Kiwis in Flight

The “brain drain” issue is back in the news with a vengeance, sparked by Immigration Minister Paul Swain’s newly minted campaign to lure ex-patriots home. Writing in the NZ Herald writer Simon Collins received a staggering number of replies to his online questionnaire directed at overseas New Zealanders, which centred on questions such as “Do you intend to return to NZ definitely soon/definitely eventually/possibly/never? Why?” and “How do your current income and living costs compare with your potential income and living costs in NZ?” An OECD report released just days after the launch of Swain’s campaign shows that NZ has the greatest number of skilled workers living abroad of any developed nation. The issue is sure to be a major one this year, and for many years coming. Russell Brown’s 15 March blog on the subject attracted a lot of commentary and messages.