You say subjective, but care to point to ANY high wage, low cost areas of NZ to live in, why buying a house is on average more than 100% of the average wage & 175% of the median and why with almost 1/4 of the population lock overseas, an amount higher than ever before, there is record poverty & unemployment in NZ?
I live in an area most aren't keen on living in (due mostly to misinformation and snobbery), but through a
slightly higher than average wage, and a wife on a similar wage, we have been able to upgrade our family home to a MASSIVE house in a semi-rural suburb that would cost 7 figures in either Auckland or Australia. The lifestyle is great, our mortgage is acceptable, we have all we want and more (only need to update the décor), but I now have a private movie theatre, massive entertainers conservatory with spa pool, huge living, large garden, endless garaging and workshop space, and am working on the sports bar/gamesroom. We are surrounded by native bush, bushwalks, farmland, the top local golf course is 400 metres from my front door, am 1.5kms from the dairy, a fish and chip shop, 2 restaurants a bottle store and a bar, as well as being a couple of hundred metres from the river and 3 or 4 kms from the beach, and even have school buses at the door. This would be unobtainable for all but the most wealthy in Australia or even Auckland.
I lived in Australia for 3 years in the mid 90s and will never return for any more than a brief holiday. I have family who have lived there for 25 years, and other family who are moving there to seek their fortune, but I have all I need here. The grass is definitely greener for me at home.[DOUBLEPOST=1366006222,1366004870][/DOUBLEPOST]
Living in Melbourne since 2011, when I first got here I got angry when I saw how cheap people here can buy NZ dairy products, nearly half price, exchange rate doesn't cover it. Petrol $1.38 a litre today. Aus prices change all the time NZ doesn't . Why is that. Corporates are ripping Kiwis off, Fonterra and crew only care about the bottom line and appear to rort Kiwis to maximise their profits. Not to mention no GST on essential foods. As far as Politics go it doesn't really matter who is in power in NZ, it is just groundhog day. If Fonterra is happy, the Government is happy.
Wages don't bear comparison, I went up 20K Aus over the space of a weekend. My wife misses NZ but admits she feels safer here generally (we shifted over from Palmy North). Schools are in the main, excellent. Most of the intimidatory basketballs under the arms gorillas you see at shopping malls here tend to be young Kiwis unfortunately.
I find the average Aussie really good people. They don't have a chip on their shoulder about NZ, unlike a lot of Kiwis. They are very patriotic and will support their teams unreservedly, as long as they are giving a go. I can only really speak about Melbourne but I have found people really welcoming. They are really respectful of things like ANZAC day and Armistice day. I was in Collins Street in centre of Melbourne on the 11/11 at 11.00am and you could have heard a pin drop. Last year at Warriors Storm game during the Last Post everyone stood and we had to hear this dickhead screaming in a Kiwi accent 'Fuck this shit, it's history, get on with the game'. Embarrasing, luckily he was wearing a Storm jersey (lots of Kiwis support Storm here). We have bought a house here, we will go home one day, when, who knows.
Just a thought, what would the unemployment rate be in NZ if we all went home. The NZ Government might be happy for my kids to grow up in poverty, I am not.
I call BS on this. That group of words has nothing that would be distinguishable between an Aussie or a Kiwi accent. Just a way to "prove" your point.
I have a workmate who visited his cousin in Melbourne last year, and he couldn't get over the crime and the danger. His cousin would not go into certain neighbourhoods because of the gangs of ethnic groups involved in "turf wars", and told him that people weren't dishing out hidings anymore, but were more likely to dish out stabbings.
The family I have living in Rockhampton in Central Queensland are doing nowhere as well as my immediate family (apart from my father who is in the mining industry but fearing for his job). The crime rate there is through the roof compared to Southland in New Zealand. Violent crime is massive over there compared to down here.
I completely agree regarding the whole Fonterra rant (I work directly with Fonterra product, but not FOR Fonterra and am also disgusted about the price of their product vs their profits), but the fact is that any company/corporation of that size in a country of this size will have far too much power, no matter who the government is (mining companies in Australia probably wield just as much power).[DOUBLEPOST=1366006745][/DOUBLEPOST]an article showing what can go wrong seeking the better life over the ditch.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/8542785/Homeless-Kiwis-live-under-a-Sydney-bridge
