Net migration hits new peak of 68,100 in year to April

Property

Migration inflows grew strongly in April, with the net population gain from migration hitting a new record of 68,100 for the year

20th May 16, 11:29am by Greg Ninness

This country's population growth from migration hit a new record of 68,100 in the year to April, with continuing strong growth in the number of people moving to this country..

According to Statistics NZ 124,669 people came to this country on a permanent or long term basis in the year to April while 56,559 people left long term, leaving a net gain of 68,100 for the year.

About a quarter of the new arrivals were New Zealand citizens returning to this country, Statistics NZ said.

The recent trend for arrivals from Australia outstripping departures to that country continued, with a net gain of 5614 people from Australia in the year to April.

The biggest source countries for new migrants were India, which provided a net gain of 12,218 people in the year to April, followed by China and Hong Kong 10,353, the Philippines 5151, the UK 3891, France 3112, Germany and South Africa 2730.

The biggest category of new arrivals by visa type in the year to April were those arriving on work visas - 38,825, followed by NZ and Australian citizens (who do not require visas) 36,475, student visas 27,645, and residency visas 15,058.

The biggest growth category by visa type over the last two years has been people arriving on student visas, which were up from 17,211 in the year to April 2014.

However many people arriving on student visas are likely to be permanent migrants, because studying in this country awards them extra points towards qualifying for residency if they apply for it once they have completed their studies.

Auckland remains the destination of choice for most migrants, with the figures showing its population grew by at least 31,582 from migration in the year to March.

However because large numbers of migrants do not state where they intend to live when they arrive, Auckland's actual population growth from migration was probably closer to 40,000 over the last year.

That comes on top of the region's natural population growth (births exceeding deaths) and from internal migration from other parts of the country, and will help maintain upward pressure on demand for new housing and other infrastructure such as transport, health and education facilities in the region.

Net long term migration

Select chart tabs

Source: Statistics NZ

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91 Comments

by Chris-M | 20th May 16, 11:45am 1463701550

Pure madness.

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 1:02pm 1463706164

Sure is madness , that's 15.5 people every 12 hours,

We already don't have enough housing for our own folk , with a 2000 person waiting list in Auckland at the lowest level ( Housing New Zealand ) and young couples like my daughter's friend and her partner living in a converted garage on the North Shore .

by Andrewj | 20th May 16, 1:11pm 1463706697

or hospitals
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=150346…

by Crow22Darkness | 21st May 16, 5:26am 1463765179

Actually state houses are sitting empty right now in New Plymouth & Housing NZ is demolishing vacant houses in Hamilton East.

Housing New Zealand just sold an apartment block in Auckland that requires a $22 million renovation which is likely to be empty for years that could house people right now.

by sharetrader | 20th May 16, 11:51am 1463701899

quick lets sell everything to pay for the new roads, schools, hospitals, etc

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 11:58am 1463702292

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 11:56am 1463702175

it is calculated irresponsible behaviour by the goverment.

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 2:17pm 1463710641

Are they even aware , or is it like the pilot who ignores his warning instruments ?

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 12:01pm 1463702488

Excellent news.

by CJ099 | 20th May 16, 12:03pm 1463702588

The biggest growth category by visa type over the last two years has been people arriving on student visas, which were up from 17,211 in the year to April 2014.

Humm... I'd be curious to know how many of those on Student visa's are buying property? Wasn't it quite a bit according to the recent government statistics?

Yet most young Kiwi citizens are left struggling to get a foot on the ladder of today's housing market.

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 12:09pm 1463702940

The administration could exclude international students from Auckland, bet they dont....

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 12:22pm 1463703773

But international students might be the only ones paying the full bloated cost of education. Without them Kiwi's will have to pay/borrow even more.

And that might lead to collapse of an industry that creates a product nobody can afford. Oh wait, that could be a good idea then!

So conflicted.

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 12:30pm 1463704250

The auckland education system would have to tighten its belt but the rest of the country could soak them up.
Canterbury education could absorb a lot of students, and otago,i hear rumours of empty student flats

by Ergophobia | 20th May 16, 12:07pm 1463702871

Chris M, Not madness son, very carefully crafted by Pollies. Immigration manifests two evils: it floods the country's employment and property markets with new Chancers who instantly spot that no one ever got rich in NZ by working for a living (well, not since the wool clip boom last century), so then leap into the house buying, capital gain game. And they suppress wages at the same time, for the rest of us.

by Independent_Observer | 20th May 16, 12:29pm 1463704186

Hey guys/girls, in the words of our trusty PM it is clear that you are missing the point. This is a sign of success, of how well we're doing. Magnificent immigration numbers and out if reach house prices is something you kiwi citizens should be mighty proud of. Collectively we've done so well. Let's party and celebrate this great news!! And if you disagree, well you've just got a bad attitude and should join the Greens.

