[AGL] Where to live? Australia Junior

[Karen Willis]

I visited New Zealand for 3 weeks in the mid-80's.  They were in the midst
of 20 percent inflation, and although prices were reasonable then, they are
much higher nowadays.  The appeal of New Zealand economy is that there is
much more middle class and almost nonexistent really poor and really rich.
The food, the culture, the technology are all very boring.  The country is
beautiful.  The people are friendly.  Crime is/was extremely low.  The bad
news is that they don't really want Americans to move there.  You must be
skilled in a trade or profession they lack sufficient native citizens to
perform.  And you must be willing to be assigned to any out of the way place
they decide to put you and you are REQUIRED to stay and work there for 3
years.  And you must be younger than about 42 years old.  These are/were the
requirements to gain citizenship status.  If you are not a citizen, then you
are a tourist, and you must leave (remember it's an island) every 12 months
or so.  Australia doesn't count.  You have to go to Fiji or Hawaii or
somewhere else before you can come back.  This gets to be a serious problem
on the slave wages they are paying you at the JOB THEY ASSIGNED YOU TO DO
for 3 years.  Well, anyway, you can see I did my research and even though I
was trained in computer programming which was one of the trades they would
offer citizenship for, I declined after all.  It sounded too much like the
deal they made single women when they sailed over to the American colonies.
Get married, have babies, or you will be imprisoned and/or sent back to
England.

Glad I stayed in the good ole U S of A....

Karen


Had to put my two cents' worth in.

>From everything I've heard New Zealand is incomparable for the type of
civilized, comfortable, environmentally-stable refuge you are talking
about.

Two grand islands with a total population of around three million, a
reasonably healthy if sluggish economy, and a welcoming people.

Square as Jehovah's Witlesses from what I am told but I have enjoyed my
contacts with Kiwis (Ozzies not so much).

Of course I've never been there (snicker). That would have spoilt my power
of recommendation.

Seriously though... Just don't go expecting to try to do business or make
money (the bane of energetic ambitious Canadian immigrants as well...)

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