5 ms·
Living in NZ is, by and large, a lifestyle choice for smart, capable New Zealanders. It's trivial to work in Australia [1], reasonably easy [2] to work in the
by crb 13y ago
Living in NZ is, by and large, a lifestyle choice for smart, capable New Zealanders. It's trivial to work in Australia [1], reasonably easy [2] to work in the UK, and NZers have a good enough reputation to go to any other majority English-speaking country with little trouble.
Because the country is so small - and generally without a class system - it's possible, on a relatively small income, to have everything you might want. This has sometimes been reported as the "three Bs" - a boat, a BMW and a beach house [3]. To have those three things in the UK without being born into them, you might have to have a business that employs 100; a decent tradesman working alone in NZ can get those by their early 30s.
I think a short answer is "because it doesn't want to be."
[1] When traveling from Canada to Australia for work on my NZ passport, I was held up for some time explaining why I was traveling, who I worked for in Canada, who I was going to see, etc. If I had instead said "Hello, I want to live in your country forever, and claim benefits", they would have rubber-stamped my passport and allowed me on my merry way.
[2] Changing, even over the last few years, with the whim of the UK government
[3] http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/16/punching-above-their-weight/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/16/punching-above-their-weight...
- gd1 13y ago>and a beach house Surely you mean a bach bro?
- gcv 13y agoThat sounds amazing. Are boats and beach houses that much cheaper in NZ? In the US, you have to be quite wealthy, or quite an avid sailor, to own anything more substantial than a dinghy. Houses anywhere near a semi-desirable beach community cost >$1M. Even successful people in their 30s don't often buy second homes in that price range.
- roel_v 13y agoIt's not a beach house, it's a bach, which is usually just a wooden shed in a nice spot.
- lostlogin 13y agoWay way less than that. I'm in this town on holiday currently. Check the prices! http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/CategoryAttributeSearchResults.aspx?search=1&cid=5748&sidebar=1&rptpath=350-5748-3399-&132=PROPERTY&selected135=11&134=14&135=11&136=728&216=0&216=0&217=0&217=0&153=&29=&122=0&122=0&49=0&49=0&178=0&178=0&sidebarSearch_keypresses=0&sidebarSearch_suggested=0 http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/CategoryAttributeSearchResul...
- Widdershin 13y agoNew Zealand is gifted in that we have a lot of beaches, and not too many people.
- vacri 13y agoClaiming benefits is no longer automatic for NZ citizens in Australia. It was stopped over a decade ago, with the Australian pollies happy because of the reduced welfare load, and the NZ pollies happy because of the reduced exflux of young adults.