Originally Posted by NZAV8R

Ok, back to the tax concern about the level to which middle and high income earners are taxed. IMO income tax brackets need to be moved upwards inline with the cost of living and on a more progressive scale as they’re set too low and currently move up in large steps: http://www.ird.govt.nz/how-to/taxrat...etaxrates.html
$70000/yr salary might sound like decent amount of money -and about what a Q300 CA can expect to make- btw those Air Nelson (Air NZ link) pilots recently went out on strike over pay issues. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10500268 But, when you consider that the cost of living is the equivalent of living in SAN or LAX (as is the case of living in AKL) and then having it taxed at 40 cents/$, all of a sudden that salary doesn’t seem go vary far at all. And yes, you’re correct, the higher cost of living there is in part related to contributing factors such as a moderately high minimum wage which is currently set at $11.25NZ-read more about it here: http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/pay/minimum.html and the level of tax employers must pay to the government to pay for services such as free healthcare.

Another concern that has not been addressed by the government for decades is the eroding infrastructure. Back in the mid 1970’s the National government of the day, headed by the late Rob Muldoon, embarked on a radical series of major “think big” projects to development NZ’s core infrastructure. Read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_Big
These consisted of major infrastructure projects such as energy: hydro, geothermal, coal, power plants, electrical grid; and transport: rail, motorways, petroleum refining capability, etc. The government borrowed billions form overseas to pay for it all but the infrastructures were built to a level at the time that had inherent surplus capacity to last for many years. In the years since then not much in the way of new major infrastructure has been built to replace these ageing components. Many of the systems are now reaching, or are now at, capacity and will soon need to be replaced. The country does not appear not the money to pay for these new infrastructures. So, the effects from this that NZ could see in the future are occasional power brown outs/black outs; much the same as in California. I really think the government needs to get their priorities straight and start addressing these things. But the problem is that I don't think that they don’t see it as being there problem, as they sold off most of these assets to private enterprises years ago. The private enterprises are reluctant to invest the money least they don’t get their desired ROI for their shareholders. This is the case with Telecom NZ, that for lack of better a word, has a muntered telecommunications network. A large percent of the rural countryside outside of the main cities is still on dial up internet access. Why? Because Telecom doesn’t want to invest too much more into high speed fiber optics in those areas, as they don’t see it as being worth the investment yet. So when are these for of issues going to be fixed? I don’t know.

Originally Posted by NZAV8R

You mentioned that you are aware of the socialized healthcare system. Yes, NZ does have a slightly better system than the US. However, the system is still overburdened. And to be honest, unless if you’re needing immediate ER care (accident, etc) you’re better off having private health insurance and getting private health care. There have been cases where people who have actually died after many years on a waiting list for what was considered, at the time, non-critical surgery only for it to reach a critical stage; but by then it was to late. One the reasons the system is so overloaded is because the heaviest users of the system have health issues that require ongoing care, such as diabetes and heart disease type issues. These are health issues that are prevalent in the larger body types that you originally referred to. They also tend to be from the lower income bracket that tend not take as good care of themselves as they should. Not only that but also because they tend to have a genetic predisposition to certain conditions; typically Maori and Pacific Islanders (some of which still live in the islands but come to NZ for free health services). So what can you do, you can’t deny them healthcare; but I think that some lifestyle and dietary education would go a long way to fixing that problem.

Originally Posted by NZAV8R

The NZ government also needs to stop, or at the very least severely cutback on providing social welfare benefits and aid (in the form of free news houses and new appliances) to those that shouldn't be on it. Especially for new immigrants that lack skills/education/qualifications necessary to become productive members of society. There is quite simply no incentive for them to ever reach there full potential. As a result, there’s now a considerably large amount of fundamentally unmotivated people in living on government benefits in that are essentially milking the NZ system for all that they can get because the government allows it, and indirectly encourages it through their sympathetic social policies. Understandably the government handouts are seen as free lunches by those receiving them. News flash…basic Economics 101: there are no real free lunches. Someone has to pay for them, and guess who it is, and that is the middle class and up. This doesn’t sit well with the most NZ middle and upper class, especially when they see themselves actually working hard trying to earn a living, but yet not seeing any results; mainly because they are taxed so much to pay for all the governments free social welfare handouts or the lower income bracket.

These are some of the reasons why so many have left NZ for greener economic pastures overseas. It is unfortunate, as NZ has so much going for it, but it could do so much better if weren't for a system that is genertaing some intentionally unproducitve hangers on that are sucking the country financially dry. I certainly hope that the economic and social issues that I mentioned do actually improve in future years. However, as the present Labor government is still in power, it might take a while.