Kiwis across the divide reveal hidden costs – Te Ao Māori News

This article was first published by Stuff.

There are “hidden costs” to moving to Australia, is the warning to record numbers of New Zealanders crossing the divide in search of better wages and opportunities.

With New Zealand’s unemployment rate rising, job insecurity, thousands of job losses, skyrocketing costs of living and a more direct route to Australian citizenship driving record emigration to Australia, we spoke with Kiwis about the main financial differences between the two countries to assess them. .

“Stop romanticizing Australia,” says Sydney-based Kiwi comedian Jake Howie to those who believe the promised land solves all financial problems.

“Australia is also pretty cooked at the moment… Take a chance if you fancy a change of scenery, but Kiwis seem to locate deeply global problems rather than understanding that New Zealand has problems seen in the whole world.”

While grateful to live in “a beautiful country”, he criticizes New Zealand’s “obsession” with thinking the grass is always greener.

“Maybe you’ll get paid more, maybe not.” Maybe some things are cheaper, maybe not… New Zealand is a prosperous nation that we are lucky to call home,” he says.

“The proof is in the data, so look it up before you launch into insufferable talk about the Aussie, blah blah blah.”

Wellingtonian Murray Cambie has lived in Australia for 10 years, first in Melbourne, now in Brisbane. Even though his starting salary was 40% higher than what he earned in New Zealand, he wished he had a better plan.

“I wasted a lot of money coming here, not realizing how things work here. Now, I know there are many tips and tricks for moving here: for example, instead of getting a loan for a car or a major asset, you can do a “salary sacrifice.”

He wishes he had planned to become an Australian permanent resident from the start, and says you’ll save money in the long run if you do your homework and make a clear decision about moving rather than leaving a foot in New Zealand and having to juggle. .

“I came with the idea that this was going to be temporary. People do this because they may be on a trial period in their new job, or they don’t want to sell completely in New Zealand, but if you don’t, you’ll end up with two of everything in every country – so my car I have been sitting in New Zealand for ten years and my stuff is packed on the family farm and I have now bought things back.

He bought a house before Australia’s recent house price boom, but warns the cost of living there is also very high.

“Everyone notices it. I have friends who run stalls at the market and they say that people don’t buy things they can live without, like plants. Everyone budgets more and there are fewer expenses.

Despite this, he says New Zealand prices remain higher.

“If I were to come back to Brisbane, I would consider it a sacrifice of the lifestyle I have in Brisbane: the climate is great. The Gold Coast is an hour south and the Sunshine Coast an hour north.

Johanna Smith and her husband moved to Brisbane 15 years ago.

“That was a lot, let’s go make some money.”

She, too, says she wasted time and money in the beginning and now runs a website www.movingtoaustralia.co.nz to share “things I wish I knew before.”

“At first, it was to share “little tips and tricks”. I learned so much and just little tips and tricks that I wish I had known in advance because it would have saved me a lot of time and money.

Many, like Cambie and Smith, told Stuff there are significant issues understanding how they affect your budget.

Health care

While Australia and New Zealand both have public health systems, more and more Australians are taking out private health insurance, with 55% of its population receiving private health care, compared to 27% here, says Chris Schulz, senior researcher at MoneyHub.

“Some attribute this to the Medicare Levy surcharge that people have to pay in Australia if they earn above a certain threshold and don’t have private health insurance,” he says.

Brisbane’s Murray Cambie said health costs are “significantly higher” in Australia.

“Not everything is covered like ACC or general health if you don’t have insurance. Above a certain income, if you don’t have private health insurance for everyone in your family, they bite you via a tax in an amount roughly corresponding to the amount of private insurance costs. So you might as well buy something private,” he says.

Jake Howie from Sydney agrees that Medicare does not mean “free”.

“Every time I see the doctor, it costs $125, and you get a $50 rebate from Medicare. My prescriptions cost $16 per month.

Peter Barron spent years working as a pharmacist in remote areas and regions of Australia and says Kiwis are surprised at the rising costs.

“Prescription co-payments are $31.60 per item for non-concession cardholders and $7.70 per item for concession cardholders.

