jill1420

Oops I missed link to NZ Herald............thats terrible. Not to dismiss it in anyway but sad reality is that it does and can happen everywhere. Unfortunately sickos are all around us.

Does anyone who is living in NZ know main benefits to NZ over OZ.
I compared crime rate from where I live in Scotland to that of a similar sector in Queensland (per population ratio etc.) and it was noticeably lower over there.

Is it much easier to get into NZ or is this a myth?
I can only go to Oz via Study visa (very expensive and risky).

Cava Fizz

Jill if i were you, i would start a new thread with any questions you have. i doubt this thread will help much.

I think NZ is easier to get into than OZ, in nearly all circumstances.

jill1420

Thanks Cava Fizz.................I was just thinking that.

Batty

Disregarding all the that's gone on in the last few pages - this is THE thing that upsets me in New Zealand. I make my comparisons based on where I've come from - I think most people do that - and with a similar population the violence towards women (and children) here is much greater than anything I've ever encountered before. And, that's speaking as a 'statistic' myself. Which of course is why I pay close attention to these stories - same as someone who's had graffiti painted on their fence will notice that more

Sometimes I feel it's almost primitive and regarded as a 'right'. I heard last night that it's only 50 years ago that the 'right to beat a wife with a stick no bigger than a thumb' was removed from the statute books here (Rule of Thumb) In the UK & Ireland it was removed at the end of the 19th century.

The Women's shelters here are at breaking point and it's only getting worse. Tbh, I think the culture of violence in the family here is the main reason there is so much outrage about the smacking bill. I can’t quite get my head around the fact that people think they HAVE to have the right in law to hit their children.

Unless one has an interest in this topic, and unless one is already in a DV situation before arriving here, it will affect very few migrants. I still feel safe here, safer in my own home, safer on the street than I did anywhere I lived in Europe.

But, at the risk of agreeing with Mr Soup, - for a population of its size, New Zealand has far too many of these type of stories.

jill1420

sorry to hear youve been the victim of crime....................but glad you feel safer in NZ.

Batty would you say NZ is similar to Oz in relation to crime? Or do you have no knowledge?

Batty

Jill, the crime was being married to a man who thought it was ok to hit women It wasn't in NZ and he wasn't a Kiwi.

I'd say if you took out the domestic violence deaths/assaults that crime is actually quite low in New Zealand. I don't go by stats - just what I see and hear in the news and how it makes me feel e.g. am I going to feel afraid getting a bus late at night and walking to my house? And, as I said before, no, I don't feel unsafe. I've no idea what it's like in Oz.

jill1420

Sorry Batty!

Totally missed the underlying issue..............glad you now feel safer!

Campbells

Ok. stop posting then.

Campbells

Ehh, how's a negative post on here - qualify ?

Interesting that NZ still has the death penalty. Hmm. have to be carefull what I say about Ms Clark

Jude J

Just read the story. How bloody awful. Lets hope they catch them soon.

lapsed kiwi

Batty, so sorry to hear you've been on the receiving end of any violence, but your "fact" about the rule of thumb intrigued me. It's worth having a look here:
http://www.debunker.com/texts/ruleofthumb.html
I do wish people would check their facts before quoting them here - especially posters whose writing is usually so well informed and balanced.

lapsed kiwi

Back to the original post, I really can't see what purpose is served by selectively picking nasty stories from a country's media and posting them here. We all know crime happens everywhere, and if people want to find out about the news in a country they can look at the website of the Herald, or Dominion Post, etc. Then they'll get a balanced picture, not just the gang rapes, high phone charges or whatever else the scare of the day is. OK, here's one:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...29/niran29.xml
There, per capita, as many UKers have been abducted by the Iranian Republican Guard as NZers have been gang-raped in Wellington this month. Does that mean if you live in the UK you're going to be abducted by Iranians? Should potential migrants to UK be worried about abduction by foreign powers? Should potential migrants cross NZ off their list because they're worried about being gang-raped.
I would suggest "no" is the sensible answer to all of the above.

lapsed kiwi

And then there are statistics, and the helpful link that shows just how dangerous NZ is. Have a quick look at the assaults per capita: NZ is 15 times higher than Colombia and enormously higher than Indonesia, yet would you feel safest walking the streets of Wellington, Jakarta or Bogota after dark?
NZ certainly "feels" safe to me, but then so did the UK - I think a lot depends on where you live. Sure, Once were Warriors paints a grim picture but then so does Trainspotting. It doesn't mean that NZ is populated mainly by gangs any more than Britain is by heroin addicts.

Beachcombers

Well said. Just Campbells strange way of being "Sir Spamalot" under the guise of being thought provoking.

Campbells

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(e...nic)#Chat_spam

I think the word spam is referenced here -
Chat spam can occur in any live chat environment like IRC and in-game multiplayer chat of online games. It consists of repeating the same word or sentence many times to get attention or to interfere with normal operations. It is generally considered very rude and may lead to swift exclusion of the user from the used chat service by the owners or moderators.
The application of the name "Spam" to unwanted communication originates in Chat-room spam. Specifically, it was developed in the chat-rooms of People-Link in the early 1980’s as a technique for getting rid of unwelcome newcomers. When someone would enter a chat-room full of friends who were in mid-conversation, and the newcomer tried to turn the conversation in an unwelcome direction (usually trolling for cybersex), two veteran members of the room would begin typing in the Monty Python “Spam” routine at high speed. They would fill the screen with “Spam Spam Spam eggs Spam Spam and Spam” etc, and make all other communication impossible. The other members of the room would just wait quietly until the newcomer got disgusted and moved on to a different room.
Chat Spamming is also against in the rules in some games as it interrupts people's activities.

In case you haven't noticed there are people that catually agree with my topics. You are of course intitled to your opinion which quite obviously includes me being racist. Of course becuase I lived in South Africa. Hmm, bit of generalising there mate