What would it take for you to stay in NZ?

[Blackbird]

I have always thought to myself when I get home from these trips....
'I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful country'...

Yep! Whilst I love travelling, I can't keep the smile off my face when the inbound flight comes in over Northland and Auckland on a nice day. A lot of other people seem to have the same feelings.

[LilSel]

Yep! Whilst I love travelling, I can't keep the smile off my face when the inbound flight comes in over Northland and Auckland on a nice day. A lot of other people seem to have the same feelings.

Spot on!! ... Returning from one of my longer trips,
(akld-melb-hobart-melb-akld, nxt day->akld-buenos aires-caracas-buenos aires-akld)... had been away for a fair bit of time... anyway...

I got in from buenos aries in the early morning... had a window seat... & the sun was just coming up as we were beginning our decent... it was so beautiful... I actually shed a tear!!... I was almost home... & seeing the land appear... then being over it again n knowing my family would be waiting at the airport for me... knowing that they were so proud of me... n just the feeling of 'thank god im home'... It was one of those 'moments'...

Those 'moments'... that make you thankful to live here!!

I have seen alot of places/people for my years... n its only just begun really... I know however... that wherever I go... I will always come home again!... I have a silverfern tattoo'd on my wrist... when I go away I simply look at it... stroke it... then go out n kick some ass for my country !!

(opps... bit of a rant... !!)

[slowpoke]

Just off the top of my head...

1. Get rid of this Government
The unfortunate byproduct of democracy, sometimes we have to put up with decisions we don't like
2. Scrap MMP
Kind of agree, has lead to all sorts of backroom deals and overcomplication, although I kind of like having "alternative" views expressed rather than the big two spruiking the same shit a different way
3. Tear up the Treaty
and return to the Maori land wars.....?
4. Sell off all state assets apart from public land and privatise the fuck out of the place
Why would you want to sell off something that can make money for you for ever more? Why reduce Public Services -which should be measured by the quality of service they provide- to a foreign owned cash cow that makes money for someone else- who's only measure will be the bottom line and a resultant drop in service quality?
5. Make NZ the tax haven of the South Pacific
nup, I got nothin' for this one.....
6. One Council per State (yes I said State) and make the fuckers accountable for once
I take it by one council you mean less beauracrats? If so, I emphatically agree. As for the "states" set up: a lump of shite by any other name is still a lump of shite, so whether they are provinces, states or counties the term for them won't change anything....unless you are proposing a more radical arrangement?
7. Scrap Resource Consent (It's our fucken country)
Nup, it maybe our country but no one person or group should be able to run amok development-wise to the detriment of the rest of the population, which would be the case if we allowed unregulated development.
8. Dig up all the roads and start again. Do it properly this time and go left hand drive.
I dunno about "all" the roads, ya gotta leave some windy bits, but that single lane goat track out of our capital city is a fuggin' embarrassment and is only going to get more expensive to upgrade as time goes by
9. Negotiate trade agreements with every developed nation
Why be so restrictive with "agreements", why not let the market/entrepeneurs determine what where and how much is required? We have very little bargaining power and will inevitable end up bent over and dropping our dacks....
10. Go nuclear
Our loads are too small and too variable to make it worthwhile. You need relatively large base loads to make it economic
11. Free and open access to ALL public land
I got nuthin' for this one either.....
12. Educate the fuck out of people with REAL, USABLE education.
impossible to argue against....unfortunately you and your money making "corporatised" universities have sold off half the available spots to overseas students so they show a good bottom line rather than provide a good service to the community
13. No skills, no enter our country
Sounds good, I guess the same should apply to us going overseas to work?
14. Create a real military force
Why? Who is going to attack us that we could possibly defend ourselves against? Tonga? A "real military force" is incredibly expensive to maintain let alone create from scratch and in our case would ultimately achieve nothing.
15. Lower personal & business tax to a flat rate of 10%. 0% for overseas investors. (Keep GST as it is - user pay) GST money goes directly back into the state that produces it.
A flat rate is worth investigating, but I'll be fucked if I'm gonna pay tax while an overseas investor pays nothing. One rule for all.
16. Ban Shortland St.
except for the couple of hotties......
17. Ban Unions and abolish the Employment Contracts Act
[/B]in a perfect world yes, unfortunately it's far from perfect and employees need basic levels of protection and employment standards. If not, then third world here we come......[/B]
18. Totally reform our justice system.
Hmmmm, what did you have in mind? I don't think a total reform is needed, just some streamlining, a dose of reality and full use of available penalties.
19. Make welfare available only for the REALLY, REALLY needy.
Hmmm, I'm kind of proud of the fact we look after each other if we fall on hard times, but too many people are living in relative comfort while giving SFA in return, so I tend to agree with you
20. Ban cats. Pointless bloody things.
If we only ever did or had things that served a purpose it would be a sad fuggin' place.....

