All about New Zealand

[The Outback Oracle]

Re: All about New Zealand

I just saw this in the news today:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...efer=australia

My question is are New Zealanders more or less xenophobic than their Aussie neighbors?

I think you ought take a good look at Aus before you label us Xenophobic.

[a warren]

Re: All about New Zealand

If not for everyone means "less bullshit", "self-reliance", " not being a plastic person" "less hustle and bustle" and "good family life" well, call me ecstatic.

There is heaps of bullshit, and many plastic people in
nz. Americanisation has created airhead consumerism, and we suffer appalling things like McDonalds Amex & Coke just as bad as anywhere. But there is also a strong levelheadness as you can see below.

New Zealand bans nuclear ships
In 1985, the nature of the ANZUS alliance changed significantly. Due to a current of anti-nuclear sentiment within New Zealand (see New Zealand's nuclear-free zone), tension had long been present between ANZUS members as the United States is a declared nuclear power. France, a naval power and a declared nuclear power, had been conducting nuclear tests on South Pacific Islands. Following the victory of the New Zealand Labour Party in elections in 1984, Prime Minister David Lange barred nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Reasons given were the dangers of nuclear weapons, continued French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, and opposition to US President Ronald Reagan's policy of aggressively confronting the Soviet Union. Given that the United States Navy refused to confirm or deny the presence of nuclear weapons aboard ships, these laws essentially refused access to New Zealand ports for all United States Navy ships. In February 1985, a port-visit request by the United States for the USS Buchanan was refused by New Zealand, as the Buchanan was capable of launching nuclear depth bombs. According to opinions polls taken before the 1984 election, only 30 per cent of New Zealanders supported visits by US warships with a clear majority of 58 per cent opposed, and over 66 per cent of the population lived in locally declared nuclear free zones.^[1] An opinion poll commissioned by the 1986 Defence Committee of Enquiry confirmed that 92 per cent now opposed nuclear weapons in New Zealand and 69 per cent opposed warship visits; 92 per cent wanted New Zealand to promote nuclear disarmament through the UN, while 88 per cent supported the promotion of nuclear free zones.^[2]

[edit] The United States suspends ANZUS obligations to New Zealand

After consultations with Australia and after negotiations with New Zealand broke down, the United States announced that it was suspending its treaty obligations to New Zealand until United States Navy ships were re-admitted to New Zealand ports, citing that New Zealand was "a friend, but not an ally". ^[3] The crisis made front-page headlines for weeks in many American newspapers,^[4] while many American cabinet members were quoted as expressing a deep sense of betrayal.^[5] However, David Lange did not withdraw New Zealand from ANZUS, although his government's policy led to the US's decision to suspend its treaty obligations to New Zealand.
An opinion poll in New Zealand in 1991^[6] showed 54% of those sampled preferred to let the treaty lapse rather than accept visits again by nuclear-armed or nuclear-powered vessels. The policy did not become law until June 8, 1987 with the passing of the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, more than two years after the Buchanan was refused entry after the USA refused to declare the presence or absence of nuclear weapons, and a year after the USA suspended its treaty obligations to New Zealand.
On July 10, 1985, the French DGSE bombed the Greenpeace protest vessel Rainbow Warrior in Auckland. This event strengthened opposition in New Zealand of the military application of nuclear technology in any form. The failure of Western leaders to condemn what could be considered an act of war on New Zealand by France caused a great deal of change in foreign and defense policy.^[7] New Zealand distanced itself from its traditional ally, the United States, and built relationships with small South Pacific nations, while retaining its good relations with Australia, and, to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom.^[8]

[thousandmilemargin]

Re: All about New Zealand

The least xenophobic countries on earth are those which actually agnonise about whether or not they are racist - UK, Canada, Australia, NZ.

You won't hear the Japanese or Chinese debating amongst themselves and worrying if they are xenophobic. But you CANNOT ever become Japanese by immigrating to Japan - even your grandchildren will not be considered Japanese. Their national identity is racially based,end of story.

