Photo: RNZ
Nearly 40 police officers have headed to jobs in Australia's Northern Territory, after a recruitment drive.
Officers can receive up to A$125,000 (NZ$137,000) pre-tax, and A$1000 for every overtime shift.
First year constables in the Northern Territory earn a salary of $111,000, compared to $83,000 here - the salary quoted on the new cops website in New Zealand.
They also can receive significant housing benefits - with the option to either have a house provided by the Northern Territory force, or receive a housing allowance of A$31,791 per year.
Thirty-six New Zealand officers have so far decided to take up the offer - 17 have completed training and been deployed throughout the territory, and 19 have started another training course last week.
Recruiters targeted the Eastern Bay of Plenty during seminars in November.
Northern Territory Police acting superintendent of recruitment and selections Serge Bouma said money was a motivating factor, as well as desire for a new adventure.
"I think money is a main motivator, but I'm at pains to say in our info sessions if people are just coming to us for money then their motivations are not right. We want people that are looking for an adventure something different," he said.
"What we find - certainly the New Zealand police cohort - is that we have some very good applicants, a lot of very good applicants that really really love policing. But they want to look after their family and do something different."
Part of the reason could be that officers are trying to set themselves up for a better retirement back home in New Zealand, he said.
"It's not that they're sick of policing, they just want to do something different, and certainly money and financial incentives do play a role in that."
Northern Territory police had already noticed interest from officers in Whakatāne which is why they targeted the Eastern Bay of Plenty area, he said.
"We've been on the ground in New Zealand quite a few times after the last few years, so November was certainly the first time we went to Whakatāne and what we found, was there was significant interest."
Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny told Morning Report New Zealand couldn't compete in pay rates with Australia to keep New Zealand officers from leaving, or to entice them back.
She said the Bay of Plenty district commander had told her 98 percent of those who had recently left did so for financial reasons.
"I think the nature of the game now with policing, is we are always going to have a portion of our officers do what I'd probably call a policing OE [overseas experience]- that's not uncommon now," Penny said.
"The reality is we can't compete if they are after money alone."
Police may start a national campaign to speak with New Zealand officers who've left the country. Police would not be able to offer a similar housing allowance to the Northern Territory police force.
The main drawcard would be emphasising to the officers that New Zealand is home.
"We can't compete with the finance, but what we can do in talking to our officers who are interested in coming home - it's that, it's home. A lot of people want to police in the village they grew up."
When asked about the Government's target of an extra 500 police officers, Penny said she hadn't personally talked to anyone from Government about the issues with recruitment or pay.
"We know what we need to do in relation to recruitment campaigns. Just on the 500, we're really deliberate, really focused on that."
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