[Neil&family]

My wife has asked me to ask if NZ doesn't work our for us, is it possible to move to Australia? (I think she's getting nervous at the thought of moving half-way round the world!)

I'm sure I read somewhere that at one time NZ was used as a back-door to Oz but that now has stopped?

Does anyone know the official line?

Ta in advance.

[markkellaway]

Hi Neil,

As far as I am aware once you have residency in NZ you can live and work in Oz, also works the other way round I think.

Cheers,

Mark. :D

[Diny]

Wouldn't want anybody to quote me on this, but the way I understand it is - you have to have NZ citizenship - not just residencey - before you can freely come and go to Oz.

You have to have residencey for 5 years before you can opt for citizenship.

Like I said - this is how I understand it - please don't quote me.

Diny

[Raeven]

Hi, Neil,

My understanding is as Diny says. Upping the PR period from 3 to 5 years is how NZ is discouraging the "backdoor" approach to Aus. You may travel freely between the 2 countries if you are a citizen of one or the other. In order to obtain NZ citizenship, as of January, 2005, you must have PR status in NZ for a period of 5 years. No time spent in the country on a visa will count toward the 5 years -- another change.

So yes, you can still use NZ as a means of getting to Aus, but it takes a little more tenacity than it used to!

Hope this helps. - Rae

[Pakeha Boy]

First you have to look at what aussie offers in comparison to NZ.
They have a weird looking opera house and bridge in Sydney. (in the smog when its not windy)

Some nice beaches, except for the Sydney beaches (where there's a nice range of used condoms, needles and turds to be found on Coogee and Bondi)

Ummm, what else, oh yeah, there's a big rock in the middle surrounded by thousands of miles of deserts.

Their sportsmen generally sit down to piddle, (also bowl under-arm in cricket alarmingly well)
All the sheilas look like blokes, and all the blokes are queer!

They're also a somewhat LOUD nation, I mean LOUD like most Texans, and they never seem to stop harping on about themselves.

... but ofcourse, you must make your own mind up about the West Island...
I have!!

[veronica]

Have you ever lived there!

[Pakeha Boy]

Sure have!
Hitched from Sydney - Perth and back again. (spent my 21st birthday sitting on my pack thumbing a lift onto the Nullabor at a place called Iron Knob in fact!)
Lived in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin, driven North, South, East, & West.
Worked in a Gold Mine in Mt. Magnet WA, (where I met my english rose and knew in that first instant that I'd marry her) and 4 wheel drove across the top end, Darwin - Brisbane on the old cattle track.
Spent a fair bit of time with the aussies but at the end of the day I'm a kiwi...we're like oil & water, chalk & cheese, and like the turning of the tides and the sun & moon rising, please God, don't never let that change!

You will Learn!

Here Endeth The Sermon.

(PS, its true you know, aussies bloke DO sit down to pee! :eek !!)

[Diny]

When you consider how close NZ and Oz are geographically, it's amazing how different the 2 places are. Although my dear Pakeha Boy tends to shoot from the hip when talking about the Aussies, toned down abit all of his comments are pretty accurate.

We've lived in Oz - believe me, it's not a patch on NZ.

Diny

[veronica]

bit like france and England really!

[Diny]

Yeah - I reckon just like France & England

[Caven]

I'd hate to think it 's like England and France! The thought of Ozzies over fishing in NZ's waters and putting good folk out of work purely as a petty act of revenge for being consistantly hammered in every conflict since the Triassic Era chills my English bones!

What happens when ten thousand, yes TEN thousand, well fed, fresh and superbly armed Frenchmen (on HORSES) charge DOWNHILL to engage two thousand, half-starved, flu ridden and poorly equipped Englishmen?
:yes
Eight thousand dead and a chip on the gallic shoulder ever since. Not that we reminded them in Kosovo when they couldn't contain a riot, and we were put in to bail them out, oh no. Agin-what?

Sorry, but I thought someone mentioned France :laugh

[Timbo]

Having made brief visits to both Nz and Oz, my conclusion is that New Zealand will suit our lifestyle better. This is mainly because we found the Kiwis to be friendly, curteous, helpfull and pretty self effacing.
They do like to give us poms a bit of grief, but all very lighthearted stuff.
The native Australians come accross as taking themselves a bit too seriously, and there outgoing friendly nature struck us as a bit false at times. All in all, a bit too in yer face type attitude.
Give me New Zealand any time, at least you are not likely to get eaten alive or stung/bitten to death there, which is another big plus.

[veronica]

Having lived in OZ for 6 years it was the bugs that decided us too. Personally have always found the Aussies friendly enough, human nature being what it is most folks are the same regardless which side of the water they live.

[Diny]

It just boils down to the same old story of every country having good and bad. What irks one person may very well please the heck out of another, one mans meat is another mans poison (I love those little ditties).

We lived in Oz for a number of years and still keep in touch with some of the very good friends we made while we were there.

However - speaking only from personal experience - for every friendly, welcoming, stereotypical genuine Aussie we met, there were 2 narrow minded, unfriendly, sneering (dare I say not very bright ones) waiting in the wings.

Like Timbo said - the Kiwis love a good Pom bashing session, but it's generally good natured and jocular. An Aussie Pom bashing session often has some very spiteful undertones.

Fair to say though - live and let live. If everybody liked everybody the human race would be extinct through sheer boredom.

If given the opportunity, I wouldn't go and live in Australia again.

Diny

[veronica]

funny innit never had one case of pom bashing. Not in 2 years as a kid out there or 6 1/2 as an adult. and its not as if we only lived in one place because we lived in Sydney, South Australia and Perth. suffered more from Essex girl jokes over the last 10 years from people all over the world, especially from people in the rest of UK. both our girls would say the same.

[Diny]

Do you really get Essex girl jokes in Chch ? If so you should be very proud to be from such a well known place.

If anybody did give you a hard time it would probably be because they were jealous of your white stilettos. :eek

Only joking petal. :nice1

Diny

[veronica]

No Essex girl jokes in Chch, luckily they are out dated now. It was Kerry our youngest daughter who backpacked round the world when they were at their zenith who suffered, it didn't seem to matter what country she was in. In the end she just gave up on saying she was from Essex and said she was from 30 miles east of London. She is blonde too so copped it there, I will add she also has a good Uni degree and that rarity, common sense.