Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

I think its about time Team NZ got rid of the spin it puts out that it is a safe place to live, raise kids etc. Sure some areas of the nation are safer than others, but then most countries in the developed world can make the same claim.

The latest incident concerned a young couple that were bashed whilst walking home in the small hours on the North Shore http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10487479 how do potential immigrants reconcile news such as this to their primary aims for wanting to live in NZ? Do they turn a blind eye?

Gosh......now the Herald is wondering how all this is perceived by the rest of the world, whoooops! can't have outsiders thinking bad of us can we? :p

As usual the people who know put their collective finger on the button very well http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/st...ectid=10487308 beats statistics anyday, interesting comment from Elizabeth from NYC that she felt safer walking round NYC than Hamilton, Wellington or Auckland before making this comment
"Violence is pretty built into our NZ society - it's not a new thing"

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

At last - someone that talks real sense. I have to say I felt more frightened in Chch after midnight city centre (or anywhere the hoons on the roads at anytime) if coming out of a bar/dinner than I ever have in any of the countries i have lived in. Crime is nothing new, violence is not new, and it is certainly rife in NZ as it is everywhere. Why people argue the fact that it is not is crazy. It is a fact of life. Crime is everywhere. People who come to NZ with the promise of better schools and crime free places to live really need to wake up and those that post the very same need to stop misleading people. It isn't fair.

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

You're right it isn't.

Everyone comes to NZ looking for their own little slice of heaven, some are lucky enough to be able live in small communities where everyone's grandparents went to school together and front doors are never locked. But even communities such as these are marred by crime e.g. The foreign newlywed who was raped in her camper van a year or so back, the farmer who was gunned down on his own land, the elderly school teacher beaten to death in her classroom, the list goes on and on.

I think it's extremely dangerous that migrants and many tourists are lured to NZ with tales of how safe it is, it makes them throw away years of common sense and let their guard down. I know because I did it myself - I distinctly remember walking around Albany Warehouse's badly lighted underground car parking thinking "hey chill out, this is NZ, it's safe here" what a blinking idiot :o!

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

How would you describe Oz in terms of crime then Nerine?

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

Exactly, Oz also has high levels of violent crime. I know that quoting stats on this website is generally not accepted but Oz too has higher levels of violent crime, according to any statistics I can find, than the UK. This is particularly true of violent sexual assualts where Aus seems to lead the list of the largest, developed countries. I find it odd for someone sitting in Aus to be chastising NZ on its crime rate & its reaction to crime.

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

I didnt think this was about Aussie was it? There is a specific site for that. We were discussing NZ and people coming here thinking that there is no crime and people telling them this.

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

Yet another cynical attempt to derail a thread when the subject gets too close for comfort :p.

Let's get tough on the causes of crime......

http://www.parapundit.com/archives/002531.html

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

Well it's being suggested that either the NZ media, or the general population or both is guilty of some kind of cover up here to not to the shine of things for unsuspecting immigrants. I don't think its irrelevant to make a comparison with Aus....if you look at the 'site for that' you'll find plenty of people considering a move there who seem to have a similar rose-tinted view on their prospective life. I don't think either NZ or Aus is guilty of some huge spin job.....more likely that many prospective immigrants have the philosophy that the grass must be greener, 'oh but it can't be as bad as in the UK' etc etc.....that's what they want/need to believe so they do.

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

oh yes, they love that, divert the attention to a country that might have more crime. Makes them feel better about bending the truth about the real NZ.

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

....so in otherwords NZ bends the truth, and is the only country that does so, if they do massage their crime figures, you don't think other countries do as well??

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

no I didnt say that NZ bent the truth, what I said was that some people (not Kiwis but people that have come to live in NZ and post on here) try and fight tooth and nail that there is such little crime and it ALWAYS goes back to them saying that the UK has worst crime, then when that has been done to death they then say that SA or Australia has worse crime than NZ. Rather than accept that crime is everywhere and just as rife in NZ as it is everywhere.

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

Well as you can probably see I dont live in NZ so I'm generalising here....however I'm definitely not one of those people in an Aus vs UK sense. I'm very much in the same shit different bucket camp when it comes to such issues.....unlike a lot of people who post on this website I'm prepared to accept official published stats whether or not they are supported by my anecdotal experiences or not. Those stats generally show you have more to be worried about living in NZ or Aus than you do in the UK except perhaps if you're biggest concern in life is getting your car nicked. That being said I've never been a victim of anything other than minor property crime in the Uk, Aus or on visits to NZ.

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

Ok, let's take it from the horse's mouth and see what this website has to say.

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/abo...and-safety.cfm

Goes to great pains to emphasise that New Zealand has a relatively low crime rate and is one of the safest travel destinations, it then goes on to highlight the precautions that travellers should take. It's easy to read behind the lines when you know a little more about the country.

How many people read this thinking that the excellent advice is detracted from somewhat by the 'low crime rate' and 'safest destination' comments and take the advice less seriously as a result?

What impact would the information have if those comments were removed?

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

well I am in Scotland now, not NZ anymore and I have never been a victim of crime in the UK at all. Maybe I have just been lucky but have lived in two major cities so would have thought that would have raised the stakes. Where I live a scratch on a car is BIG news. Same as rural places in NZ. I have not said there is less crime in the UK or there is more in NZ or anywhere, what I have said is that NZ does have crime. A lot of it. As does everywhere. I just think people saying that it is really 'safe' are selling only half the story and people that believe it are only wanting to see half the story.

Re: OMG!! British girl murdered on WHV
 

Excellent post, I agree with that completely. I think before we left for NZ we only wanted to see half the story too because I don't remember having any concerns about crime being a problem in NZ. Like many people I thought it was a just safe, green country where my kids would be safe. The world's last safe haven.

I've just been reading some more about the beating of that couple in Milford and found it truely shocking, made me feel sick to read the details. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4360679a11.html what on earth is happening to the place?! :(