The cost of the big bucks in Australia

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The cost of the big bucks in Australia

3News NZ

Andrew Dunning plans to pay off his mortgage back here in New Zealand

Andrew Dunning plans to pay off his mortgage back here in New Zealand

Over the past two nights Campbell Live has shown you New Zealanders earning six figure salaries in Western Australia’s mining industry.

Tonight, we show you the sacrifices they're making in order to earn those big bucks.

Talk to any New Zealander living in Pilbara and they'll have a story about a fly-in fly-out worker whose relationship has broken down, or how they struggle at not being able to say goodnight to their kids.

Andrew Dunning is determined to not to be one of those people.

His reason for working in Western Australia is to provide a better life for his family back in Nelson - a life he says he is unable to achieve in New Zealand.

And once he's earned all that money in Australia - he plans on returning back home to life in New Zealand.

So who wins in this situation? Australia, which gets his skill and labour for four years? Or New Zealand, where he plans to pay off his mortgage?

Watch the video to see the full report.

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16/07/2012 1:37:34 a.m.

jose wrote:

Kiwi born,living in aussie,and working at a mine site earns money,you would'nt drearm of earning in new zealand,campingout on ste is the way to go.they feed you,you have a gym some have shop post office and many more things.New Zealand government does'nt look after anyone there but them self,far to dare to live,I hate the government in both country.SALEING the land to th highest bibbers,Just greedy.bring yr family with u,get company to paid for yr housing while in oz,,,

13/07/2012 11:22:45 a.m.

Heather wrote:

Absolutely agree. Have to say that my husband and I went to WA 2 years ago and both got jobs ins the mines (different departments). Our accommodation was bare basic, but we didn't care as we literally would collapse into bed each night. We worked like dogs for 2 years, but returned to NZ and paid off a $300K mortgage, plus had money for our retirement. We made some good friends and had some good times and have to say that it was worth it. If you want to go to OZ to bludge, don't bother. We met really well qualified Kiwis over there, who said they were there simply because of the 'old boys clubs' back in NZ, ie they were working in NZ for people who were big fishes in little ponds and felt threatened by their experience. Most of the Kiwis I ran into were working in OZ so that they would never have to work in NZ again.

12/07/2012 9:25:53 p.m.

Richard wrote:

With regard to the last question of the above article, who wins Australia or NZ? Generally Australia wins, they get hard working, experienced or well qualified (education often paid for or subsidised by NZ) workers, tax is often paid in Australia instead of NZ plus I will quite often buy things in Australia and my wife and I usually take our holidays over there too (of course if I was on an NZ wage then I wouldn't be able to afford overseas holidays), also a lot of workers probably end up moving over to Australia to make the commute a bit shorter and life a little easier. What does NZ get? A bit more money injected into propping up our economy perhaps, people who might actually be able to afford a house in NZ (assuming they don't actually end up living in Perth or Brisbane), NZ may also get to pick up the pieces of failed relationships and broken families or the health costs if workers are sick or injured and not able to work any more. Australia is definitely the winner and as long as NZ remains a low wage, backwards economy where most workers end up getting screwed by the few at the top, Australia will continue to reap the rewards of Kiwi's strong work ethic and good education system.

12/07/2012 7:42:02 p.m.

Jodie wrote:

Just a flip side to the discussion about moving to OZ. We moved to Aussie for ten months with the lure of big money. We moved rural to follow my husband's job where there was literally nothing for the kids and I to do. The work to begin with was all casual and if there is no work then there is no pay. That leaves a family in a horrible position when they have children to support and rent to pay. The services were limited, apart from a post office, a supermarket and caravan park there was hardly anything to do. Our son got extremely sick to the point that he required hospitalisation on numerous occassions. It is not widely publicised that childrens' medicines in Australia are not subsidised and you have to pay full price for medicines including paracetamol, which was upwards of $10 from pharmacies which you buy over the counter. Yeah, through Medicare doctors visits are free but extras on prescriptions quickly add up. The only GP service I found in the town went through about six or seven doctors in those 10 months and they were all immigrants from Iran and India who were difficult to understand. The Australian Govenrnment had spent hundreds of thousands building a brand new maternity hospital in the town we were in and then three years after it was built it was shut down due to the fact that they couldn't staff it This is what can happen in rural parts of OZ. We ended up having to drive an hour to the nearest big town to get any form of decent doctors care. Funnily enough at the childrens hospital in Brisbane we were told we would get better care at Starship. I found it intersting tonight when the presenter said the cost of food was pretty much the same. Fresh fuit and vegetables were crazy expensive. Lettuces were nearly $5, apples around $8, bananas were nearly $13, to name a few. Power, phone etc were similar as NZ as well as rental accomodation. Don't mention how much beer costs! I LOVE NZ! Returning to home was the best thing we ever did!

12/07/2012 7:26:49 p.m.

Dylan wrote:

You have only talked about the mines in W.A, what about all the other mining jobs in Sydney, Queensland, or S.A? Are they all the same as the mines in W.A?

12/07/2012 7:24:57 p.m.

Derek wrote:

We are moving to Aussie done homework we are 15yrs out from retirement and can triple income love nz but seriously cannot even come close to our dreams here

12/07/2012 7:18:44 p.m.

Brett wrote:

You have to look at the big picture, Kiwi saver or Superanuation at the end of the day money talks,our children have both gone back to Aus as we left NZ in the late 80s and returned only for the High school years, now we will follow them back to WA and hopefully enjoy our retirement years with our children.

12/07/2012 4:13:24 p.m.

Geoff Smith wrote:

My wife and I were both doing fly in fly out work in the mines,the wages are good (6 figures) but you sacrifice the lifestyle for the money. It is hard on relationships when you work at seperate mines.We both now live and work in Perth were we have brought property, my wife as a Chef/manager, and myself as a fuel tanker driver and we are earning the same sort of money as the mines.Sorry ChCh we have no intentions of returning in the near future.The lifestyle in Oz is better than NZ by a long shot.

12/07/2012 9:26:29 a.m.

Althea McClellan wrote:

I lived 2 doors away from Christine and Brent and the phone call I got from Christine the day after Nathan died will live forever in my memory. The words 'My boy is dead' came out of Christine throat were strangled and barely understandable. I cried unable to comprehend the enormity of what she was telling me. Only a couple of days before Nathan was calling out to me from their deck saying 'Hi Mrs M, how are doing'. A lovely bright, cheerful,polite,talented lad with his whole future before him now gone and nothing left but the memories and the thought of what he might have achieved. The ripple effect indeed.

12/07/2012 7:09:00 a.m.

Grant wrote:

My family and i are off to oz in the new year, i am a qualified builder and can earn almost double what i can here, you think with the rebuilding of chch the government would be trying to keep there skilled workers here but i guess they just cant match the wages in oz.