Nearly half of the New Zealanders applying for Australian citizenship weren’t born here, according to data from the Australian government.
Between July 2023 and June 2025, more than 92,000 New Zealand citizens applied for Australian citizenship, its Department of Home Affairs said.
The figures raised questions about whether New Zealand had become a launch pad for migrants aiming to settle in Australia.
When Max Siqueira moved from Brazil to New Zealand in 2016, he had no firm plans.
He arrived on a visitor visa, but after landing a job, he stayed long enough to gain permanent residency and eventually became a New Zealand citizen last year.
Soon after, his family went on holiday to Australia and liked it so much they decided to move there and now live on the Gold Coast.
“It’s really easy once you get the New Zealand passport,” Siqueira said.
“I just bought a plane ticket. At the airport, I gave them my passport and said I was moving to Australia. They said ‘Welcome, good luck’ — that’s it. The next day, I applied for a tax number and started working. It was that easy.”
His case was not unique.
In 2024 alone, nearly 30,000 New Zealanders moved to Australia — the highest number in more than a decade.
Since July 2023, New Zealand citizens on a Special Category Visa (SCV) had been able to apply directly for Australian citizenship after four years of residence, without first needing to become permanent residents.
Australia did not cap the number of SCVs issued, and nearly every New Zealand citizen was eligible for one on arrival.
While Siqueira believed most migrants came to New Zealand intending to settle, he agreed some planned to move on.
“It happens, but not as much as people might think. I know a few who had that plan from day one, go to New Zealand, then move to Australia once they get the passport.
“But most didn’t plan that. They were happy in New Zealand and only thought about moving once they visited Australia or realised how easy it would be with the passport.
“I can’t speak for all nationalities, but among Brazilians I know, the main reason people move to Australia is the weather. It reminds us of home,” Siqueira said.
Stats NZ said since the early 2000s, migrants born outside of New Zealand have made up a growing share of New Zealand citizens moving across the Tasman.
Of New Zealand citizens who migrated to Australia in 2024, 35% were foreign-born.
Data form the Department of Home Affairs showed, from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2025, more than 92,000 New Zealand nationals who hold a Special Category Visa (SVC) applied for Australian citizenship.
Of these, 48% were born outside of New Zealand.
Emeritus Professor Richard Bedford, a population geographer, said while New Zealand had a net loss of citizens to Australia, it had also a considerable net gain of citizens from other countries during the same period.
“There’s sometimes an assumption all the people going to Australia are highly skilled, and those coming here are not, but that’s incorrect”, he said.
“We bring in many highly skilled migrants, and it does help balance the overall flow.”
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But retaining that talent was a real challenge, he said.
“We need to take very seriously the factors that attract skilled migrants. It’s not always about money, but money is a big one.
“We must ensure that highly skilled migrants we bring in get good jobs and are well paid. But we’re a small country with a smaller economy, and we can’t compete on everything.
“What we can offer is a good lifestyle, a welcoming environment, and a strong sense of community, things that also matter to many migrants.”
Immigration rules were an important factor, he said.
“Many barriers to skilled employment in New Zealand come from our own professional associations, like medical or engineering boards.
“If we’re not letting these skilled people work, we shouldn’t be inviting them in the first place.
“And once someone has residency, they have the same rights as anyone else. If they don’t want to stay in the job they came for, or if they want to move to Australia, they have every right to do so.
Bedford, who had been working on migration issues since the 1960s, said it’s too difficult to tell if more immigrants are using this country as a stepping stone across the Tasman.
He said the real challenge was making New Zealand a place people want to stay.
“Not just with good pay, but with access to housing, a welcoming culture, and opportunities. If we want migrants to commit to staying, we have to make it worth their while beyond just the job offer.”
‘The lights are still on’ — population economist
Emeritus Professor Jacques Poot, a population economist at the University of Waikato, said New Zealand and Australia had long functioned as two closely linked labour markets, and New Zealand had typically come out on the losing side.
“Australia’s economy is about five times bigger, and wages tend to be higher due to slightly greater productivity.”
Poot said it was unfair to assume migrants who left had always intended to do so.
“People migrate for all kinds of reasons. Some move on, some return home, and others stay. There’s a lot of churn in modern labour markets. Migration today is often temporary.”
Still, he said New Zealand should improve its ability to retain people who wanted to settle.
“We should revisit our pathways to residency. We need to make sure people who want to settle here have every opportunity to do so.”
He also pointed to New Zealand’s wage gap as a long-standing push factor.
“Australia offers higher wages, and that’s tied to their larger economy and more populous cities. Cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane generate what we call ‘agglomeration advantages’, with more productivity, more opportunities, better pay.”
Even so, he said the narrative of a mass exodus from New Zealand was overstated.
“If you look at the numbers in proportion to our total population, the real exodus happened in the late 1970s, when we only had 3 million people. Now we have over 5 million. So while the numbers may look big, they’re not records in relative terms.
“One of the things that struck me in 1979 was the big headline in two papers in Wellington: ‘Last one to turn off the light.’ Because they were really amazed about the out migration from New Zealand.
“Well, since then, we’re still having the lights on in New Zealand, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”
rnz.co.nz
