visa - despite the fact that Australians don't need visas to move here.
Australian traffic on the INZ website itself increased threefold, with 3000 Australian visitors on Sunday 19 May up from 1600 a week prior.
"It is important to note that these are purely registrations of interest in coming to New Zealand and does not necessarily translate to the number of people actually moving to New Zealand," INZ manager Greg Forsythe said in a statement provided to Newshub.
Ahead of Saturday's election, polls predicted a victory for the Labor Party. However when the votes were counted Australians shied away from political change in favour of the current coalition government led by Scott Morrison.
The triumphant Prime Minister told cheering supporters at a post-election function he has "always believed in miracles".
Many young Australians, who tend to vote more left-wing, are disappointed in the results and what they will mean for the environment.
Some said they were indeed considering a move to New Zealand.
Newshub.