End of the day we're all awesome that's why everyone wants to live here in our Swaziland oops I mean Switzerland of the South Pacific.

by Andrewj | 20th May 16, 12:36pm 1463704607

We must be run by sadists.

by O.Farr-Kinnell | 20th May 16, 12:52pm 1463705552

Sodomists.

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 12:54pm 1463705658

I think we have always been dedicated followers of british fashion and at the moment it is a right wing heaven.

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 12:56pm 1463705766

The truth is stranger than fiction . A very successful immigration agent on Auckland's North Shore , was previously a very successful Real Estate agent with Barfoot and Thompson in Auckland .

According to a reliable source they are making more money as immigration agents ( at $7,000 plus GST for each applicant ) than any Auckland real estate agent could ever dream of .

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 1:02pm 1463706167

For sure, and there are other commisions i saw mentioned on this site such as facilitating the flow of funds from the mother country.....and assistance with the residency application

by bender | 20th May 16, 1:02pm 1463706175

Several times this morning on RadioNZ, Nick Smith insisted the immigrants were largely returning Kiwis. Delusional misrepresentation.

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 2:21pm 1463710885

Lets face it Nick Smith is a hopeless case , he is way past his use-by date .

Anyway we are attacking the wrong target , its the immigration minister who should taken to task

by J.C. | 20th May 16, 2:51pm 1463712686

That was confirmed when he referred to Syria in the OECD report on housing affordability and said that Greece was the most affordable place for housing. Other people would get fired for similar incompetence.

by moa man | 20th May 16, 4:49pm 1463719766

Could be true. Sick of the failed Aussie dream. The whole Pacific is being swamped.

by Crow22Darkness | 21st May 16, 4:46am 1463762761

About time most Kiwis returned home to New Zealand anyway. 650,000 Kiwis live in Australia. 1 million Kiwis in total live overseas which is second per capita to the Irish.

by Crow22Darkness | 21st May 16, 4:44am 1463762664

31,000+ of them are Kiwis returning.

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 1:21pm 1463707280

Okay , so we are now only taking the wealthy , highly skilled and student migrants , but consider this....... almost all of them will be able to outbid ordinary Kiwis for a home .

We need to be mindful that ALL these categories of migrants are "wealthy"

The wealthy migrants have to show their wealth and bring it here , highly skilled people either have some capital or access to capital through their skills and earning capacity , and looking at foreign student fees , the students must have extremely wealth families

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 1:33pm 1463708014

In terms of wealth relative to their communities and remembering the family may be extended...
Yes, i think the families are middle class, much like us and sort of well off..
Nice people.

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 2:04pm 1463709845

Mate , they really are lovely people , practically my entire street in Greenhithe is Asian families , they are quiet, well behaved , polite and friendly folk who always greet us .

And our neighbours are seemingly , without exception , wealthy , in a street where the two most recent sales were $2,4 million and $1,980 million

Many of my neighbours don't speak English and a lot of them don't seem to hold down regular work , one family is never here ( the house is locked up for 10 months of the year) , one exports honey to China and two are builders. One has an Asian supermarket in Albany mega centre , while others have small businesses mostly in the food hospitality sector . There is also one owns a tour - bus business.

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 2:16pm 1463710580

phewwww!
The ones I met didnt equal that, they worked in hospitality and learned english or studied towards residency although they were already grads. I probably met a hundred or so.

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 2:26pm 1463711200

@poistivelywallstreet .......Okay , you will notice I did not use the word "honest" in my comment .

There is much wrong with our so called watertight immigration system , like the Chinese neighbour who has just "sold " his coffee shop/ bakery in Greenlane to another new "investor migrant " from China

The whole thing looks like a rotten scam to me

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 2:31pm 1463711517

My family was just laughing over a similar observation.
Goodness knows what the terms of sale are...

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 2:59pm 1463713168

Once they migrate and obtain citizenship they *are* the very same ordinary Kiwis you speak of.

