Last one to leave...
Discussion
I'm sticking around for the next few years anyway, and even if I do leave after that I imagine I'll come back again afterwards. I like it here 
At least it is if you don't have to pay helicopters to pick you up.Given how long it took me to get from Mt Wellington to the City this afternoon, we're in no danger of underpopulation just yet.......BTW, I got ancient-marinered by this very talkative (and simultaneously very negative) guy at the videogames shop (that's why I was in Mt Wellington -my 8 yr old is very persuasive) who seemed intent on persuading me that NZ is the worst place on the planet, that we are all savages and that you'd be safer in Iraq-oh, and apparently it is colder here than in Moscow.I nodded obligingly-I am not averse to saying goodbye to those who don't like it here
Fair enough Roger... I guess most people's frustrations are that with NZ we have a WONDERFUL home in NZ.... the problem is that the problems are all social problems that could be fixed with the right leadership, seeing us become a REAL paradise and turning us from a nice place to visit into a FANTASTIC place to live and invest in... that's where the frustration lies.... for me anyway.
Still, I know that it's not much better or worse here than Australia, GBR or US and that although I could earn more oversaes, I couldn't do my motorsports stuff elsewhere so easily.
Having said that, if Labour get in again, my folks will be leaving and I might be inclined to follow them... thankfully, that's not looking likely.
Still, I know that it's not much better or worse here than Australia, GBR or US and that although I could earn more oversaes, I couldn't do my motorsports stuff elsewhere so easily.
Having said that, if Labour get in again, my folks will be leaving and I might be inclined to follow them... thankfully, that's not looking likely.
I'm pretty sure I've posted on this before - My graduate position over here paid 50-70% more than the average Engineering graduate wage in NZ (well, back when the exchange rate was in my favour). My wage in NZ dollars when I started would have put me in the top tax bracket in NZ. I have had substantial pay raises already this year (partly thanks to the graduate program I'm on). Not only do I earn more, but I pay less income tax (and its dropping again next month), less GST (marginally) and my rent is no more expensive than Auckland (and I get more for my money). Petrol is cheaper. Cost of living here in Perth is high compared to other states (especially if you're a drinker) but I can handle it. I try not to forget just how good I've got it. I also need to use fewer parentheses.
The cons? Stamp duty- 6.5% on cars here in WA, luxury tax of 25% on the value of the car over AU$59k, and you get raped on housing as well. First home buyers buying a house they're going to live in are now stamp duty exempt for houses up to AU$529,000 but the house prices are insane anyway. I'll never buy a house here, and will buy my next car in Adelaide. Golf is expensive, travel within Aussie or to NZ is expensive but its cheaper to get to Asia/Europe from here. Another big downer is that Labour might get elected to Federal govt over here as well. If they do, I'll be voting with my feet again...
If you're considering Aussie, I'd look very seriously at Brisbane. Nice place, nice people, close to home, sunny, low stamp duty... wait til the Federal election later this year though. Rudd and his union cronies want to send Aussie back to the dark ages.
The cons? Stamp duty- 6.5% on cars here in WA, luxury tax of 25% on the value of the car over AU$59k, and you get raped on housing as well. First home buyers buying a house they're going to live in are now stamp duty exempt for houses up to AU$529,000 but the house prices are insane anyway. I'll never buy a house here, and will buy my next car in Adelaide. Golf is expensive, travel within Aussie or to NZ is expensive but its cheaper to get to Asia/Europe from here. Another big downer is that Labour might get elected to Federal govt over here as well. If they do, I'll be voting with my feet again...
If you're considering Aussie, I'd look very seriously at Brisbane. Nice place, nice people, close to home, sunny, low stamp duty... wait til the Federal election later this year though. Rudd and his union cronies want to send Aussie back to the dark ages.
Havnt ever considered Aus to live TBH, I know I could earn more there but if I wanted to earn more I wouldnt have left the UK.
I think NZ needs to sort out a few tax issues, and immigration ones, and stop the housing market going silly (its not like theres a lack of land or the houses are expensive to build).
I think NZ needs to sort out a few tax issues, and immigration ones, and stop the housing market going silly (its not like theres a lack of land or the houses are expensive to build).
RobDickinson said:
(its not like theres a lack of land or the houses are expensive to build).
My thought exactly... I think if it wasn't for the fact that the ground shakes in most of NZ, I'd have a brick and tile with double glazing over the flimsy rubbish housing that all too often is built in NZ... I've seen how many a house is built in NZ, some by a civil engineering mate of mine!, it all makes me cringe... although, in Auckland, like here, the bulk of the cost these days is the section...And despite the fact that I am attached to my neighbours house here, I don't hear 1/2 the noise, unlike the noise from all the detacted houses next door back in jafa land...
Roger A said:
we're in no danger of underpopulation just yet
That’s because we have a cunning plan whereby we keep relaxing the standards needed to immigrate here to fill the gap and then a bit.What actually worries me is whether we are actually losing people with skills that we can’t replace easily.
speedy_thrills said:
Roger A said:
we're in no danger of underpopulation just yet
That’s because we have a cunning plan whereby we keep relaxing the standards needed to immigrate here to fill the gap and then a bit.What actually worries me is whether we are actually losing people with skills that we can’t replace easily.
(Which is precicely what's happening in the UK, although they have a much bigger base to start with)
Given the way yoof today behave, in general, I'd not expect things to change any time soon.
Esprit said:
And in doing so diluting the NZ gene pool with rubbish.
That would be me - I drink a bit, drive a bit too fast and now don't have a job!I too had a job offer in Aus at 35% more money, but it's still less than I could get back home and that's not what I am here for. The grass is always greener, but despite what the press and people say, in the case of the UK I'd much rather be here.
Don't be glum, NZ is still a great place to be!
Dan
Roger A said:
Diluting the gene pool? are you just winding us up George? I sure hope so.
By diluting the gene pool with rubbish, I'm not talking racially, just that we make it as hard as bloody possible for many skilled migrants to come here, yet other, far more questionable, characters seem to be allowed in by the boatload.Meanwhile we make it extremely unattractive for our own educated folk to live here while we have a welfare system that encourages the no-hopers to breed as much as they can .... I believe "sh1tting in your own nest" is the applicable phrase.
I laugh every time Trevor Mallard gets up and says that he doesn't mind people leaving because there are plenty of skilled people coming into the country to replace them. Thats certainly one way to alienate professional expats who would have considered coming home in the future. I don't even lie when people ask me if I'd move back to NZ now!
Esprit said:
I'm stopped here for another 2 years at least.... I'm fortunate in that, while I get paid less here, to be an active participant in the hobby I choose, it's cheaper here to do it than anywhere else in the world.... $120 trackdays rock 
In WA if you are a member of the WASCC (and you would be...) then track days at Wanneroo cost about $50. 
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