Kiwis leaving the shaky isles ...

[IWC2006]

Another day, another story of Kiwis swapping ferns for the southern cross.
But I am swapping the southern cross for ferns.

Australia has done a lot of marketing workshops promoting the kiwis moving over to OZ (especially mining) as more pommies are leaving Oz as well. What they don't tell them is the escalating cost of living, cost of home owernship etc. Of course, the opportunity of earning the strong Aud dollar is another major attraction..

 

[neddy]

Another day, another story of Kiwis swapping ferns for the southern cross.
But I am swapping the southern cross for ferns.

Australia has done a lot of marketing workshops promoting the kiwis moving over to OZ (especially mining) as more pommies are leaving Oz as well. What they don't tell them is the escalating cost of living, cost of home owernship etc. Of course, the opportunity of earning the strong Aud dollar is another major attraction..

Oh yes. I forgot. Mining is the saviour!
Not to forget. National Broadband Network attracting Kiwis over as well.

Auckland is a lot better than moving to JB.

 

[neddy]

Once again NZ shows us how
PUBLISHED: 06 JUL 2012 00:06:14 | UPDATED: 06 JUL 2012 03:07:42

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
In the 1980s it was New Zealand’s breakneck economic reform program that impressed Australians. Now it is the clear-sighted style of leadership practised by NZ Prime Minister John Key’s National-led minority government that we could benefit from. Mr Key is introducing the next generation of reforms. His approach is methodical, not ideological, and he has been extremely careful not to break promises.

During his visit to Australia this week to drum up investment Mr Key said he believed it was important to talk openly to the electorate about the values of his government, only introduce policies which delivered identifiable benefits for voters, and focus on keeping his word. He is clear about the choices the country faces and its place in the world and has adopted mostly orthodox economic policies that suit NZ’s opportunities.

The conservative Key government has delivered genuine tax reform, increasing the goods and services tax to 15 per cent and cutting the top income tax rate to 33 per cent and the company tax rate to 28 per cent. Labour market reform has made the NZ job market more flexible – several Australian food manufacturers have shifted to NZ recently, owing to a substantial wage differential and less union trouble. Mr Key’s journey from humble beginnings to NZ’s wealthiest MP has given him a licence to undertake social welfare reforms such as drug testing for welfare benefits and means testing of the age pension. The Key government in on track to balance its budget without the tricky spending shuffle that marked Wayne Swan’s latest effort, and plans to part-privatise state enterprises including power generators. This week he postponed full implementation of NZ’s emissions trading scheme, because of slower global growth, lack of global action and the risk to jobs.

It is true that NZ is simpler to govern than Australia. NZ is the size of one of our large states and does not have a two-speed economy. But it does have the challenge of a relatively high exchange rate and mixed member proportional voting checks the power of major parties. As reassuringly dependable, orthodox yet “decisive” – for example when choosing in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake to pay a $400 a week subsidy to the city’s workers, against official advice – Mr Key’s practical but focused leadership style is benefiting NZ. It would be welcome on this side of the Tasman given the political mess festering in Canberra.


Business identifies a Key asset
PUBLISHED: 06 JUL 2012 00:06:14 | UPDATED: 06 JUL 2012 10:16:33

All here http://afr.com/p/national/business_identifies_key_asset_31Fr1bNSBTIXPGCLbMfzDI

Extract

“Over time, a series of moderate changes can add up to a considerable programme,” he said in the lecture first delivered in 2009 by Mr Howard, who he thanked as one of his first mentors when he became National Party leader in 2006.

“I believe in a government that gives people security in times of misfortune and hardship but doesn’t trap them in a life of limited income and limited choices,” he said.

“I’ve often said that you can measure a society by how it looks after its most vulnerable.

“ Yet you can also measure a society by how many vulnerable people it creates – people who are able to work, yet end up depending for long periods on the state.

“I believe in a government that supports people’s hard work and enterprise, and encourages them to set high aspirations.”

The straight-talking former Merrill Lynch investment banker, and wealthiest member of the New Zealand Parliament, is making no secret that he is on a mission to Australia to take the pulse of his country’s biggest trading partner and hunt out Australian companies interested in making the move to a lower-cost, pro-business regime.

 

[neddy]

“We sold more to China in the six hours you were in bed last night than all of 1972,” he joked.

