Examining trans-Tasman migration of new immigrants to New Zealand from the People's Republic of China: A quantitative approach

Abstract

‘Back-door’ migration refers to the entry of overseas-born New Zealand citizens to Australia. Many New Zealand Chinese migrants from the People's Republic of China (PRC) are within this migration flow. Based on a detailed analysis on the permanent and long-term arrival and departure data from Statistics New Zealand and an online survey conducted by the author, this paper examines the trans-Tasman migration of New Zealand's PRC migrants. The result shows that compared with New Zealand-born citizens, the trans-Tasman migration of China-born New Zealand citizens is not large in number. The 2001 Australia immigration policy change of the welfare provisions to New Zealand citizens discouraged ‘back-door’ migration of the PRC migrants in the short term only. Australia still remains a favoured destination for many of them. Economic consideration is the main factor drawing these migrants to Australia. This paper also reveals a circulatory feature of the PRC migrants' trans-Tasman migratory movements, as evidenced by a significant number of respondents who had migrated from New Zealand to Australia indicating that they would come back to New Zealand at some future time.