Income and Housing (OZ vs NZ)

[Singel]

Today's NZ herald showed the following comparison of average weekly full-time earnings : AP=all people M=males F=females
OZ - $1059.70 (AP), $1136.70 (M), $906.30 (F)
NZ - $801.89 (AP), $895.71 (M), $696.96 (F)

Here are the information on tax rates and house prices in OZ and NZ :

OZ tax rate
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/co...tent/12333.htm

NZ tax rate
http://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax-in...etaxrates.html

Some of the house prices in OZ
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/...834709151.html
http://seven.com.au/todaytonight/story/?id=19813

From today's NZ herald, the house prices in Auckland
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?...ectID=10342678
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?...ectID=10342660

My thoughts................

I brought up this topic because a few days ago, there is an Aussie MP who mentioned that OZ labour rates are very high and he would like to see it lower to NZ rates.

I felt that NZ labour rates are too low. I would prefer NZ labour rate move up and OZ labour rate move down, so that both side meet in the middle.

Having said that, there is still the issue of affordability. This year, Mercer HR Consulting ranked the most expensive cities to live in Australiasia : Sydney is no.20, Auckland is no.69 and Wellington is no.76.

Utimately, comparision across the tasman is always challenging. I think the decision to live either in OZ or NZ depends very much on the lifestyle that you want.

[Sunshine20]

After 3 years in Nz we are moving to OZ and you are absolutely right in saying it is a lifestyle choice not a monetary decision. Oz offers us:
Better weather
Better employment prospects
Fantastic and diverse scenary
Better prospects / opportunitiesfor our kids whilst they are babies and right through to adulthood
Better consumer choice
A feeling that you are more 'part of the world"

For us NZ is very much a poor second to it's neighbour in terms of lifestyle.

[cornerofsilence]

I take it you now have a NZ passport?

I think NZ has great places.

Having been to Australia also I would rather stay on NZ.

We both have good jobs and our children are grown up so we do not have to consider them.

[Gran]

If you are in NZ have a read of this weeks Listener, interesting.

[Singel]

If you are in NZ have a read of this weeks Listener, interesting.

Today, I bought a copy of the magazine mentioned by Gran.

It has a front cover that said : IS AUSTRALIA STUFFED? WHY YOU'D BE MAD TO MOVE TO THE UNLUCKY COUNTRY.

The article is written by Tim Watkin and he starts the cover story with this introduction.................

For three decades, thousands of Kiwis have been lured across the Tasman by the promise of more lucre and a better lifestyle. But now the Lucky Country is losing its appeal, as terrorist threats loom large and the cost of living eats up the benefits of higher wages. Increasingly, New Zealand is looking like a greener, safer and happier place to live.

The magazine has a photo caption that say : Australia, land of contrasts, where "extreme weather and less water are the big issues".

The 6-page article carry stories about kiwis living in OZ and Aussies living in NZ. The one story that strikes me the most, is about a kiwi lady in OZ............

Emma Hunt, a 25-year-old Wellington fund analyst lived in Redfern, Sydney, for nearly two years and was shocked by the racism - white Australians being either blatantly insulting or just dismissing Aborigines. Managing a cafe in Darlinghurst, she saw just how different Australians were. "Someone got stabbed outside my work in the middle of the day. The Sydneysiders' reaction was so different. The place was half full and only one table helped. The others just stayed where they were. New Zealanders' reaction is that everyone wants to help. Everyone gets stuck in."

Sure, Sydney offers more opportunity, but also more stress and competition, she adds. "You can have a good job here (NZ) and have a good life, whereas over there (OZ) you have a good job but no life."

The article ended with.........................

Emma Hunt's impression is backed up by research from a recent book, How Australia Compares, which shows that even with four weeks' annual leave Australians work on average 1855 hours a year. New Zealanders average 1817 hours a year.

Which could be why we're also happier. As New Zealander John McMillan, a Stanford University economics professor, pointed out in June, Kiwis ranked 8th happiest in the world on the Happiness and Human Development Index. Australians were 11th. In the same survey, Kiwis (17th) also said they were more satisfied with their job than Australians were (26th). Given their wealth, McMillan concluded that Australians were simply "whingers".

Which again prompts the question - do we really want to be more like Australia? What would happen to our "she'll be right" attitude? And we haven't even mentioned Aussie's poisonous snakes and spiders.........Still, no one's claiming that our neighbours aren't good mates. But neither do we have to feel second-rate. We stand on our own feet, side by side. As one Aucklander said to me last week, Australia's like the South Island. Not a place to live, but it's great to know they're there.

[Lukas]

...that's relly funny. Yeah I meet many Kiwis absolutely convinced that they live in Paradise... the TV programs are showing wars, civil unrest or poverty this is the picture many of them have about "the rest of the world"...no comment on that.
...Also ...the suicidal rate in NZ among the young people is one of the highest in the world...perhaps too much "hapyness".

[Sunshine20]

I read that article too and thought it was incredibly biased and one sided. If Australia is so stuffed why is it a far more popular migrant destination than NZ and why do so many more Kiwis chose to live in Oz than Australians in NZ? Sure Nz appeals for some but the statistics in terms of migration numbers show that Australia is by far a more popular choice for exactly the reasons I have quoted.

Nz has anannual migration programme of 40,000 and it struggles to fill it hence the incredibly low points - they lowered it from 180 to 100 in the space of 12 months. Australia has an annual migration programme of 70,000 and it RAISED its points in April 2004. Sorry but the majority of persons migrating to the Southern Hemisphere do not in anyway think Australia is stuffed.

It is a personal choice but I think there is some merit in the majorities observations that living in Australia offers a better lifestyle.

[Singel]

Utimately, comparision across the tasman is always challenging. I think the decision to live either in OZ or NZ depends very much on the lifestyle that you want.

[GeorgeM]

If Australia is so stuffed why is it a far more popular migrant destination than NZ and why do so many more Kiwis chose to live in Oz than Australians in NZ?

In terms of raw numbers there are more 'good' jobs in Oz than in NZ. Where large companies have Pacific region offices these tend to be in Oz rather than in NZ, and with this sort of office comes the higher tier professional jobs. It's a bit like London and Bristol or Exeter - more people move to London than to Bristol or Exeter because there are more highly paid jobs there, but people who have good jobs in the other places are normally very convinced that they have the better deal.

Nz has anannual migration programme of 40,000 and it struggles to fill it hence the incredibly low points - they lowered it from 180 to 100 in the space of 12 months. Australia has an annual migration programme of 70,000 and it RAISED its points in April 2004.

Oz has five times the population of NZ, so on a pro-rata basis should be looking for 200,000 migrants each year. 70,000 equates to NZ seeking to take in 14,000. Or to put it another way Melbourne should be taking the same number of migrants as the whole of NZ!

[Sunshine20]

Oz probably could take more migrants - hence the points rise. Nz struggles to fill it's places - hence the points drop.