Prime Minister John Key says it's not all bad news that so many Kiwis are moving across the Tasman.
Over 50,000 New Zealanders have gone to live in Australia in the past year.
Labour last week attacked the Government for failing to reverse the trend.
Mr Key says it's a bit of a conundrum because while he wants to keep people here, more people in Australia is also a good thing.
"We want to keep people in New Zealand... You do want a strong Australia, because they are such a large market for us and we are so dependant on them.
"So they are the first source of all of our tourists, they are our biggest source of foreign investment, they take a quarter of all of our exports."
