26,000 leave ‘Godzone’ in year

Press, 17 August 1978, Page 6

26,000 leave ‘Godzone’ in year

PA Hamilton New Zealand suffered a net population loss of '26,000 through migration in the year ended July 31, 1978. About two-thirds of those who left were productive members of the labour force, but only a third of those who came into the country' will be actively engaged in the economy. Statistics Department figures show that New Zealand lost just over 3000 people in professional and technical occupations. Seven thousand craftsmen, production workers and labourers left last year as well as nearly 700 top administrative, executive and. managerial personnel.

In the first three months of | 1977, New Zealand had a net! loss of 60 doctors, and for the first time since records were begun in 1969, more foreign doctors left New Zealand than arrived. These figures are “very significant,” according to a Manufacturers’ Federation economist. Mr W. Coffey. “It is the very mobile people who are leaving — those in the higher-skilled categories,” he said. "They are the most active, most productive people in the economy.” Mr Coffey said that as the economy picked up, the demand for skilled labour could not be met. The only people

able to do certain jobs had I gone overseas. i “There is quite a lot of ' movement among professional people. It is the highly 1 skilled, highly qualified per- 1 sonnel who are going,” said ; an Auckland Executive Personnel consultant, Mr J. 1 Peebles. He cited three cases of people in this category who were planning to leave New J Zealand soon. “These are generally the people who have the skills and can move readily,” he said. The high loss of skilled craftsmen is also posing problems and Mr R. Savage,., a Hamilton unionist and 1 tradesman, said he knew of’ four fitters who handed in'

their notice in the last fortnight to go overseas. All were qualified tradesmen. He thinks that most tradesmen can get jobs anywhere overseas and that is probably why they are leaving. The Surgeon Superintendent of Te Kuiti Hospital (Mr J. Mandeno) spoke of a doctor from that hospital who had just left for “the finani cially greener pastures of Australia.” “This doctor was very sad about leaving New Zealand and regretted having to leave for purely financial reasons.” Mr Mandeno said that the going rate in Australia for a [registrar was $20,000, but in I New Zealand it was only '512,000.

“Young doctors are going to Australia in droves because of the purely financial consideration. They can get just as good experience there as they can in New Zealand, but for a better financial return,” he said. Real estate agents have also noticed a marked increase in the number of people seling their houses to go overseas — particularly in the last year. Most of those people seem to be going to Australia and Britain. “There is definitely a movement in this direction,” said a Hamilton real estate agent. “They are younger people, with nothing to lose, so they (pack up and go.”