No idea, but I should imagine everything else is, so...

“There are also other factors that could be at play too, like products which do or don’t have GST added in Australia vs New Zealand,

everything else cheaper in AU, inc houses.

also the pay is at least double (saw ads asking Kiwis to relocate for 100k relatively unskilled job plus car and something else - can't remember what the other thing was)

Batman:

 

everything else cheaper in AU, inc houses.

 

also the pay is at least double (saw ads asking Kiwis to relocate for 100k relatively unskilled job plus car and something else - can't remember what the other thing was)

 

The pay in AU is not double for the same job in a similar sized city to NZ. You're just making that up.

Batman:

 

everything else cheaper in AU, inc houses.

 

also the pay is at least double (saw ads asking Kiwis to relocate for 100k relatively unskilled job plus car and something else - can't remember what the other thing was)

 

I moved to QLD in July last year, houses are 2/3 price of Tauranga and doubled my salary, for a similar role in the same industry. Although I think I was a bit lucky about the salary most roles were paying about 30-40% more.

Senecio:

 

Batman:

 

everything else cheaper in AU, inc houses.

 

also the pay is at least double (saw ads asking Kiwis to relocate for 100k relatively unskilled job plus car and something else - can't remember what the other thing was)

 

 

 

 

The pay in AU is not double for the same job in a similar sized city to NZ. You're just making that up.

 

par for the course

Look at Sydney house prices then compare to auckland

Senecio:

 

The pay in AU is not double for the same job in a similar sized city to NZ. You're just making that up.

 

He's really not. Before covid I spent many years working between AU and NZ as a tradesman in engineering, and, for the trades at least, it was not difficult to earn twice the going NZ rate. I suspect it is even easier now.

everything you read on the gap between NZ and AU is the base salary. that's about 30% maybe more

the thing is in AU it is very easy to trigger extra pay

- they pay you to take annual leave https://employsure.com.au/guides/annual-leave-and-other-leave/annual-leave-loading/

- you get double time if you work more than 84 hrs a fortnight, double time if you work unsocial hours ..

- you get t.5 if you work non normal hours or between 81-84 hrs - this working fortnight includes any on the job training you might have

- if you work non normal hours and beyond certain hours, another penalty i think but i am not sure about this - can't remember

- it all adds up and you're on double pay, eg if you work in the mine, shift work, no skill, penalty here there everywhere

on top of the hugely increased pay, there are other benefits

when i was there we claimed 80% of childcare as tax rebate, essentially free childcare. that itself is huge https://www.9news.com.au/national/explainer-child-care-subsidy-changes-kick-in-this-week-what-will-this-mean-for-you/a5e880a9-c997-4714-b14c-dc68f2132cd8

and there are legal ways to tax rorting called salary sacrifice  https://www.hrblock.com.au/tax-academy/salary-sacrifice

also i recall taking up health insurance for the cost of not paying medicare levy and that came with free dental care and free prescription glasses

larknz: There is not a great selection available on Amazon. I couldn't buy my weekly groceries on Amazon

Batman:

everything you read on the gap between NZ and AU is the base salary. that's about 30% maybe more

the thing is in AU it is very easy to trigger extra pay

- they pay you to take annual leave https://employsure.com.au/guides/annual-leave-and-other-leave/annual-leave-loading/

- you get double time if you work more than 84 hrs a fortnight, double time if you work unsocial hours ..

- you get t.5 if you work non normal hours or between 81-84 hrs - this working fortnight includes any on the job training you might have

- if you work non normal hours and beyond certain hours, another penalty i think but i am not sure about this - can't remember

- it all adds up and you're on double pay, eg if you work in the mine, shift work, no skill, penalty here there everywhere

 

on top of the hugely increased pay, there are other benefits

when i was there we claimed 80% of childcare as tax rebate, essentially free childcare. that itself is huge https://www.9news.com.au/national/explainer-child-care-subsidy-changes-kick-in-this-week-what-will-this-mean-for-you/a5e880a9-c997-4714-b14c-dc68f2132cd8

 

and there are legal ways to tax rorting called salary sacrifice  https://www.hrblock.com.au/tax-academy/salary-sacrifice

also i recall taking up health insurance for the cost of not paying medicare levy and that came with free dental care and free prescription glasses

 

I did a quick look myself and nothing I wanted was in stock. And I can't see myself buying regular groceries that way. In our household of 3, the savings are not worth the effort but I can see perhaps for some families it might make sense

Batman:

 

everything you read on the gap between NZ and AU is the base salary. that's about 30% maybe more

 

the thing is in AU it is very easy to trigger extra pay

 

- they pay you to take annual leave https://employsure.com.au/guides/annual-leave-and-other-leave/annual-leave-loading/

 

- you get double time if you work more than 84 hrs a fortnight, double time if you work unsocial hours ..

 

- you get t.5 if you work non normal hours or between 81-84 hrs - this working fortnight includes any on the job training you might have

 

- if you work non normal hours and beyond certain hours, another penalty i think but i am not sure about this - can't remember

 

- it all adds up and you're on double pay, eg if you work in the mine, shift work, no skill, penalty here there everywhere

 

on top of the hugely increased pay, there are other benefits

 

when i was there we claimed 80% of childcare as tax rebate, essentially free childcare. that itself is huge https://www.9news.com.au/national/explainer-child-care-subsidy-changes-kick-in-this-week-what-will-this-mean-for-you/a5e880a9-c997-4714-b14c-dc68f2132cd8

 

and there are legal ways to tax rorting called salary sacrifice  https://www.hrblock.com.au/tax-academy/salary-sacrifice

 

also i recall taking up health insurance for the cost of not paying medicare levy and that came with free dental care and free prescription glasses

 

Most skilled roles do not have annual leave loading, and that isn't unique to Australia either - in fact you can end up in the confusing situation in New Zealand where you're paid more to not work too.

Most skilled roles these days now also expressly contract out of penalty rates and overtime (I worked a 26 hour day recently. I got paid for 8 hours).

Salary sacrifice is not "tax rorting". It's directing pre-tax income to pay for fringe benefits - for which you also incur fringe benefits tax - and is limited to superannuation and work related items such as cars, and only if the employer allows it. There's an exception for NGOs and "public benefit" (i.e. health) where the tax laws attempt to use expanded access to salary sacrifice to make up for the base salary being lower.

And last but not least, your health insurance didn't come with "free" anything - you paid for it in the premiums. Plus, at no point did you get to not pay the Medicare Levy. You only dodged the Medicare Levy Surcharge, an extra 1%-2% of your before tax income (and before removing salary sacrifice too, just to maximise the MLS payment) which applies to people on incomes over $90k. MLS is an extremely regressive tax too, it's a percentage of your entire income, so if you cross the MLS barrier you can actually end up getting paid less than before you got the pay rise!

A lot of the statements you're making are very misinformed, or woefully out of date.