NZ vs. Australia

[tui6]

Interesting to read this NZ vs OZ forum as My husband and I have been debating this for the last 8 months! We have not made any progress on residency applications as cannot decide on the country! We finally settled on NZ and emailed some friends there to tell them to get the response " why do you want to come here? Everyone says the place to be is Perth!". So unsure again now...
I know wages are higher in OZ but also houseprices/rents higher, taxes etc. Do you think financially people are better off in OZ or NZ or it is about equal??

[Potato]

I love mountains and the sea, making NZ a natural choice. I like being able to drive a short distance and see things change a lot. I like the compact city of Wellington.
I can't think of many great reasons to live in Australia instead.
The weather there is not so great. Some boast endlessly about how good it is out there, but the reality is that the east coast, where most people live, can have heaps of rain even in summer. It is not the Mediterranean. Only Perth, and to some extent Adelaide have the guaranteed dry summer.
If you like mild winters and hot dry summers then you'd be much better off in southern Spain.

[Kiwiwife]

For myself the choice is easy. My hubby is a Kiwi and I have always felt at home in NZ. Also (sweeping generalisation time!) I have never met an Aussie I liked. I know that isn't going to make me any friends, but I have always felt they are arrogant and rude. Kiwis in my experience are lovely and hospitable (with a few exceptions).

[moz]

For myself the choice is easy. My hubby is a Kiwi and I have always felt at home in NZ. Also (sweeping generalisation time!) I have never met an Aussie I liked. I know that isn't going to make me any friends, but I have always felt they are arrogant and rude. Kiwis in my experience are lovely and hospitable (with a few exceptions).

You would love me though..I am an Aussie, married to a kiwi, who prefers to live in New Zealand!!

[moz]

Interesting to read this NZ vs OZ forum as My husband and I have been debating this for the last 8 months! We have not made any progress on residency applications as cannot decide on the country! We finally settled on NZ and emailed some friends there to tell them to get the response " why do you want to come here? Everyone says the place to be is Perth!". So unsure again now...
I know wages are higher in OZ but also houseprices/rents higher, taxes etc. Do you think financially people are better off in OZ or NZ or it is about equal??

I can't give too much advice, as it is a personal preference..you have to live in both to see which one you would prefer, and that would be pretty hard!

Perth is lovely, but very isolated..it would cost us less in time and money to travel to New Zealand rather than Perth!

I think financially one can do well in both countries, but you do need a very good wage to live in both, in my opinion..

What may be more in one country may be less in another, I think this balances out..Medicare in Australia, but scripts costing me up to $30 each time..paying $32 to go to the doc in Christchurch, but $3 scripts..it balances out..

For us we just like the life in Christchurch better, regardless..

Good luck with your decision, I know it can be a hard one!

[Gran]

We lived in Perth for 6 years, insects would be the main problem, mostly flies, your back would be covered in them, you have to constantly wave them away from your eyes where they look for moisture, when the little ones go out to play they get involved in what they are doing and end up with flies around their eyes. Redbacks are far from rare, I used to have one in my letterbox, and check that toilet seat before you sit down!!

Regards
Gran

[ScottNZ]

I assume you mean, deliberately doing this from the outset.

As far as I can tell from what other people have said, it was at one time marginally easier to get NZ PR than Australian, but this isn't the case any longer.

These days, also, suppose you get NZ PR - and you can tell from any number of threads on this forum that that can take a lot of time, effort and expense in some cases - then you go to live in NZ. That doesn't get you permission to live and work in Australia. You would have to live in NZ for five years (and qualify in other ways, too) to get NZ citizenship, THEN you would have the right to go. So anyone who really wants to go and live in Australia would be looking at doing anything up to seven years of a detour if they started out by going for NZ PR. I don't think I can imagine somebody cold-bloodedly deciding to do something they don't want, for that length of time, when they could just head straight for what they actually DO want.

Well said. I totally agree. Can we put to rest this whole idea of NZ being a backdoor way into OZ?
Also my preference is NZ. Friendly people, mild climate, slower pace, less crime (perceived?), high level of sophistication and culture even in smaller towns, more affordable. On the downside: rude drivers and Foodstuffs/Progressive duopoly makes grocery shopping an unpleasant experience.

[Beachcombers]

Back in 2002, my wife (then the Finnish backpacker chick I hooked up with) and I bought a beat up car and drove from Melbourne to Darwin via Perth. It was a great experience, but looking back I think the only place that appealed to us, was the southern half of Western Australia, around Esperance and Albany. Outside of the cities, it pretty much every Mad Max film you had ever seen.

So, the moral of my story is, Finnish girls are hot and you should marry one and having seen a good slice of Australia, it was not enough to make me want to live there.

[kiwi.diaspora]

From the perspective of a New Zealander and recent grad that has lived in Australia for about a year now...

Why Australia?
- More money. The wages are higher, and on top of that your pay will be in a more valuable currency (on average worth 20-25% more than the NZ dollar). So if you’re thinking about travelling, taking that holiday on Australian dollars is going to be a lot more comfortable than travelling on NZ dollars.
- Better economy. This is largely due to Chinese demand for Australian minerals. The Aussies will complain like mad about the government and how bad things are, but with a high growth rate and low unemployment (around 5%), they have it better than most other countries. Including NZ.
- Good weather – I prefer hotter temperatures. For me, 35 degrees is perfect.
- Nice beaches.
- Nice people. I have found Australians in general to be friendly and agreeable.
- Great public transport systems (in the cities). I have found the public transport here to be infinitely better than Auckland, which boasts perhaps one of the worst public transport systems in the Western world. It really highlighted how much needs to be done in terms of public transport back home.
- Real Cities. There is a much more cosmopolitan feel to the cities here. The population of Sydney is greater than all of New Zealand. Enough said.

