Over summer, the news cycle slows as much as the days do - and there’s more time to mix and mingle on news sites. A few weeks back, the discussion about New Zealanders skipping over the ditch for better opportunities came up again after the Western Australian Government announced it would offer New Zealand tradies $10,000 to make the move. 

They need more houses in the west and want Kiwis to help build them.  

$10,000 is some distraction from the fact you’ll be working in crazy hot temperatures.

I have no issue with New Zealander’s wanting to advance their careers, have new experiences or grow as a person by heading off for a new phase of their lives somewhere else. When you live at the bottom of the world, the call to experience the rest of the world is strong. Australia is an obvious place to start. It’s different but as familiar as you can get.

But as I scrolled my way through the Aussie news websites, I noticed they’re dealing with the same challenges as us.  

While we have similar economic conditions, Australia has been able to weather them better than we have, but it hasn’t been a breeze. Last week, the Sydney Morning Herald ran stories on Sydney’s housing crisis, and on the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ increasingly being tapped to help younger people through the cost-of-living crisis. Their trains don’t run too often either, their beaches are shut due to pollution and effluent waste, they have race issues, and the weather - 70,000 lightning strikes were reported on Wednesday.  

Australia’s construction industry is suffering like ours, with Melbourne’s Herald Sun reporting on a property giant’s collapse, that Australia is grappling with a mortgage-led surge in calls to the National Debt Helpline, and there’s a shocking rise in hospital workers being attacked. Sound familiar?  

On Brisbane’s Courier Mail there were stories about TikTok stars and NRL players' drink driving charges, snakebites, fire bombings and infrastructure woes. There was some good news though - Brissie debuted on Time Out’s Best 50 Cities in the World List for 2025.  

Credit where credit is due - none of our cities made the list.  

All-in-all, it was a reminder that the grass may not be much greener on the other side of the ditch. For sure, you can make Australia work to your advantage - just the size of the place means more jobs. But to make the move work, you need to end up in the right place for your circumstances, with the right job and affordable living which allows you to get ahead.

As one of my talkback callers said to me during Summer Afternoons - you might be able to have a BBQ any night of the week because you know the weather will be great - but there’s more to consider.  

But if Kiwis decide to make the move, they'll feel right at home. Reading all these papers, I learned the Aussies whine about stuff as much as we do.

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