Whereas in Australia, you are Aussie once you have an accent.

[marvenger]

Re: All about New Zealand

australia is relatively unxenophobic. I think NZ is less so though. The maori invented trech warfare and managed to get a treaty signed with the all conquering brits. relative respect for the indigenous peoples has meant that NZ has been a progressive place longer than anywhere else.

[a warren]

Re: All about New Zealand

australia is relatively unxenophobic. I think NZ is less so though. The maori invented trech warfare and managed to get a treaty signed with the all conquering brits. relative respect for the indigenous peoples has meant that NZ has been a progressive place longer than anywhere else.

seconded +1

[thunderdownunder]

Re: All about New Zealand

My little bros across the pond can't spell xenophobic but they sure brew a great beer ( actually lots and lots of great beer)
New Zealand is blessed - fresh air clean water ooodles of great food and wine women who haven't forgotten that their women. Men who (despite our jokes) are independent and inventive.
Go and be amazed - but for goodness sake learn to drive on the correct side of the road, our electric switches are down for ON and the toilet bowls don't wet yah dick when you sit down.

[BadJuju]

Re: All about New Zealand

Thank you for the great replies, everyone. Looks like I will spend a few months down there to get my footing. If I like it, I will find one way or another to stay there indefinitely. :cool:

[jandkmeyer]

Re: All about New Zealand

Thanks for response, Sharky.

For others who are interested in NZ I will pass on the observations of my daughter, who is enamored with NZ:

- She's a "city person". Wellington is a medium sized city that feels (and is) safe to her. Not easy to find that in US.

- It's all about the people for her. She's has a strong background for her age - she moved around a lot in the US (thanks to me and my ex). She hates east coast people for being a "a bunch of tight asses". She would only look at western US colleges. She says New Zealanders are laid back in a way she hadn't found in the US. She thought college there less intense than in US.

All the other challenges of a US person moving to NZ are secondary to her, but I will mention a few for the record:

- Serious conservation of power in her dorms, including "push button" power and an allotment system where she paid for it after using up her quota for the month.
- New Zealanders, once they found out she was from USA, hounded her about George Bush. She got to the point where she would say she was from Canada
- Everything you might buy at WalMart is much more expensive in NZ. This includes a lot of stuff for setting up a household.
- You won't find all the processed food products you find in the US. I think Australia is the biggest source.
- They are a bit behind the US if you are looking for organic products and produce. The supermarkets had almost zero and the "health food" stores were pretty small, and limited to what is growing locally at the time.
- Maori influence is pretty strong and feels like it is becoming a "movement". I would say the feeling is more like the growing native Hawaiian movement than the Black movement of the sixties here.

Sharky, what is it like for a foreigner to get health care through the national system? Do US insurers cooperate? What about permanent residents? NZ citizens?

Thanks,

John M

[jandkmeyer]

Re: All about New Zealand

One more comment: Can't speak for their xenophobic qualities, but I would have to say new Zealanders and Autralians are like night and day. Australians are more like people in US, New Zealanders more like UK. New Zealanders are "reserved". You can love them both, but no one would accuse Australians of being reserved, would they?

John

[dummass]

Re: All about New Zealand

What about high speed internet in rural areas? I need to keep up with iTulip.

I've also heard that it can be difficult to bring pets. We have 3 dogs.

[Guinnesstime]

Re: All about New Zealand

What about high speed internet in rural areas? I need to keep up with iTulip.

I've also heard that it can be difficult to bring pets. We have 3 dogs.

http://www.emigratenz.org/moving-pet...w-zealand.html

Biggest issue to me looks like the quarantine period.


I had a buddy who was laid off (as was I) from our work who finally got tired of trying to find a job here. He recently found work in NZ and has moved down there.

Wouldn't mind doing that as well if I didn't have a few things holding me here stateside.