Why not Australia?
- Hard to get to said nice beaches unless you live near the coast.
- Perhaps a little too dry and hot for most people’s tastes.
- Attitudes towards minorities (especially non-whites) tend to be more racist.
- It’s empty and too spread out. Want to go on that epic road trip across Australia? Well, prepare to see a lot of signs saying no petrol for the next 400 km. There’s not a lot of towns, once you get away from the coast. Keep in mind there are only 20 something million people in a country roughly the same size as the US.
- Forget snakes and spiders. It’s the giant roaches that are the real monsters! They grow to horribly huge sizes and can move lightning fast. They thrive in the hot Australian climate.

Why New Zealand?
- It’s green. If you want lush forests and green scenery, Australia is not going to be for you. Aside from Tasmania (which looks a lot like NZ), and bits on the coast, it is very dry and red. NZ also has great walking tracks too, if that's your cup of tea.
- The people are nice here too. Maybe I’m biased?
- Everything is closer, you don’t have to drive very far to get anywhere.
- Lower cost of living, but less money. So a bit of a double edged sword.
- Cheaper real estate. I used to complain about the cost of real estate in Auckland, but Sydney is so much worse. It makes my eyes water.

Why not New Zealand?
- Harder to get work. Higher unemployment and a smaller economy = fewer jobs and less variety.
- Too small. It can be a little suffocating at times.
- Less money. Wages are lower across the board.
- BAD public transport.
- It rains all the time in winter. Why do you think it’s so green.
- Too cold!
- As someone that likes going to gigs and the like, the lack of bands/artists that come to NZ was always a huge frustration for me.

In terms of health care, and other government services, I would say that NZ and Australia are about the same. I would give the advantage to Australia for having more generous parental leave, more family friendly policies in general, and better financial support for the unemployed and students. The Australian government has more money to play with, so I suppose they can afford to look after their people better.

In terms of cultural differences between Kiwis and Aussies, there aren't a lot. We have similar histories and are quite similar in a lot of other respects. Aside from a few differences in vocabulary e.g. esky vs chilly bin (aka cooler for the uninitiated). Australians are perhaps a bit louder and don't hold their cards so close to their chests. It has not felt too different from home.

[SAAG]

From the perspective of a New Zealander and recent grad that has lived in Australia for about a year now...

Why Australia?
- More money. The wages are higher, and on top of that your pay will be in a more valuable currency (on average worth 20-25% more than the NZ dollar). So if you’re thinking about travelling, taking that holiday on Australian dollars is going to be a lot more comfortable than travelling on NZ dollars.
- Better economy. This is largely due to Chinese demand for Australian minerals. The Aussies will complain like mad about the government and how bad things are, but with a high growth rate and low unemployment (around 5%), they have it better than most other countries. Including NZ.
- Good weather – I prefer hotter temperatures. For me, 35 degrees is perfect.
- Nice beaches.
- Nice people. I have found Australians in general to be friendly and agreeable.
- Great public transport systems (in the cities). I have found the public transport here to be infinitely better than Auckland, which boasts perhaps one of the worst public transport systems in the Western world. It really highlighted how much needs to be done in terms of public transport back home.
- Real Cities. There is a much more cosmopolitan feel to the cities here. The population of Sydney is greater than all of New Zealand. Enough said.

Why not Australia?
- Hard to get to said nice beaches unless you live near the coast.
- Perhaps a little too dry and hot for most people’s tastes.
- Attitudes towards minorities (especially non-whites) tend to be more racist.
- It’s empty and too spread out. Want to go on that epic road trip across Australia? Well, prepare to see a lot of signs saying no petrol for the next 400 km. There’s not a lot of towns, once you get away from the coast. Keep in mind there are only 20 something million people in a country roughly the same size as the US.
- Forget snakes and spiders. It’s the giant roaches that are the real monsters! They grow to horribly huge sizes and can move lightning fast. They thrive in the hot Australian climate.

Why New Zealand?
- It’s green. If you want lush forests and green scenery, Australia is not going to be for you. Aside from Tasmania (which looks a lot like NZ), and bits on the coast, it is very dry and red. NZ also has great walking tracks too, if that's your cup of tea.
- The people are nice here too. Maybe I’m biased?
- Everything is closer, you don’t have to drive very far to get anywhere.
- Lower cost of living, but less money. So a bit of a double edged sword.
- Cheaper real estate. I used to complain about the cost of real estate in Auckland, but Sydney is so much worse. It makes my eyes water.

Why not New Zealand?
- Harder to get work. Higher unemployment and a smaller economy = fewer jobs and less variety.
- Too small. It can be a little suffocating at times.
- Less money. Wages are lower across the board.
- BAD public transport.
- It rains all the time in winter. Why do you think it’s so green.
- Too cold!
- As someone that likes going to gigs and the like, the lack of bands/artists that come to NZ was always a huge frustration for me.

In terms of health care, and other government services, I would say that NZ and Australia are about the same. I would give the advantage to Australia for having more generous parental leave, more family friendly policies in general, and better financial support for the unemployed and students. The Australian government has more money to play with, so I suppose they can afford to look after their people better.

In terms of cultural differences between Kiwis and Aussies, there aren't a lot. We have similar histories and are quite similar in a lot of other respects. Aside from a few differences in vocabulary e.g. esky vs chilly bin (aka cooler for the uninitiated). Australians are perhaps a bit louder and don't hold their cards so close to their chests. It has not felt too different from home.

Very useful post! Thanks for taking the time to share all that!