Easy.

And the name for this wondrous new country is very obviously FINNLAND!

[imdying]

And the name for this wondrous new country is very obviously FINNLAND!

No no, New Finnland!

[Swoop]

No poisonous bitey, crawley, crippeys to worry much about...

If there is nothing to worry about, why worry??

Hey Mr Fruit whats up with ya mate Dover selling his Preemo Gixxer??????

Perhaps the poof would like to sell one before it is written off?

w00t!

OK, who is this and what have you done to our Hitcher???

[Macstar]

Cheers guys for ya'll feedback. As it now turns out (new development today) I am apparently PHD material and have quite a strong opportunity to receive an international scholarship valued to 80k per year to do my PHD abroad!!!!

Small catch: Just gotta get accepted by a top tier university in the UK or USA now... Any KBers got connections at Cambridge or Oxford?!

So, as it turns out, and if I choose to sign up for yet another 3 years of study (on top of the 6 already), I might be able to see the world after all and for free!!

[peasea]

Cheers guys for ya'll feedback. As it now turns out (new development today) I am apparently PHD material and have quite a strong opportunity to receive an international scholarship valued to 80k per year to do my PHD abroad!!!!

Small catch: Just gotta get accepted by a top tier university in the UK or USA now... Any KBers got connections at Cambridge or Oxford?!

So, as it turns out, and if I choose to sign up for yet another 3 years of study (on top of the 6 already), I might be able to see the world after all and for free!!

You jammy bastard. Go for it.

[avgas]

My reasons are this:
- Girlfriend just got her career going.
- Family is here
- Student loan is interest free.

Although all that being said i am still going to cut a track out of here in a few years. The grass isnt greener overseas i know - but there is a bigger bloody paddock that the lawn here.
If any of the above change, basically im gone. I seen to many negatives in NZ and too many positives overseas to think that we are any better off here.
All my dream jobs are overseas, and the respect i get there is 10 fold to here.

[avgas]

10. Go nuclear

Our loads are too small and too variable to make it worthwhile. You need relatively large base loads to make it economic

Nope - google "Pebblebed Reactors", Load is no longer a problem in NZ, only ideals. I'm pro-nuke in the sense that i would consider it as a last resort. But i think that we are not addressing the problems on the consumer end currently. Efficiency is a better solution than the bigger hammer thoery

13. No skills, no enter our country

Sounds good, I guess the same should apply to us going overseas to work?
Yep, why not - anyone can wash dishes. Its a skill. People choosing not to is not a skill. Nor is fraud

14. Create a real military force

Why? Who is going to attack us that we could possibly defend ourselves against? Tonga? A "real military force" is incredibly expensive to maintain let alone create from scratch and in our case would ultimately achieve nothing.

No Fiji, all acts of war aside, who are the current service technicians etc in NZ? The armed forces gave kids work/life/educational skills as well as millitary restrain. Its these current skills that are required for future positions in NZ. Who wants to join a force of consripts with no toys? Imagine the police had McDonalds uniforms and Daihatsu's.......who would join them. Its too easy to rest on a benift in NZ - we need to have exciting opportunities for young people to break this cycle.

