Catchafire

+1

Australia is Mother Natures Thunder Dome, everything is evolved to kill and eat everything else.

Including this happy looking chap, the Sydney Funnel Web spider, the Darth Vader of spiders, it's what the devil gave Marilyn Manson for christmas and it likes to live around domestic swimming pools. Quite fond of swimming apparently. A bite usually gives the victim 15-60mins to update their facebook status to "Oh %^$*".

downunderpom

I've lived in Oz a total of 9 years, and in NZ a total of 7.5 years. For me, NZ has what I want, and doesn't have what I don't want. Now, don't get me wrong - I used to keep redback spiders as pets when I was a kid! Snakes don't bother me, as I give them plenty of room and don't box them in, causing them to panic.

But what I hated about Oz was swarms of biting flies, all females, desperate to get some protein down their necks so that they can lay eggs. And that protein is in your sweat. They get in your eyes. They get up your nose. They buzz frantically around in your ears. They get up your shirt and squirm around. I HATE friggin' flies!!!!

Also, swarms of stinging jellyfish, moving up the George River in Sydney, or swarming the beaches. Unpleasant.

No snakes in NZ. All the spiders are little things. Flies are usually big, fat, and slow - you can take them out of the air with a lazy swipe of your swatter. Less people, apart from Auckland, but if I wanted to live in a big city I'd chose London, and make four times what I do here. Wellington, despite being the capital, has more of a 'town' vibe, than a 'city' vibe.

Both NZ and Oz have plenty of elbow-room.

Both Oz and NZ have a laid back "She'll be right" attitude.

Oz is more American in outlook. NZ is more English. I prefer the English attitude.

I could go on for hours about the differences, but you get my drift.

It's NZ for me. I already have NZ citizenship, and could hop the ditch any time I like. I choose not to.

Boopy

My son moved to Aus end of last year. He works as a Barista, same as he did in Wellington. In Aus he was started on a temp contract, now he is on a perm contract & supervisor, his Aus salary is the equivalent of a senior nurse in NZ & almost double what he earned here in NZ.

simonsi

Hmmm, sorry but that tells you much of why wages are higher in Aus, if a Barista doubles their wages there (and is a general rule for similar jobs), then that will feed through the economy, and frankly I doubt the additional value added to an Aus coffee vs a NZ coffee warrants the difference in labour cost.

Sherlock Holmes

This confuses me a bit. Maybe I am misreading it.

Coffee in most places in Oz about $3.00 - maybe $3.50 in Melbourne. I've heard ridiculous prices in NZ. As much as $6.00 t0 $8.00??

A Barista (non supervisor) in most places will be on about $20.00 an hour.

Sherlock Holmes

To anyone who hasn't been to Oz, this reads as if the whole place is permanently swarming with flies. Which is isn't.

Living in country Victoria flies are fairly rare. The ones you get can be rather persistent but I remember that in Spain as well.

downunderpom

Country Victoria (and the cooler, southern states) might not have the same concentration. I remember when we first went to Oz, we thought everyone was SO friendly - they kept waving at everyone! Turns out they were waving flies away from their faces!

Every now and then, Qld gets a huge swarm, which gets blown south into NSW, and on into the top end of Victoria. Also, out bush, the flies are endemic, especially in the hotter areas, of which Oz has an abundance!

Kiwikaye

I worked out after reading the PP that a coffee in Melbourne costs me approximately 6 minutes at my hourly rate, whereas when I was working in Christchurch, NZ it was costing me approximately 12-15 minutes, so even though the labour cost may be higher for the Melbourne coffee, the cost to me is decidedly lower.

simonsi

My point is that the inherent value added by a Barista in Oz is much the same as in NZ, then if the wages in Oz for a Barista are twice that in NZ then that supports the view that Oz wages are high because Oz input wages are high, in other words high wages with high cost of living...

I mean its not as if the Oz Barista is woring under arduous conditions, threats etc that might justify a higher wage.

Charismatic

So what...you want to look at disposable income instead?

There is a reason that every time any opposition MP asks the government how the wage comparisons are going they fail to respond (regardless of which side is which). We just don't compare favorably with Australia in this area.

kodachrome

What, going back to this point.. what job is paid 10 (to 12?) times more in Oz than same job in Nz? That unbelievable, thats like comparing 3rd world to 1st salary wise.

RedDragon2008

You said it


Job is CEO

kodachrome

You have a job as "CEO" and were offered another job, in another country and presumably company as "CEO". Even if true, those are arent comparable jobs given they are unique/specialist positions as heads of companies that may not even be remotely similar in scale, so that cannot be used as a benchmark for anything at all.

You are being too vague for your statements to make any sense. Logic would dictate that by and large no [normal] job has a factor of 10 difference between Oz and Nz.

RedDragon2008

Not that you would be aware but CEO operate in a global market

My point indicates the wide gap between employment rates.

I have plenty of peers who are stuck in NZ because of family committments. Knowing as soon as they move offshore their packages multiply in comparison to a side move in NZ.

I dont need to disclose my personal package, but have given sufficent detail to indicate the disparity between OZ and NZ.

If your stuck in NZ thats your problem

simonsi

You somehow think that statement is comparable to "job is Barista" or even "job is accountant"???

What a garden path to be taken up