In November 2025 I travelled to Melbourne, Australia, subsequently writing a blog article here with some of my thoughts, relating to how I found it in Melbourne, bearing in mind an ongoing message we hear a lot in New Zealand, that the ‘grass is greener’ in Australia or at least for some.
In September 2026 I travelled to Sydney, partly for a short holiday but also with the idea of comparing my notes on the two different cities.
1. New Zealand citizens have a right of entry to Australia
The first point to note is that New Zealand citizens (this includes myself), have a right of entry to Australia that allows visiting, living, studying and work. New Zealand citizens are granted a subclass 444 Special Category Visa on arrival in Australia. In a similar way, citizens and Permanent Residents of Australia are granted a Residence Visa on arrival in New Zealand. The arrangement reflects the close ties between the two countries.
In effect, what it can mean is that a New Zealand citizen can live, study and work in either New Zealand or Australia. This includes where New Zealand citizenship is received by grant (ie. after a person has held a Residence Visa for 5 years, has spent the required time in New Zealand and met other requirements for the grant of New Zealand citizenship).
A New Zealand passport is a strong passport to hold as it provides visa-free entry to a range of different countries as a visitor (for example, see my blog article here). For this reason alone, some clients tell us that they want to become a New Zealand citizen and hold a New Zealand passport. However, the rights on arrival in Australia for New Zealand citizens/passport holders are unique. Noting that Australia’s Residence-by-investment programme has been closed since March 2025, it might be viewed that a pathway to Residence in New Zealand through investment and then eventual New Zealand citizenship can provide an ability to live in Australia as well as New Zealand.
A factor to bear in mind is that criminal convictions in New Zealand even for New Zealand citizens can have a significant impact on the ability to enter Australia. On occasions, Simon Laurent of our law firm is asked to prepare expert evidence for New Zealand courts in support of applications for discharge without conviction under s 106 Sentencing Act 2002. See for example R v Bolea [2024] NZHC 2879 (3 October 2024) which addresses the impact on an Australian of being deported for a New Zealand conviction. Simon can be contacted for help with this is needed.
2. Sydney is a very large city compared to New Zealand cities, including Auckland
The population of Sydney is approximately 5.6 million, which is similar to the entire population of New Zealand. Sydney has a considerably larger population than Auckland (approximately 1.8 million) and it is noticeably busier.
There are some similarities between Sydney and Auckland at least in an informal way. For example, both cities have a commanding harbour, a Sky Tower, a Harbour Bridge, a central area known as ‘Wynyard’ or ‘Wynyard Quarter’, a large centrally located park and as of recently, an underground train system (the photo above is showing one of Sydney’s main stations).
It may be true that there is ‘more happening in Sydney’ (as in Melbourne) at least in part because there are just a lot more people and this can be an attraction for some. My thought having returned from Sydney is that Auckland is a noticeably quieter place.
My experience with Sydney does not indicate that the cost of living is any less than in Auckland. In New Zealand media reports, Australia is often cited as a place where people are departing from New Zealand to migrate too, often because it is said that salaries are larger in Australia. However, it appears to me that the cost of living in a place such as Sydney does in fact require a larger salary. It will help if you are earning an income in $AUD because the exchange rate between the $NZD and $AUD can have an effect on a budget. Taking into account the exchange rate, it appeared to me that several things are in fact cheaper in Auckland.
Crime and steps to enforce law and order can be a factor in a city with a much larger population. For example, while I was in Sydney, there was an announcement from the New South Wales Government about steps to crack down on ‘organised crime and gangland violence’. Auckland and New Zealand generally is not immune from this problem but perhaps it is not quite on the same scale.
Sydney is a 3 hour or so flight from Auckland, but in reality it takes a full day to get there after allowing time at each end for the necessary processes. Sydney was warmer than Auckland. I visited Dee Why Beach (Northern Beaches) and people were swimming. However, we have these types of beaches in Auckland and all around New Zealand too.
There are a lot more electric and hybrid cars in Auckland. Most cars in Sydney appeared to be run on petrol. Perhaps New Zealanders feel more strongly about caring for the environment, or some Government policies at least have encouarged that.
3. The immigration debate in Australia and will New Zealand choose a different course?
In this blog, I referred to the debate that Australia is having about migration (which is apparent from simply watching the television news there, although perhaps not something we hear a lot about in New Zealand). This 14 September 2026 news article from ABC News Australia states:
“Both Labor and the Coalition have indicated the NOM (Net Overseas Migration) is higher than they want right now and are developing policies to take greater control of the migration program.”
“Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has gone a step further, calling for net migration to be negative (with more people leaving the country than entering) in the next few years, before the NOM settles at about 130,000 a year, although it’s not always clear if the party is using the same definition for the NOM as everyone else.”
See this ABC News Australia dated 17 September 2026 referring to “Labor’s immigration crackdown”, which appears to be in response to pressures being placed by One Nation.
The question that comes to mind is whether New Zealand will follow a different course. In particular, New Zealand has an election not far away at this point. Simon Laurent writes about immigration policies being announced by political parties here.
It does appear that the current Minister of Immigration continues to be supportive of immigration, although there have been some sterner steps taken to control certain cohorts, such as the Immigration (Enhanced Risk Management) Amendment Bill, which I write about here.
Our experience is that New Zealand remains an attractive destination for many people, with so much going on in the world right now. It is safe, secure, and away from the world’s trouble zones. In our experience migrants to New Zealand understand this.