For some time now, New Zealand has followed a two-pronged approach to attracting people from overseas to alleviate skills shortages. One prong has been the immigration of foreign nationals. The other has been trying to attract New Zealanders working overseas to return to New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Immigration Minister David Cunliffe says that New Zealand cannot afford to ignore the large numbers of New Zealanders living overseas, especially as the international competition for skilled people remains strong.

We need these people to ensure growth for the economic transformation of this country.

“At the same time, it makes sense to tap into the huge potential that Australia offers as a labour source. With a common labour market, New Zealand employers have access to 24 million people and Australians can move freely to this country.”

Surveys by New Zealand’s Department of Labour found 46 percent of New Zealanders living in Australia and 22 percent of Australians, aged 25 to 44 living in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane would consider moving to New Zealand to work.

“New Zealand’s economic growth has equalled that of Australia over the last six years. This has led to very strong job growth and New Zealand has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world, at 3.7 percent. With participation rates at 67.9 percent, we are experiencing skill shortages across most sectors.”

Mr. Cunliffe and Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor say the new campaign centred on the Department of Labour’s New Zealand Now programme starts in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane today in conjunction with Tourism New Zealand’s What’s On marketing campaign.

“The Government has made a commitment to encourage Kiwis to return home and to attract the skilled international people employers need. This new campaign will spread the word that New Zealand is a premier destination to live and work – and the time to be here is now,” Mr Cunliffe said.

Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor says the marketing approach will make both campaigns more effective.

“With over 900,000 visitors a year, Australians are our largest source of tourism. We hope that some of this attention and recognition will assist to get New Zealanders and Australians to think about New Zealand as a place to live and work as well,” Mr O’Connor said.

The Department of Labour was able to use Tourism New Zealand’s well-established relationships with media to increase its marketing and purchasing power.

“This campaign is a golden opportunity to show Australians what New Zealand is really like. They realise we have stunning landscapes, but we also have cities and jobs and they can live and work here,” Mr Cunliffe said.