Couple of reasons.

NZ has a much lower wage cost, there are no penalty payments.

So nothing extra for working late at night,

Nothing extra for a weekend or

a public holiday.

Plus the NZ law states the ratio of cabin crew per pax is higher than in Australia.

I cannot remember the figures but it basically works out that under a NZ company - the 737 can be crewed with 4 FA, than the Australia version which is 5 (I think).

So not only no penalty shifts - lower hours between flights - and less crew per flight.

It all adds up....

I have flown Jet Connect once and I have to say the service was pretty friendly, apart from the smart ... reply - what wines to you have - red and white - when I wanted to know if the white was a chardony or a Sauv Blanc.

In the end I opted for a scotch......