Even before its conclusion, the Australia-US free trade deal wasn’t offering much incentive for Kiwi business to relocate across the Tasman.
Just eight percent of 150 medium-sized firms surveyed in the Grant Thornton – International Business Owners Survey said they would contemplate move or partial move to Australia should free trade agreement be concluded. Most (79 percent) said they wouldn’t.
Given the fairly limited terms achieved, there’s probably even less incentive to shift.
The survey did find general discontent about compliance costs at home and the influence of Government on business. More than two thirds said compliance costs were too high. More than half also felt they paid much too much tax and 52 percent felt the Government had lot of influence over their business.
If we want a stronger tech sector, we need a wider pipeline
Guest Contributor
March 12, 2026
If we want more young women to choose technology as a career, they must be able to see women shaping AI strategy, leading cybersecurity programmes, running partner ecosystems and sitting