6 hours only?

 

[Leongsam]

[h=1]Horror over child suicide rate surge[/h]By Kate Shuttleworth and Matthew Theunissen
7:31 PM Monday Sep 3, 2012

[h=2]Officials revealed a child between 5 and 9 had killed themselves. Photo / Thinkstock[/h]
The number of youths taking their own lives has surged by more than 40 per cent, and the suicide of a child under nine has been recorded for the first time.
Figures released by Chief Coroner Judge Neil Maclean today revealed a child between 5 and 9 had killed themselves - the youngest recorded suicide since the Coronial Services Unit started collecting data in 2007.
But that death is not an isolated incident, according to a suicide prevention advocate.
Maria Bradshaw, whose 17-year-old son Toran Henry took his own life in 2008, said she was aware of a six-year-old girl and seven-year-old boy who had committed suicide in the past 12 months.
"(Pre-teen suicides) probably number less than 10 in the last two to three years but that's a huge underestimation - we don't know about half of the ones that happen. Generally the family are very reluctant to have a finding of suicide and coroners will return a verdict of accidental death or open verdict."
Mrs Bradshaw's son committed suicide amid allegations he was being bullied at school.
"... The blame and stigma and negativity that's associated with that is bad enough, I can't even imagine what it must be like for a family to lose a six or seven-year-old," Ms Bradshaw said.
Although the number of people who committed suicide in the year to June 30 fell by 11, the total included 80 people aged 15-19, up from 56 in the previous 12 months.
This is the third year Judge Maclean has released the figures.
They show:
* The number of Maori aged 15-19 who took their lives in the year to June 30 leapt to 37 from an average of 21 across the previous four years
* Suicides in the Christchurch region are rising after a drop in the aftermath of the devastating quakes. They're also rising on the West Coast and in Marlborough
* The number of suicides in the 50-74 age group has dropped but the rate among unemployed people compared to those in work remains high. Students and retired people also continue to have a high rate of suicide.
Judge Maclean said suicide had to be brought out of the shadows and he was worried by the increases in certain demographics.
"I am concerned that we seem to be making no impact - there has been no visible downward trend at all. Our job is to tell the public the facts - I am no more qualified to suggest an answer or a solution than anyone.
"Part of the problem is there are so many agencies who have something to contribute - it does need to be coordinated and pulled together.
"My hunch is there is a link. People don't commit suicide because they're poor, it's because they feel utterly at the end of their tether, but it doesn't help if you've got no money."
Prime Minister John Key said youth suicide statistics were damning and the Government needed to do better.
"I worry a lot about the fact it disproportionately affects Maori and Pacific boys. We can see where the issue is prevalent - it's been a longstanding problem."
He said suicide was a complex issue and the Government didn't have all the answers.
"When a young person takes their life, as a country you mourn that, because as adults we know that there's always a solution to problems.
"Unfortunately that young person gets themselves into a situation where they don't believe there's a solution to a problem,
He said the Government was spending $62 million on youth suicide and youth mental health programmes.

Provisional suicide deaths per 100,000 people
July 2007 - June 2012
Year / Total
2007/2008 - 540 people died from suicide
2008/2009 - 531 people died from suicide
2009/2010 - 541
20120/2011 - 558
2011/2012 - 547
Total over five years - 2717
Key findings:
- The number of suicides recorded by the Coronial Services Unit in the year to June 30 was 547, down 11 on the previous 12 months
- 74 per cent of all suicides in New Zealand were male
- Increase in suicides in the 15-19 age group - from 56 to 80
- The most common method of suicide (61 percent) was hanging, followed by poisoning and overdose
- 28 percent of people who killed themselves were unemployed
Source: Coronial Services Unit
WHERE TO GET HELP
If it's an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111. Or call Youthline 0800 376 633, Lifeline 0800 543 354, Depression Helpline 0800 111 757, What's Up 0800 942 8787 (noon-midnight).
If you or someone you know wants advice on dealing with cyber bullies contact the NetSafe help line 0508 NETSAFE (0508 638 723).
By Kate Shuttleworth and Matthew Theunissen

 

[singveld]

so young?? how do young people in NZ kill themselves?

 

[Leongsam]

so young?? how do young people in NZ kill themselves?

It's all there in the article.