Well they *must* be wealth, that's the rule we made.

Ditto on the student front, have you seen the costs of education in NZ?

by Camel's back | 20th May 16, 1:38pm 1463708301

Can someone please give me one positive outcome from this excessive immigration policy? I cannot think of one.

by Macadder | 20th May 16, 1:46pm 1463708787

More takeaway shops to choose from?

by Smalltown | 20th May 16, 1:55pm 1463709347

Very polite service at AKL petrol stations

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 2:19pm 1463710746

Of course they are polite ............. are you not polite to your hosts when you are overseas ?

They are no different to us , but their arrival here in such huge numbers is having unintended consequences

by CJ099 | 20th May 16, 2:50pm 1463712625

Cheap labour... Oh wait, that means that our young Kiwi's can't get jobs due to lack of experience. :(

by alexil | 20th May 16, 6:48pm 1463726903

Cheap labour means large family. They will take them to here to live on benefits and tax payers will pay for that.

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 2:56pm 1463712964

Although there is no proof of your claim the current policy is 'excessive', and without supposing these are the only benefits I point out these four.

1. It improves the cultural depth of NZ.
2. It improves the economy of NZ for everyones benefit.
3. Highly educated immigrants can be a huge asset to their nation of choice.
4. Immigrants obtain a safe, fair, stable place to put down their roots.

by Camel's back | 20th May 16, 3:46pm 1463716017

Well Ralph i would think the availability of housing would be proof in itself. But on to your 4 "benefits"

1. I am proud to be a kiwi, suggest if you dont like our depth then leave.
2. Our GDP per capita is dropping so not everyone benefits.
3. Not all the immigrants are highly educated
4. We fought for this safe, fair and stable place, why isnt the rest of the world so.

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 4:01pm 1463716906

Availability of housing is proof there are no benefits to immigration?!? You need to expand that, alone it makes no sense.

1. You being proud doesn't make cultural depth a bad or worthless thing. Maybe you don't value culture, I do.

2. So GDP dropped, you present no proof of cause so that could have nothing to do with immigration.

3. So what? One-quarter of the U.S.-based Nobel laureates of the last 50 years were foreign-born.

4. It's very selfish of you not to share.

The question as to the state of the world might be a bit broad to explore here.

by moa man | 20th May 16, 4:40pm 1463719216

Perhaps broaden your own views. Being foreign born doesn't give you a free pass.

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 4:45pm 1463719551

But perhaps not so broad so as one's brain falls out.

The argument/assertion/implication that there are no benefits in immigration is barely rational.

There was never any suggestion by anyone as to the existence of these "free passes" you speak of.

by OnwardsUpwards | 20th May 16, 5:02pm 1463720557

1) Agreed.
2) Rubbish. Look at this graph:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=nz+gdp+per+capita
3) True.
4) Who did you fight. Nazi stormtroopers back in '45?

by xelnaga | 21st May 16, 12:04am 1463745899

That GDP chart only goes to 2013 and it measures in USD instead of local currency. GDP per capita has been falling in NZ recently.

Probably fell a whole bunch more if you strip out the imputed rents / house price distortions.

by ObeseBallerina | 20th May 16, 4:50pm 1463719828

"It improves the cultural depth of NZ". Wasnt aware that it needed deepening. Whats was wrong with it before the massive immigration wave started?

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 5:02pm 1463720555

Ah, so something can't be of any benefit unless it solves a previously identified problem.

Interesting idea.

by moa man | 20th May 16, 5:18pm 1463721521

Look at at Europe. The problem has been identified. That's why they have reinstated border controls.But it's too late. The horse has bolted.

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 5:33pm 1463722396

Mr Man, please stop for a moment and think through your argument.