[icm63]

Re: All about New Zealand

The maori invented trench warfare and managed to get a treaty signed with the all conquering brits. relative respect for the indigenous peoples has meant that NZ has been a progressive place longer than anywhere else.

TRUE the Maori where near first on military history recorded to use trenches against canon fire !
TRUE they did sign a treaty with the UK
TRUE we can be progressive more so than others.

Whats not known, is that this country balance sheet is heavy with social spending for people who do nothing. Many woman with babies and no fathers on social security for years, many on unemployment/sickness benefits, last public govt books showed $21bn of spending on people who do not produce (huge % of Govt income). All in all I thinks nearly two taxpayers supporting a non paying tax person. Thats why taxes are so high ( income, GST, stealth taxes, Acc, FBT) and NZ production by OECD scale is so low. (22nd out 25 countries). Its gotten to a state where the political right side cant make social cuts as it will hurt the voters support, we a classic example of social taxing until there is no more money to take off those who have it and give to those that do not have it.

NOTE: Also the amount of money paid to the maori would have been enough to repair the health system for all NZders. We cant afford this bill, saying sorry has put this country on an open tab to keep on paying money to the maori forever. Yes they want a separate govt for themselves and power sharing at all levels of state and local government. So its not all beer and skittles down here...

Live hear for fun, make money out of this country...thats the best way...
I am a Kiwi, and its lovely place, but we are screwing it up, We need a Ronald Reagan in charge to fix us !

[lakedaemonian]

Re: All about New Zealand

Just some random thoughts on NZ from having been here nearly a decade:

ALL permanent residents/citizens have "free" universal health care.....private care and private health insurance is also available.....we could easily afford it but don't feel the need for it.

There are reports of queues, funding problems, etc with health care here...we have receieved nothing but 1st class treatment with our 2 children born here and the odd A & E (emergency room treatment) incident.

The health care system does an exceptional job in my opinion of looking after kids......they get the VIP treatment.

A system called Plunkett is also available to look after the health of newborns/infants/toddlers to be an additional health care monitoring resource for new parents.

I was also hounded repeatedly by Kiwis about George Bush....as if I had George's phone number on my mobile's speed-dial.....that got annoying fast.

I could go into graphic detail about a few incidents where things got incredibly heated.......but the important thing is that our Kiwi friends stood by our side, and have gone far out of their way to mitigate later incidents.

New Zealand does have it's problems:

debt, debt, debt

a warm, but inevitably suffocating, welfare system

government is sticking to 65 for universal, non-means tested superannuation.....our ability to maintain this indefinitely is approaching absolute zero.

average savings rates are incredibly low.......40 years ago NZ strongly supported Singapore militarily......fast forward to today and the Singaporean military makes the NZDF(equipment wise) pale in comparison. It's the difference between night and day.

I believe this can e attributed to savings...Singapore did, NZ didn't.

Semi-compulsary retirement savings has begun with Kiwisaver........this needs to be ramped up consistantly over the next decade to save this country.

NZ requires approx. 40% of it's total credit needs sourced from overseas.

Barriers to TRADE(such as dairy farm subsidies in US/EU) could impact on NZ in a serious way.

Barriers to CREDIT, could potentially cause far more economic damage here.

The education system seems reasonably good.......there are a lot of private school options that can get quite expensive...we will be sending our kids to one of the better rated public primary schools with plenty of opportunity to "top them up" with private programs if needed.

University education seems pretty good here...I've taken a number of classes...the academic rigor seems reasonably high for law papers......kids still get drunk all weekend like when I was a kid at Uni 20 years ago.

University fees seem a bargain compared to the staggering tuition inflation found in the US......but from a relative perspective higher education costs are a big issue with the politically active student bodies.

Housing here is poorly insulated.....except for newer build homes.......lots of retrofit insulation coming in the next few years as stimulus spend.

Politically, I align myself a bit more closely with National than Labour......the two main parties......they ca be categorized as Centre-right and Centre-left respectively.

