It’s a trend that shows no signs of declining, with an increasing number of Indian households making the move as rising costs associated with living start to bite and better employment opportunities emerge
New Zealand’s brain drain to Australia has been written about a lot. Last year, data from Statistics New Zealand showed a net migration loss of 13,400 people to Australia – the largest annual deficit since 2013, reported rnz.co.nz.
It’s a trend that shows no signs of declining, with an increasing number of Indian households making the move as rising costs associated with living start to bite and better employment opportunities emerge.
Take the case of Abhinav Manota, a former top-ranked national badminton player and current Oceania champion, who relocated from Auckland to Brisbane in May. Originally from Jalandhar in Punjab, Manota first moved to New Zealand in 2014, starting in Christchurch before relocating to the country’s largest city to work as a development officer at North Shore Badminton Association. “My elder cousin, Paviter Kumar Noori, owns a real-estate business and offered me an opportunity to be a part of it,” Manota said from Brisbane. “New Zealand has been incredibly supportive of my badminton journey. Representing my country on the international stage is a privilege I hold dear. I am determined to find a balance between my professional responsibilities and my continued representation of New Zealand in international tournaments.”
Last year, data from Statistics New Zealand showed a net migration loss of 13,400 people to Australia – the largest annual deficit since 2013
Noori also immigrated to Brisbane after living in Christchurch for more than a decade. “Some reasons are the same as for all New Zealanders,” Noori said. “Australia provides better pays in almost all sectors and house prices are considerably less. This directly translates to more savings and a better future for our children.”
An added advantage for Indians in Australia, he said, was the relative proximity to the subcontinent in terms of direct flights and cheaper airfares. “While it might cost about $1200 to $1300 per person when we travel to India from here, it is more than double the amount if one flies from Auckland to Delhi,” he says. “Suffice it to say, we are able to visit our extended family in India more often.”
Christchurch-based Suresh Sangwan, who comes from Haryana and moved to New Zealand in 2010, looks to be heading down the same path. Sangwan and his family are moving to Brisbane in August. He said his two children have better employment opportunities in Australia compared to New Zealand. “We left our parents behind when we moved to New Zealand,” he said. “As things have turned out, more and more Kiwis are moving to Australia for a better future. Our children will be no different, so it’s better we move now to live closer to them when they are adults.”
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