The late New Zealand prime minister Robert Muldoon once quipped that the annual exodus of Kiwis to Australia raised the average IQ of both countries.

And now Kiwis are having the last laugh.

Recently for the first time in 24 years, more people headed towards Australia than in the opposite direction.

As New Zealand's fortunes have soared, Australia’s have dived, thanks to the tailing off of a decade-long mining boom fuelled by Chinese demand for raw materials. Particularly painful has been a slump in the price of iron ore, Australia’s most lucrative export.

Before being elected in 2008, Mr Key made a campaign advertisement in Wellington’s Westpac Stadium, pointing to the 34,500 empty seats as equivalent to the number of New Zealanders leaving every year. He vowed to turn that around – and now he has.

In April, according to new government figures, 100 more people crossed The Ditch in an easterly direction than those going west. Some were Australians seeking better job prospects and a lower cost of living, while others were New Zealanders moving home.

In total New Zealand, with a population of around 4.5 million, recorded a net gain of 56,800 people between April 2014 and April 2015

Two years ago, a net 34,000 New Zealanders moved to Australia. That fell to 11,000 last year and to 1,900 in the latest statistics.

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