For concession-free cardholders, you have to pay more than $1,647 per year before the per-item maximum drops to $7.70 per item.

For concession cardholders, you pay the first $277 co-pay before the per item fee goes to zero.

Student Loans

Interest will be charged on your student loan from the day after you leave New Zealand.

The recent budget increased interest rates on student loans for people living abroad, starting in 2025.

This affects young professionals Tim and Eva Mitchell, an engineer and pharmacist, who live in Melbourne and both benefit from student loans, but Tim says this is offset by higher salaries.

“When we arrived here in 2022, our combined income was 30% higher than in New Zealand. »

They have just returned to Australia after a year of traveling and started their own business, which Tim says would not have been possible without the move and higher income.

Although Australian universities are ranked higher in the world rankings than those in New Zealand, they are also more expensive, and generally Kiwis on visitor visas without citizenship will not be eligible for Australian student loans, loans HELP, says Chris Schulz of MoneyHub.

Murray Cambie’s daughter is at high school in Brisbane, but because they have not yet obtained official citizenship, she may not be able to access Australian student loans to continue her studies, he said.

“I recommend you start your citizenship application as soon as you arrive here,” he says.

While rents in New Zealand have recently reached record levels, with the national median weekly rent at $650, and higher in cities like Auckland and Tauranga, rents on the other side of the divide are also skyrocketing.

The median weekly rent value in Australia has reached a new record high of $627 per week, and rental costs range from $770 per week in Sydney to $547 in Hobart, according to the latest data from Corelogic.

Tim and Eva Mitchell’s one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Melbourne cost $490 per person in 2022, and now costs around $700 per person.

“Now we are doing house sitting because rentals have increased so much and there is a queue of over 30 people outside each rental.”

The skyrocketing rental market is a new cost, says Murray Cambie.

“It used to be in Brisbane, if you saw a place, you were a reasonable tenant, then you were guaranteed to move in.

It is now very difficult to find a rental. My ex is still renting and paying a lot more than three years ago, but she is trapped because the rental market is very tight.

Buying and selling a house

There are additional transactional costs for buying and selling properties in Australia, warns MoneyHub’s Chris Schulz.

“Stamp duty is a tax imposed by each territory and state…The amount depends on the cost of the property, its location and the reason for the loan.”

Johanna Smith says costs can be eased thanks to what she says is a “generous” grant for first home owners,

“But eligibility varies by state, so if you come to buy, you need to check the rules for each location.”

You will also be subject to capital gains tax on the sale of a property, and Smith says many Kiwis coming to Australia are unaware that this can also apply to properties sold in New Zealand. -Zealand.

“It’s complex if you also have a property in your home and in some cases I’ve referred people to a tax professional.”

Jake Howie believes Australia’s housing crisis is worst.

“Jacinda Ardern’s Labor Party has really prioritized building healthy homes and this is clear and obvious compared to Australia. »

Howie bought an apartment in Sydney in 2022 and even then stamp duty was expensive, he says.

“That’s a minimum of $20,000 more for a home purchase that you have to save. It’s wild, and the only people who can avoid it are in homes below a $500,000 threshold, which is literally impossible to find.

Retirement

Although Tim and Eva Mitchell are a long way from retiring, Tim likes that 11% of Super is added to salary, meaning you’re saving for retirement from an early age.

The Australian pension is eligible from age 67 and is means tested, compared to age 65 and no means test in New Zealand.

The Mitchells both have homes in Christchurch which they rent out and pay tax on that income.

Johanna Smith says people moving to Australia to retire often don’t realize that the means test includes global income and assets, meaning property in New Zealand will be taken into account.

However, New Zealanders aged 65 or over and living in Australia can receive both an Australian age pension and a New Zealand superannuation, depending on the time spent in each country.

Food

Dining out in Sydney costs 100% more than in Auckland, says Jake Howie.

“Even though food shopping is about the same, going out for a meal in Sydney continues to increase. I ordered a pint of beer at a restaurant in central Sydney and it cost – one sip – $22 last weekend. It’s hard to spend less than $150 per person on travel, and it seems to be getting higher and higher.”

By Annemarie Quill from Thing.