New Zealand chef Andrew Lee has sparked debate online after claiming Australians don't work hard enough.
The Kiwi chef, who has been working in the hospitality industry for nearly 40 years, appeared on the podcast show AltBays where he told the hosts he preferred to work with New Zealanders rather than Australians.
"A lot of the Aussies don't want to work, especially in the hospitality industry," Lee said.
The Kiwi chef moved to Australia in 2020, after working in restaurants in the Coromandel and Auckland for many years.
In the hour-long episode, Lee said: "The biggest problem with Australia is there is too many Australians."
He then went on to say: "If I could fill a kitchen I would have Kiwis, Brazilians and Argentinians."
A snippet of the podcast was shared on TikTok and several users argued Australians just don't want to work because they don't want terrible working conditions.
"Well, they don't want to work for less than what they believe they're worth," one user said.
Another commented: "The hospitality industry has a widespread bad name for not paying its employees and bad treatment."
A third said: "Maybe they don't want to work for nothing anymore, but employers can rip off workers from overseas."
