New Zealand's nurses have walked off the job and onto the streets in their thousands, protesting a pay offer from Jacinda Ardern's government.
For many, their next step may be to Australia - a common destination for Kiwi nurses seeking a better pay packet and work-life balance.
On Wednesday, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) union led an eight-hour national strike, with dozens of coordinated actions across the country.
In Wellington, they marched straight to parliament where Health Minister Andrew Little heard their anguish at a heated lunchtime demonstration.
"You're here because you care and I hear you," Mr Little said, before being drowned out by protesters.
NZ has long experienced a labour drain to Australia, with Kiwis eyeing the larger and richer economy across the ditch to get ahead.
In nursing, the Australian allure is particularly pronounced.
"I went over for a year but had to come back for family reasons," Wellington Hospital clinical nurse Helen Kemp told AAP.
"Conditions over there were way better. Wages. Working conditions. Super.
"I could work for four days a week for the same wage back here, and you always got your breaks on time and your education was acknowledged."
Every nurse spoken to by AAP had either gone abroad themselves or knew colleagues who had done so.
Nurse Ness Mason said "People go to get a deposit for a home. It's quite common," adding the reason she wouldn't go herself was "snakes and crocodiles".
The anger in the crowd was underlined by the role nurses have played during NZ's fight against COVID-19.
Kenepuru Community Hospital nurse assistant Judith Shaw said she made around $NZ23 (A$21) an hour by completing tasks like washing and showering patients and helping them to the bathroom.
Ms Shaw was one of several to signal personal dismay at Ms Ardern.
"I'm very disappointed in her," she said.
"We have been there through COVID. We've played a major role and we deserve the pay rise. We can't survive on that."
Her colleague Glenda Chan agreed, using the cost of a proposed bridge over Auckland Harbour to protest the government's priorities.
"They're spending $700 million on a walkway and we're fighting for the basics," she said.
"(Ms Ardern) gets a lot of credit worldwide for keeping New Zealand safe but it's all of us out there that have been doing it."
Ms Ardern said meetings prevented her from attending but she was "very aware" of their plight.
"My hope is now we get back to the negotiating table," she said.
The NZNO said the current offer equates to an 1.38 per cent pay rise, or a wage cut once inflation is factored in.
The wage rises are targeted towards the worst off, as Ms Ardern's government attempts to tackle inequality.
At a press conference after the rally, Mr Little signalled an improvement to the government offer was coming.
"They want to do the best for patients and it's our job to make sure that we're creating an environment for that," he said.
