Nerine

According to an article in today's NZ Herald the number of Kiwis leaving for Oz this year stands at a 27,200 -the highest annual exodus since 1988, 10% of New Zealanders now live across the ditch.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10483282

what was really interesting though was the comments people made as to why they were leaving, paticularly the graduates who can't afford to stay and pay off student loans, talk about brain drain.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/st...0480187&pnum=2

Hopefully this will be a wake up call for the government, everyone with get up and go is doing just that.

lardyl

Lots of interesting comments in there..........................101 pages of Oz baiting and Kiwi thumping, never mind the ex-Pat bashing..................
Suppose this reflects the attitudes of many Kiwis/Aussies to us incomers and the Kiwi migrants....
Gotta stop browsing and go to bed......................

Nerine

and I thought posts on this forum got a bit heated at times.

crap coffee

so what?

Utterly sick of to hear the same boring news...eh?

don't think NZ is gonna be completely empty anyway... so no worries mate..

more than happy to be in nz....very very happy

thanks god. again NO large Cockroaches, stinking heat, naff beers and severe water shortage here...

so far so good

hey, let's play POker and booze together!

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think

Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink

It's good to be wise when you're young 'Cos you can only be young but the once

Enjoy yourself and have lots of FUn

Cheers

Nerine

Oh, I know....it's a hard choice between Monteith's Summer Ale in one country and Old Speckled Hen on tap in the other.

As for the other items you've mentioned........hmmm......you've not lived in NZ long have you?

just incase you need it

http://www.realestate.co.nz/resource...have-a-cockroa

crap coffee

erm, where to begin in correcting you.

I have lived in NZ for 12 years... went to school in Welly...

I am a NZ citizen...mate. No Thanks for Oz passport...

btw why not Speights old dark?

You thoroughly enjoy new 4 minute shower rule then? it's a good stuff


[QUOTE=Nerine;5684783]: Oh, I know....it's a hard choice between Monteith's Summer Ale in one country and Old Speckled Hen on tap in the other.

As for the other items you've mentioned........hmmm......you've not lived in NZ long have you?

misterjingo

How is the stdent loan in NZ paid? What's the interest etc? I ask as in most countries the SL is a very small deduction each month from your wage, and emigrating for that reason alone seems crazy (or not the real reason at all).

brussels_sprout

It is the high taxes in NZ that is another big reason for moving to Oz too. The majority of teachers, police etc are actually in the the supertax bracket. This because of "bracket creep", the amounts have not been adjusted to keep pace with inflation, allowing the government to take more tax off us. There is no 0% tax bracket as there is most European countries, you pay tax even on a tiny salary ! Of course, it is election year in 2008 and governments will make a give away bribe so maybe this will change slightly, but the NZ budget surplus is one of the highest in the world, the government just overtaxes, it is like the old UK Labour tax and spend thinking and arrogance on the part of the NZ politicians. Only when the number Oz migrants gets really serious will anything be done about it

Lenmil

Well some off you may remember i tried many times to go to NZ and still not there but ended up in Oz. The difference is very noticalble with most people driving in better cars and generally have more. I spoke to my old work mate the other day and what they tell me is just shocking how far things have changed since i was there. Taxes and house prices for one. I now can't afford to go back to NZ. I am now in Tassie and plan to stay. Shame as NZ is beautiful, but so is Tassie.

Yotty

BS thats called "fiscal creep" in UK. I hope you're not ranting again Nerine! Good discussion though ..

Nerine

Agreed. Another aspect of the tax system is that there are no incentives to save money - no tax breaks for investing. There's Kiwisaver but that's only for working people and doesn't help retired people or families where Mum/Dad has decided to take a career break to bring up the children.

Add to that the high interest rates on mortgages and loans, high house prices and limited job prospects and its not hard to see why young grads are choosing to work elsewhere. So many of our friend's children just up and left for Oz when they finished Uni it was incredible, none of them are planning to return either and its such a shame .

It's not all doom and gloom though, there are rumours of tax cuts in the future. It could have the knock on effect of leading to another increase in base rates (similar to what happened here recently) something needs to be done to ease the squeeze, and soon.

brussels_sprout

As i said the tax cuts are an election sweetener only,
but despite all the high taxes, NZ has an extremely low unemployment rate , so it remains an attractive place to come to , financially. If you can buy your own house with no mortgage , it is GREAT place.
But the main pull of NZ remains the lifestyle !

Vim Fuego

'Many', but not the majority.

All it reflects is the attitudes of people who tend to post their opinions on message boards and forums ... this is not a fair cross-section of the community.

Nerine

BS that's an interesting point, this article is a few years old now but the content still holds true http://www.nzedge.com/features/braindrain_poole.html

IMO the lifestyle argument is a sticky one, its been too heavily relied on to attract people to NZ. To quote from the above article:

"Many have suggested that the "lifestyle" advantage that New Zealand had relied on to attract young people back may no longer be enough"

Add to that the fact that many already find the "lifestyle" in other countries to be pretty good and there isn't much to attract people back to NZ.

Still, I guess the flip side to that is that there are plenty of immigrants lining up to fills the gaps.

phil01

Wow Nerine if you put half as much effort into enjoying Oz or working as you do into trying to slate NZ you may find some happiness.