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I’ve made the decision to head to Australia and I’m now on the Gold Coast, south of Surfers Paradise, with my 14-year-old son and his best mate.
I’m kind of like the invisible sponsor and chaperon; I keep my distance until I’m needed, which is usually when they’re hungry, when they need transport, or they’re faced with paying for something.
(Given the amount of time they’re attached to their phones, I was hoping they might have earned some rewards and freebies for clocking the highest teenage hourly use of a device in any country. One boy, who shall remain anonymous, did 55 hours in a week or just under eight hours a day on the phone. They can’t see what is possibly wrong with that.)
Anyway, I made the call to head to Aussie just before Christmas, not to live and work - I should clear that up because the headline suggests I’ve joined the exodus too - but for nine days to catch some warmth and give us a change of scenery.
But I do want to see what all the fuss is about.
Is Australia really that much better than New Zealand when it comes to income, living standards, public facilities and amenities, and a place to call home?
I usually holiday in NZ in summer but jumped online and saw Australia was aggressively marketing itself. Once Jetstar told us it could fly three of us return for $1800 cheaper than Air NZ could manage, my mind was made up.
Comparisons started with the airfares, which left me asking, “why do I feel we’re increasingly being screwed by Air NZ?”
I’ve often wondered if it’s disloyal to bag your own national carrier, given how good it’s been during the years, but it now competes with so many other airlines and on price, I reckon Air NZ will be losing those who have been loyal customers. After all, most punters fly on price.
The next comparison was the rental car. I’ve just finished a 10-day hire in NZ for $1700. A similar car in Australia for 9 days is $261 all up. Is this really about the size of the economies or are we being ripped off by corporate greed?
There’s more to life than money, though, so I’m interested in Australia’s public facilities and amenities, especially after a mate returned in December very impressed at what he’d seen. Better, bigger, cleaner, flasher and it was obvious to him we’re a poorer country, or at least one slow to get things done.
This chimed with things I saw in NZ before I left.
I had intended to make this first column of the year positive but dealing with two weeks of 40-knot winds left me stranded on land in Hokianga and not fishing, and that’s a trigger for me. Instead, I had a good look around and, time and time again, saw amazing sites let down by poor amenities.
I visited Kai Iwi Lakes, near Dargaville, for the first time. Bloody amazing and huge crowds but the facilities are 1960s-like at best, and don’t get me started on the state of the roads in Northland. Some of the potholes are so big that they now appear to need to be named and whole families could gather beside them and pull out a picnic basket.
The funniest thing I saw was a sign in the Waimamaku Pub asking those under 10 to vacate the bar by 7pm. They’re serious! Just as well my 14-year-old could stay on.
So much of everything else I saw looked run down, no longer fit for purpose. It might sound as if I’m going over familiar ground here and maybe I am, but that’s because I continue to question, “where has all the money gone and who’s accountable for this?” but get no satisfactory answers.
Our last government spent plenty of money and we have nothing to show for it but national debt; our new government looks to be doing much the same – and that’s just to keep the lights on. Despite all of its talk of fast-tracking big projects, all it’s been able to do so far is set the regulatory framework, gather interested parties and projects together and list them.
It’s now promising 180km of new road and rail developments,44 housing developments building 55000 homes and 22 renewable power projects, but nothing has been done yet. So, we’ve spent a year setting up and arguing about the fast-track process but watching other projects – Dunedin Hospital and the Cook Strait ferry replacements among them – either being downgraded or cancelled.
Existing infrastructure is rundown; new infrastructure is who knows how far away so it’s not surprising that New Zealand might look and feel a little tardy and underdone. This matters not just to those of us who live here, negotiating potholes or ferry crossing delays or not being able to get adequate healthcare, but also to international visitors who can and will make comparisons to other places and then tell their family and friends.
Are we as attractive as we once thought? Because the tourists are yet to return in the same numbers as pre-Covid levels. We’re still 14% lower than our peak, despite some growth in recent months; a long way from anywhere and incredibly expensive.
Are we worth it? The New York Times thinks not. It lists 52 countries or places that are hot this year - Scotland, Sydney, Nigeria, Uzbekistan – nor do we make Lonely Planet’s guide of the best places to visit in 2025. Fiji and Vanuatu do.
We need to fight to get talked about again, and that means having something to offer tourists aside from scenery and natural attractions. After all, can you swim right now at our beaches? Yes, on some days, not on others.
Hopefully all will be well for Sail GP in Auckland, which is a bright spot and feels international.
In short, I’m looking carefully at Australia’s infrastructure.
There’s something else, too. In the back of my mind on this trip is the media carnage in NZ, which might not be over. I continue to fight to stay in the industry I love but who knows what lies ahead?
I’ve never been keen to make the jump and live in Australia, but NZ feels devoid of opportunity right now. So, this Aussie jaunt has just taken on a new significance. I’ll keep you posted!
