Pity all those poor Victorians living in the only state in Australia where house prices are falling. They seem to be truly cursed. Talking to Kiwi mates in the construction game during the week, they blindsided me when they blamed Victoria, of all places, for New Zealand’s labour shortages. And this is coming from a country that is in a full-blown recession and which has had one of the largest increases in unemployment – from 3.2 per cent to 4.6 per cent – in the developed world.

My Kiwi building buddies claimed the change in the Victorian government’s gross debt outstanding – exploding from below $50 billion in 2019 to almost $300 billion today – was sucking tradies from their homeland.