17. Ban Unions and abolish the Employment Contracts Act
in a perfect world yes, unfortunately it's far from perfect and employees need basic levels of protection and employment standards. If not, then third world here we come......
Not really, i have never joined a union in NZ, if my employer tries anything i can contact the employment court on my own without having so 'activists' hold my hand

[Finn]

Yep! Whilst I love travelling, I can't keep the smile off my face when the inbound flight comes in over Northland and Auckland on a nice day. A lot of other people seem to have the same feelings.

Wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you've just spent the last 12 hours with your knees in your face would it?

Sure, it's always nice to be "home" but that lasts about 5 minutes until you realise what a backward country this is. Such a waste. Oh well, as long as the Rugby is still mostly free to air, she'll be right aye.

[bubbles]

I will stay in New Zealand because I enjoy the lifestyle. One thing that I have found is that you always live to your means. Implying that if you earn $50 a week, you will find a way to live with that amount, but if you earn $50,000 a week you will most likely do the same. Because of this and other experiences I don't think I would move overseas for money. My family is all here, we are very close, and at the end of the day family is the most important thing.

[Usarka]

But it's getting better! Our crime stats are going up all the time!

[imdying]

The armed forces gave kids work/life/educational skills as well as millitary restrain. Its these current skills that are required for future positions in NZ. Who wants to join a force of consripts with no toys? Imagine the police had McDonalds uniforms and Daihatsu's.......who would join them. Its too easy to rest on a benift in NZ - we need to have exciting opportunities for young people to break this cycle.

I agree... as modest as our military is or can be, there's more benefits from having one than just 'guns to defend ourselves'.

[idleidolidyll]

Gimme your opinions on the following:

1. I'm in my 20's, have been studying at uni for 5 years (clocked up a student loan higher than the national median annually income), and am ready to enter the workforce.

You're in your 20's; go see the world son.

2. Over the last 5 years I have had 16 close friends and immediate family members move overseas (just 3 have since come back). They all proudly boast that their lives are so much better after leaving NZ.

Peoiple will always try to justify their own decisions and will often tell half truths and lies to do so. I've lived and worked on 4 continents and a few islands and I always love being in NZ more than any other place. Money isn't the be all and end all.

3. So far, my search for jobs in NZ and abroad is showing that I could be 10-30K per year financially better off overseas (adjusted for varying cost of livings). And that's just in my first year of work....

You're in your 20's; go see thew world and come back with real world experiences

4. I study business and I know factually that NZ slips economically further behind most OECD member states each year, and that basically there is no promising signs this will improve given that we are still selling cheese when other countries have moved on to electronics and services.

Yes, both major parties are selling NZ to the lowest bidder. Real incomes have fallen way behind since the 80's when certain wealthy people ripped NZ off to the tune of millions and the government/s sold the family jewels.

5. According to a recent news article, in NZ it now requires 80% of the median income to pay a mortgage for the median priced house. Housing affordability has reached all time lows.

Yep, but i'd still rather live here. I'm old though. Go see the world.

There are many more growing social problems with NZ too but I wont go into those.

Those pael into insignificance once you've seen real hardship outside NZ.

ANYWAY

Despite all that, I'd like to hang around NZ as I think it's a bloody beautiful country with some awesome people (especially the KB Whanau!). A beach, river or lake is never more than 30 minutes away, traffic in Akl is still minor by world standards and the city is way more scenic and greener than places like Tokyo, Shanghai etc.

My question:

For those of you that are remaining in NZ, why?

-Lifestyle choice?
-Friends and family?
-Not convinced that you can earn that much more money overseas?

go see the world

[BIGBOSSMAN]

go see the world

Yes indeed, broaden your horizons and escape the self-proclaimed hype. There are plenty of beautiful countries, with fantastic people living in them (especially Irish, German and Argentinean girls. Phew!)