The problem in Europe is absolutely massive in scale and driven by a war zone. But does it really support the rationale of;

Premise 1 -- massive immigration create massive problems

Premise 2 -- problems are bad and outweigh any benefits
(we set aside the ridiculous assertion no immigration can ever be of any benefit to anyone at any time)

Conclusion -- All immigration is of no benefit

That is hopeless reasoning. We might as well use, my cat has four legs, my dog has four legs and therefore my cat is a dog.

by moa man | 20th May 16, 5:53pm 1463723581

I stopped and thought. And have no time for your premises,conclusions or your view of reasoning. That is your view and you are entitled to it. Others are entitled to their own view. As for dogs and cats. It's Dog eat Dog.
NZ's were here first. You either defend what you have or you lose it.

by Ralph | 20th May 16, 6:09pm 1463724575

Apologies, no offence was meant.

by ObeseBallerina | 21st May 16, 9:17am 1463779032

I live in the UK and wouldnt wish its immigration policy on anyone. Recently at ANZAC day we had to queue for 3 hours while going through metal detectors while police and army handled security with Machine Guns, while we paid respect to our war dead. Call me old fashioned but I like turning up with out all the terror security. This is what immigration brings. This is why these immigrants are useless to us. The majority don't and wont integrate whatever back ground they are from, particularly the one you all know I'm talking about. If you think immigration is so great move to somewhere where the people don't hate it. Sometime I wish we were like Japan and Korea. They know and respect their culture and don't pollute it.

by Halfway To Paradise | 20th May 16, 11:50pm 1463745029

Importing young taxpayers who will pay for the retirement and healthcare of the baby boomers.

by Camel's back | 21st May 16, 9:20am 1463779240

Ah yes, like a pyramid scheme.

by dobrydan | 20th May 16, 1:46pm 1463708764

Its that time of year where I'm teaching Time Series to Year 13 students. I opted for migration data from 2000-2012 with a forecast tool 2013-2014. My students saw a peak around 2002-2003 when the Labour govt relaxed visa restrictions on some nationalities. House prices went up 20% or so in the next two years. In 2014 net migration reached 40,000 the highest net gain since November 2003. Economists in 2014 did not expect the same effect this time round :-) Move onto 2016 and net migration has soared to nearly 70,000 and everyone has seen a surge in house prices.
We had some excellent discussions around the pro's and con's of migration; however, it was clear that may saw these figures as concerning.

Lessons to my 17-18 year old students.
1) You will need to earn at least $60k by the time you're 25 to afford your first home in the provinces unless supported by parents/relatives. Assuming they have saved $40-$50k for a deposit on a $250k -300k house.

2) You are now competing with overseas trained/skilled migrants for jobs and houses.
3) Start contributing into Kiwisaver now
4) Avoid a $20k+ student loan if you can.
5) All else fails - move overseas and do as I did and save GBP, AUD, USD etc and send it home for a deposit.

The worst part of it all, these poor buggers don't even have the opportunity to vote and we're screwing them from every angle.

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 1:50pm 1463709036

How many internationals in your class?

by dobrydan | 20th May 16, 2:23pm 1463710987

None in my Year 13 - class of 26 though dare I say it, they're not all the academic sort.
Two in my Year 12 class and they're great, one of them even gets my humour so he's AA++

by positivelywallstreet | 20th May 16, 2:29pm 1463711363

I was just curious about what their contribution may be to that class

by OnwardsUpwards | 20th May 16, 5:23pm 1463721825

Maybe you were absent/sleeping/whatever during your Stats 101 class at uni, training to be a teacher. So let me fill you in: Correlation does not imply causation.

Here are the lessons you need to teach your students:

1) Nobody knows what the future holds. Especially teachers not trained in time travel.
2) Life is always about competition. Mostly against yourself.
3) Start contributing into Kiwisaver now
4) Student debt is good debt provided you study something in demand. Study 'interesting things' later in life.
5) Travel. Broaden your mind.

by Smalltown | 20th May 16, 2:01pm 1463709670

Woodhouse - " i think we have enough now PM - they are cottoning on to our cunning plan and all my rentals are out of Auckland"
jk - "lets wait and see shall we, at the end of the day no one ever lost any money over estimating how dumb kiwis are"
Woodhouse " Ok - you're the boss, whose putt is it, and why do your caddies always have long pony tails"

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 2:35pm 1463711720

From a number of "Comments " point of view , this immigration issue is about as emotive as the Auckland housing crisis .

This article could draw 100 comments

by David Chaston | 20th May 16, 9:47pm 1463737662

The number of comments is no indication of our readership or their views. We will deliver 45,000+ pages today to about 15,000 unique readers (in ~20,000+ sessions). We will probably get about 150 or so comments today from about 50/60 commenters, sitewide. Commenter views have virtually zero correlation to reader activity (or probably their views).

by moa man | 20th May 16, 9:56pm 1463738214

Sounds like B.S. Mr Chaston. What is your advertisting income from the Real Estate Industry? May i enquire?
Are you merely an advertising front? Comments a sweetner perhaps?

by Sheep Shagger | 20th May 16, 10:32pm 1463740324

"Commenter views have virtually zero correlation to reader activity (or probably their views)."

