The transtasman traffic isn't all one-way, finds Val Leveson
KEY POINTS:
Something we often hear about is the number of New Zealanders heading across the ditch for more money and more job opportunities, but what about Aussies coming here?
It's true that 30,600 more people left New Zealand for Australia in the year ended April than moved the other way - however, there are some Australians who see New Zealand as a real option.
Senior transport modeller for Beca, Kristian Kirk, arrived in New Zealand in May 2006. He had worked with an Australian company since January 2000. The company and Beca often worked together - and he snapped up the opportunity to take part in a 12-month exchange programme to New Zealand.
"In a way it was my OE - except I wasn't going as far as Europe."
In the beginning of May 2007, however, things changed for Kirk. He met his partner.
"At the end of February 2007, I asked to stay here, so I could see where things would go with my new girlfriend. I was also happy to be in New Zealand."
Kirk says he does plan to return to Australia at some stage, but has no immediate plans to do so.
"I like being in New Zealand. The culture is fairly similar to Australia. Cricket and rugby are followed. Auckland is fairly similar in size and culture to Brisbane. The traffic issue is going to be there wherever one is living. Coming to New Zealand was a chance to do something different.
"It was a logical step - and in doing it, I've found my life partner, so for me it was a really good move."
Fellow Australian Deborah Delaney is director of GDA Ltd - a boutique public relations agency that has worked on some of the highest-profile cause-related fundraising projects in the country.
She describes herself as "a pioneer".
"I first came to New Zealand in the early 70s. It was to be the first leg of a world trip. I had qualified as a psych nurse and thought I wouldn't have a problem getting a job in the field.
"However, when I arrived, there were all sorts of disputes going on, and people weren't being taken on."
She says in those days coming from Sydney to Auckland was a huge culture shock. "At the time there was one coffee shop in town. There was nothing happening here.
"Now Auckland is a fantastic place to show people around. It's cosmopolitan. It's great."
She says one thing she found when she first came, and still finds now, is that New Zealanders ask her why she would want to be here. "New Zealanders always seem to be apologising for themselves and the country - there's no reason for that."
Soon after she arrived in Auckland, Delaney worked at a fashion shop. She found that she loved being in sales and was good at forming professional relationships. She sold things at the Cook St Market, where she made good connections in the fashion industry.
After her marriage broke up, she got into sales and marketing. She also spent some time in the United States.
"New Zealand is great - it's a great place to have as a base, as long as you can travel, and I do. I visit Sydney a lot and I've got a good life in New Zealand.
"The question is, could I have got to the position I'm in if I'd stayed in Sydney? I don't know. Here I'm a big fish in a small pond, and because I do go to Australia and other places often I get the best of all worlds.
"I think I'm more proud of New Zealand than the average New Zealander. It's fantastic - people need to be more up about it."
Delaney says she's got a good circle of friends here, many of whom are Australian. "I'm certainly not on my own here now as an Australian."
She says that she will probably return to Australia one day, but if she does that, she'll keep her business in New Zealand. "With technology as it is, it's conceivable to do that."
Tom Museth has been in New Zealand since March 2006. His reason for coming here was personal - his wife is a New Zealander.
He says life in New Zealand didn't come with many surprises for him as he'd visited often with his wife.
"At the time I came here Australia had a backwards government. Politically New Zealand was completely different and that was good.
"I found Australian politics to be depressing. New Zealand was a breath of fresh air as it was being governed with an attitude of not just serving the big end of town. Social justice counted."
Museth says things that have taken him aback about New Zealand are the level of crime, vagrancy and public transport.
"It's the worst I've ever seen, as are the aggressive drivers."
When Museth arrived he saw the chance to go into freelance journalism. "I went to a freelance conference here and was almost in tears about the poor earning potential."
However, he felt there were opportunities to be mined.
"I worked for Urbis Landscapes and crossed paths with so many people. I built up contacts through the industry. I don't think I would have been able to do things so quickly in Australia or London."
Museth is now day chief sub-editor at PageMasters, a newspaper editing concern. When asked if he thought he would have got so far so quickly in Australia, he says: "That requires a bit of speculation. In Sydney you are certainly a small fish in a big pond - there's a lot of competition there, but there are also a lot more opportunities. However, I didn't expect to get as far as I have in such a short time."
Museth says he does find New Zealand a bit parochial. "New Zealanders look across the ditch with a level of envy and smugness and seem to be always aware of how small they are. They don't need to do that.
"Yes, it's a small country with a small population - but Australia is no better, it tends to fawn on the Yanks in the way that New Zealanders fawn on Australia.
"New Zealand shouldn't be longing to be big. It should be proud of what it is. In the world it's seen as a safe haven. Friendly rivalry between Australia and New Zealand is fine. There's just no need to be paranoid about New Zealand."
