Small towns 'empty out' as record numbers opt to emigrate

She considers herself a die-hard South Island girl, but Harriet Baker, 33, won't be raising her children in the city where she's spent most of her life.

- Michelle Duff

"When we bought our house I said, 'You'll be taking me out of here in a casket," she said, of the Dunedin home she and husband Cameron Baker, 33, sold last month. "But the living costs keep climbing, you're working hard and you can't put any money away- it felt like we were treading water."

Their possessions are now winding their way to Western Australia, where the couple, their son Teddy, 2, and dog Hiccup, 8, relocated last week. Cameron will work as a heavy diesel mechanic in the mines while Harriet, formerly a public servant, will be the primary caregiver.

Harriet would like to give Teddy a Kiwi upbringing around his grandparents, but she knows that might not happen. "It does feel crazy that we're leaving them. But that Australian income just flipped the switch for us."

The Baker family are among a surge of departures from New Zealand, mostly fleeing a weak economy, in an exodus that is fuelling concern for the country's future and has small towns scrambling for survival. Demographers are particularly worried as all ages of New Zealanders - not just young people - are packing their bags.