Rate1, that may normally be the case but NZ and Australia have an agreement to recognise each other's professional ratings and licences. All
Wee Willy needs to do is front up to CASA with his logbook, NZ licence and medical, handover a sum of money, and he will be given a temporary Aus licence on the spot. The permanent one follows later in the mail. This only works for professional licences, so it is good for a CPL and higher but no good for a PPL.
Of course, he'll need an ASIC which may take some time