I do think politicians here(on average) DO want to do the right thing(saying nothing of competence or incompetence), and NZ lacks the massively destructive political campaign funding/influence/access corruption.

The nation is small enough where I've received a few emails from the PM before and after his being elected.

From a business owner's standpoint it's an entreprenurial wild west with a few rules.

Protected markets are few and far between....you win or lose on performance.

In one industry a company I own operates in, we would be world leading in some respects for the brand we represent. Enough so that we will be doing some paid travel and consultation in US/EU later this year to share our experiences.

As mentioned, due to factors such as market size/distance the cost of certain items in NZ can be far higher or even FAR higher here.

Our cell phone costs are far higher than what you would receive in US, Asia, EU.

There may not be much certified organic here in NZ, but I would sate that much of what is produced here would be "near organic"...our dairy farm being but one example of many.

Crime......while I think I would be less likely to be a victim of crime involving the use of firearms here in NZ compared with the US.....non-violent crime such as being a victim of burglary would be worse here than in much of the US....just my opinion with a lot of anecdotal info to back it up.

Lawsuit Lottery:

Due to a government program called ACC designed to make whole victims of accidents the use of the courts for lawsuit lottery suits is quite low........but the ACC is in a bit of a problem at the moment...it pays out a lot of money, and has performed poorly with it's insurance pemiums...so premiums will be going up and/or payouts will be dropping.

I could write all day about good points/bad points...for us it's a great place to live....slightly more so in September through April when the weather's the best in Christchurch.

I just spent a week in the Southern Alps freezing my butt off, but what a view!

[BadJuju]

Re: All about New Zealand

Thanks, lake! I should be there in September to enjoy the nice weather.

[Sharky]

Re: All about New Zealand

They are a bit behind the US if you are looking for organic products and produce. The supermarkets had almost zero and the "health food" stores were pretty small, and limited to what is growing locally at the time.

I agree with this, although organic food is there if you look for it, at least in Nelson. Some groceries carry much more of it than others. Fresh Choice is probably the best large chain in that regard. In Nelson, we also have the weekly Farmer's Market, which is a good source for some stuff. We also have a small organic grocer in town, for the harder-to-get stuff.

Maori influence is pretty strong and feels like it is becoming a "movement". I would say the feeling is more like the growing native Hawaiian movement than the Black movement of the sixties here.

True for the North Island, but almost invisible on the South.

In case it's not obvious, the two islands are almost like two different countries -- they are that different.

Sharky, what is it like for a foreigner to get health care through the national system? Do US insurers cooperate? What about permanent residents? NZ citizens?

Once you have Permanent Residency, you are treated like a citizen from the government's perspective. The only thing you can't do is serve in the military. You're eligible for full coverage in the medical system, full disability benefits, etc, etc. If you're not a Permanent Resident, then you have to pay for private health care and you're not eligible for the other benefits.

The way the medical system works is that emergency care is free. Regular care from a GP, and for drugs is heavily discounted. The downside is potentially long waiting periods for specialist care. However, they also have a parallel private system, where you can pay "full price" and jump to the head of the line. Private care is still much cheaper than care in California, though. And of course you can buy insurance that will cover the private care.

I'm not sure about cooperation with US insurers -- I've never tried it. I would think that if your policy covers international care, that you would be covered for use of the private system here. But insurance companies in the US are so fickle, you probably won't know for sure until you file a claim.

What about high speed internet in rural areas? I need to keep up with iTulip.

High speed DSL-based Internet is widely available in small towns, including Nelson (up to 3 Mbps). Extremely rural areas often fall back to microwave or satellite. Urban areas like Wellington have extra-high speed service (10 Mbps?). I've also heard rumblings of the government pushing for more high-speed service in rural areas.

I've also heard that it can be difficult to bring pets. We have 3 dogs.

It's not difficult, except for the mandatory 30 day quarantine period. Many pet-oriented diseases don't exist here, and they want to keep it that way. There are some very nice facilities for that, though. It's also not particularly cheap -- it's definitely worth shopping around.