A jubilant stock market rally following the election of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has coincided with a more-than-tenfold increase in the number of Australians researching how they can move to New Zealand – and both trends are bound to benefit travel.
The leap in desire among Australians to flee their country registered itself immediately after the election outcome.
The share market went ballistic yesterday, with the big four banks and private health insurers leading strong gains.
The stock market boom, boosted by investors relieved that the threat to franking credits has been lifted, is just the thing to make self-funded retirees splash out on that special holiday. See: Morrison’s ‘miracle’ victory – a win for the travel industry?
The Australian share market’s ASX 200 index leapt 1.7% by 2pm (AEST) to reach an 11.5-year high, closing at 6476 – its highest level since late-2007, the eve of the Global Financial Crisis, and just below its record high.
Banks, property companies and health insurers led the gains, with double-digit rises for Medibank Private. The Australian dollar gained about half a US cent from recent three-year lows, and news that the Morrison Government appears to have secured a majority in the lower house may boost it further.
MEANWHILE, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) registered a greater-than-tenfold increase in Australians looking at its website on Sunday – while expressions of interest in emigrating increased by more than 25 times the level recorded the previous week.
More than 8500 people went to the “New Zealand Now” website the day after the election and 512 registered interest – the first step in the visa process – compared to about 20 registrations on 12 May 2019, the NZ government department said.
Australians do not actually need visas to move to New Zealand.
“It is important to note these are purely registrations of interest in coming to New Zealand and does not necessarily translate to the number of people actually moving to New Zealand,” INZ general manager Greg Forsythe told the Sydney Morning Herald.
A report in that paper mentioned that New Zealand’s immigration minister, Iain Lees-Galloway, had grinned when asked about the spike in inquiries.
Jacinda Ardern – Australia’s most trusted politician?
“New Zealand is a wonderful destination full of possibilities. I’m not at all surprised,” he said. “If Australians are looking at us, that’s great.”
Obviously, Aussies would want to check New Zealand out first, and that can’t be bad for tourism.
The finding came hot on the heels of a survey in which New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was voted as the most trusted politician in Australia – even though she is not in Australia.
Finally (if you have any shred of faith left in public opinion polling) a Roy Morgan poll has just shown a big leap in consumer confidence, reversing last week’s loss.
“All the sub-indices were positive,” Roy Morgan reported.
“The survey coincided with the election, so much of the gain likely reflects the impact of the surprise win by the Coalition.”
Current financial conditions rose by 0.5%, while future financial conditions were up 1.2%.
Economic conditions, which were responsible for much of the previous week’s fall, were also in positive territory. Current economic conditions were up 3.8%, compared to a fall of 8.1% previously, while future economic conditions were up 0.9%.
“Time to buy a household item” sentiment also rose significantly; it was up 4.1% to its highest level since the end of March. The four-week moving average for inflation expectations was down by 0.1% to 4.1%.
Written by Peter Needham
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