Jobless Kiwis flocking to Australia

New Zealanders denied benefits as Australians in this country dwespite payingn taxes ... New Zealander Reiana Aiomanu with her two children, Billi-Amor McGie (10 months) and Jayla-Jane McGhie (2). Source: News Limited

JOBLESS Kiwis are flocking to Australia in search of work - and demanding the dole.

New Zealand migration to Australia has soared 40 per cent during the global financial crisis, as tens of thousands of South Pacific and Asian migrants use New Zealand as a back door to duck Australia's tough migration controls.

But Australia's welfare crackdown is forcing jobless Kiwi migrants to sardine into share houses with friends and extended family on the fringes of major cities.

Anglicare wants the federal government to lift its ban on unemployment and sickness benefits to recent New Zealand migrants.

Salome Swan, of Anglicare Southern Queensland, said jobless families were surviving on meagre Family Tax Benefit payments.

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Some Kiwi migrant families had 24 people sharing a single house, with just one person working.

"It's getting worse,'' Ms Swan said yesterday.

"There are lots of overcrowded houses with two or three families and lots of kids staying in one house.

"I've seen families just living on the family allowance, and the eldest child at high school is working at McDonalds to support them.''

New Zealand has now lost 12 per cent of its population to Australia, as Kiwis search for work and higher pay across the Tasman.

New Zealanders with a clean criminal record can live indefinitely in Australia on a "444 visa", which is granted automatically when they arrive.

But the 444 visa locks them out of the welfare benefits paid to citizens and "permanent residents'' - even if they have worked and paid taxes in Australia.

New Zealanders who have arrived in Australia since 2001 must wait 10 years to apply for the dole - which is cut off after six months - and their children cannot access the HECS loans scheme to attend university.

But they can receive a Disability Support Pension and Family Tax Benefits.

Ms Swan said it was unfair that New Zealanders had to pay tax while working here, but could not access full welfare benefits if they became sick or lost their job.

"If they find work it's fine, but it's lucky if they find work,'' she said.

"There are a lot more Samoans coming through - lots of Islanders have come from New Zealand and they can have more difficulties because of their poor language skills.''

Ms Swan said New Zealand-born high school students were not going to university because they could not afford the fees.

"The children who were brought up here don't want to go back (to New Zealand) and that means a lot of them end up homeless, or just hanging around and couch-surfing,'' she said.

Demographer Bob Birrell, of Monash University's Centre for Population and Urban Research, yesterday called for more controls on open-ended Kiwi migration.

"To allow this uncontrolled flow of New Zealanders when we've got far too many young people looking for entry level jobs is irresponsible,'' he said.

"The wage levels here are 10 to 20 per cent higher here.''

Immigration data reveals that 648,200 New Zealand citizens are living in Australia - up from 470,000 in 2007, before the start of the global financial crisis.

Nearly 85,000 Kiwi citizens were born outside New Zealand - meaning one in every eight of the migrants gained New Zealand citizenship before switching to Australia.

The statistics show that 10,592 New Zealanders were born in Samoa, 5269 in the Cook Islands and 2754 in Fiji.

Another 14,744 Kiwi citizens were born in Asia, 5842 in Africa and 2116 in the Middle East.

About 64,000 Australian citizens are living in New Zealand.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully urged New Zealanders to be aware of their welfare rights before moving to Australia.

"New Zealanders planning to move to Australia need to make sure they are aware of their rights and entitlements and make sure they have back-up if things do not go to plan,'' he said in a statement issued to News Corp Australia.

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