David,hard to know how you can gauge the views of anonymous page viewers?

The most interesting part for me, as a fairly regular reader, is the change of sentiment within the regular commenters. Until quite recently this site seemed pretty apolitical with primarily economic analysis being mainstay of commentary. In recently weeks there seems to be a much stronger emphasis on the politics driving the economics and in particular a rise in disaffection with the govt. That might be just my take but just maybe it signals an emerging undercurrent within the wider populous....? It will be interesting to see if this starts being reflected in the polls.

by Independent_Observer | 20th May 16, 11:05pm 1463742342

This change in sentiment, which like you I have noted with interest (excuse pun) over the last few months, couldn't possibly have anything to do with the possibility we're in the panic phase of multiple asset bubbles? Shares/property.

Oh perhaps someone has put something in the water,... that isn't fluoride...

by moa man | 20th May 16, 11:21pm 1463743280

Shares are so last year. Like a re-run of GLOSS. All puffed shoulder pads and lipstick. Property is the the new oft repeated kid on the block. Sell it to Johnny Foreigner. Make a quid. Buy a Merc, kids at the best school etc. Sod the locals.

by ObeseBallerina | 21st May 16, 9:25am 1463779502

Run a public poll up then David. Ask a few "yes" and "no" questions as to what people think of immigration.

by Justice | 21st May 16, 10:38am 1463783928

Why have a comment section at all then if that's the case?

by xelnaga | 21st May 16, 4:58pm 1463806694

But the comments may be what the readers are spending a significant amount of their site time reading.

Are you gathering analytics on the time spent displaying the article section vs comment section in the users browsers? Would be an interesting metric to understand.

How about mobile traffic? This site is very unfriendly for mobile browsing, the fonts are microscopic.

That flag is looking pretty dated too!

by Mecheng | 20th May 16, 2:40pm 1463712008

This annualised stuff doesnt tell you much. For example, the last 21 months we have been hitting a new record.

We need to look at individual monthly numbers to get a real feel of what is happening. if you go on to the statistics website you will find the monthly net migration numbers are actually tapering off:

August - 5346
Sep - 7069
Oct - 7614
Nov - 7019
Dec - 4765
Jan - 7729
Feb - 8581 (Peak)
Mar - 4279
Apr - 3453

Please use your heads people!

by head_down_bum_up | 20th May 16, 2:43pm 1463712216

Not it doesn't. It tells me students piled in before the start of a new school year...remove the students and the numbers drop sure. But the numbers are still high

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 2:47pm 1463712436

@Mecheng You are quite correct , and the Government should be MORE TRASNPARENT to enable us to plan for what is expected in terms of housing , student accommodation , etc etc

Why don't they openly say the following :-

Our target migrant numbers for 2016 are : XX thousand people
Our current number of applicants for residence is ,XXX thousand people

At least we would then be better informed about investment decisions , builders would know how many houses to build , Auckland council could better plan .

What have we got to work with ............... nothing

by xelnaga | 21st May 16, 12:44am 1463748280

A better place to start might be you must be a New Zealand CITIZEN to vote. Most other countries have such a policy.

Right now, National are just importing a population of compliant votes who will vote for more immigration from the motherland.

by xelnaga | 21st May 16, 12:47am 1463748471

Sensationalist headlines make clicks.

Clicks make money by serving real estate and mortgage ads.

At least there isn't a dozen articles a day about The Bachelor here. Yet...

by Mecheng | 20th May 16, 2:47pm 1463712455

Exactly, that huge bump in March was a huge load of international students coming in before semester one starts up! Sure it is still high but i think the expectation is for it to slowly start tapering down.

by Boatman | 20th May 16, 3:02pm 1463713332

That February number was certainly the "student " factor

by OnwardsUpwards | 20th May 16, 4:56pm 1463720185

Good news. National must be doing something right if more people want to live here than want to leave. Just a few years ago everyone (Labour, Greens and other idiots) were complaining about the National government not doing enough to stop the 'brain drain'. Well done National.

by Camel's back | 20th May 16, 6:15pm 1463724900

Half the world always wanted to emigrate to NZ, Only national with its short-sighted economic policies have let them all in. In fact, why turn away anybody? Let them all in. If 5 million is good, then 250 million must be better and we will all be rich!

