When Max moved from New Zealand to Australia, he was in disbelief over the difference in wages.

In his first job in the country, working as a dishwasher, he says he earned more per hour than he did as a university-qualified environmental monitoring technician in New Zealand.

"If that doesn't say something, I don't know what does," Max told triple j hack .

Data from Statistics New Zealand shows Kiwis are leaving the country in record numbers.

New Zealand citizen departures are up 8 per cent on last year, with almost 73,000 people leaving the country in the 12 months to September 2025.

Nearly 40 per cent of those leaving are aged 18 to 30, fuelling fears of a "brain drain" hollowing out New Zealand's future workforce.

However, a New Zealand economist argues there is no cause for alar

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