by alexil | 20th May 16, 6:52pm 1463727130

6 billion should be enough.

by Camel's back | 20th May 16, 7:06pm 1463727984

We might have to build up..

by philthy | 20th May 16, 11:42pm 1463744562

It's no surprise Kiwis are coming back from Aussie in bigger numbers now , they are getting screwed there, they are making it harder and harder to get citizenship for Kiwis, and if you are there and don't have it you get completely screwed, with no government services, while still paying all their taxes.
All the while the mining boom has faded away drastically, and their economy has gone off the boil.

It's nothing to do with anything this hopeless government is doing, they will do down in history as one of NZ's most useless of all time, good for only one thing, racking up billions in government debt.

by Crow22Darkness | 21st May 16, 4:58am 1463763502

Nonsense. they aren't getting screwed at all. The Australian Government just made it easier for Kiwis to get citizenship if they earn over $54,000 a year for 5 years. Kiwis shouldn't get special treatment in Australia.

650,000 Kiwis live in Australia, 1 million Kiwis live overseas in total which is second only to the Irish per capita.

No government services is what Kiwis should expect if they moved to the US,UK,Canada,Australia or any other country. Kiwis don't get welfare if they pay taxes in other countries besides Australia. Australia is not a ATM.

The mining boom wasn't going to last forever. About time most Kiwis in Australia moved back to New Zealand anyway.

by Keep It Kiwi | 20th May 16, 8:41pm 1463733704

In my area of Hillcrest I sometimes think I'm in downtown Beijing!!!

by xelnaga | 21st May 16, 12:34am 1463747660

I'm jealous. I can't even imagine how awesomely vibrant you have it.

by bigblue | 20th May 16, 9:53pm 1463738035

Chinese father to his child - son I will send you from your home in Shanghai to study in Auckland provided you also promise to study real estate part time on a Wednesday at Barfoot and Thompson auction room and you must put your hand up for me many many times. Find me 8 houses and then you can pick a new BMW or Mercedes as a reward.

by Crow22Darkness | 21st May 16, 5:04am 1463763872

Ironic that I see Kiwis complaining about this. 40,000-50,000 Kiwis moved to Australia annually over the last decade. The Australian population grew by the population size of New Zealand in just 13 years from 2003-2016.

by alexil | 21st May 16, 8:21am 1463775716

Austria is not an island. They have a lot of space. NZ has a lot of mountains and prone to earthquake.

by Crow22Darkness | 21st May 16, 9:09am 1463778575

Australia is a Continent. New Zealand is country of dozens of Islands with 2 main Islands ( North Island & South Island).

NZ has plenty of space as its the size of the United Kingdom by landmass with a population the size of Ireland. 76% of the NZ population lives in the North Island & 24% live in the South Island.

The Australian city of Sydney has a larger population than all of New Zealand & Auckland has a larger population than all of the South Island.

The South Island has a similar population density to Tasmania. so don't give that excuse that NZ doesn't have enough space to spread out population wise with more people.

Austria is a country in Europe.

Australia has earthquakes too but not as common as New Zealand. Newcastle had a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in 1989 with a damage bill of $4 billion.

Lot of space? not really as 70% of the Australian continent gets less than 500mm of rain a year.

Native animals need the remaining forested parts of the arable land in Australia such as the Koala which is declining especially in Queensland due to shrinking habitat from human expansion as they are very territorial towards other koalas & require space in the wild.

Other native Australian animals facing danger from human expansion are Tree-Kangaroos & Southern Cassowary in North Queensland.

by Zachary Smith | 22nd May 16, 6:53am 1463856782

Good comment. Even Sydney is surrounded by a hostile landscape. The bush rangers would only last a few weeks out there in the Blue Mountains and it took many years to get a walking track through let alone a road. People had to be forced to go to Australia as virtual slaves.

by Crow22Darkness | 22nd May 16, 11:58pm 1463918303

Not exactly. Australia had a mixture of convicts & free settlers. free settlers settled in Australia starting from 1793.

People don't realize NZ & North America had convicts sent there too. Slaves in the Americas were not just Blacks either but also Irish & Amerindian.

Australia is a very beautiful continent & not to mention Australia is the oldest continent on earth with the oldest lowland rainforests in the world.