Well I never: An interesting Immigration report
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
So fair play, reading through the two reports from Dept. of Labour has actually been interesting. Well written, with conclusions and recommendations, not just dry statistical facts.
Something interesting from INZ/DoL for a change. Whatever next, Winston Peter’s as Immigration Minister? - Well stranger things have happened!
Seriously, the two reports;
International Migration Outlook & Migration Trends & Outlook sound similar – and to be honest there really isnt much difference (but hey – its waste some extra tax money writing 2 reports instead of one.)
Both are well written, and for a change have dozens of citations. So you can actually check where they are getting some of their facts from, and that they aren’t lying through their teeth. I was pleasantly surprised to find most of the cited reports are publicly available too. So you can read & draw your own conclusions.
Anyhow, interesting things/facts/observations from the IMO;
23% of NZ’s resident population as of June 2009 were not born here – and that number has been going up. Here’s a table showing where that 23% came from;
If you look at the ‘working age population’ that 23% turns into 25%.
This means that more migrants are staying in NZ longer, it’s now only 24 leavers for every 100 new migrants during the 2001-2006 period. Which, as we’ve mentioned earlier, is actually showing more loyalty to their new home than the 40%-ish of Kiwi’s who leave.
The employment numbers are a little worrying;
Unemployment rates for immigrants are about 3% above the national average. Perhaps not surprising with plenty of migrants coming in as Skilled Migrants or on Work To Residence without job offers.
New migrants are paid $10k-$15k less than their previously resident Kiwi colleagues.For performing comparable work
And it ‘only’ takes 15 years for that gap to close! 
15 years! OMG, you gotta be kidding? Come to NZ, take a huge pay cut, and if you’re lucky, you’ll earn the same as your colleague in a mere 15 years. humpfhh.
Still this may have something to do with another finding. That there was no evidence from another Dept. of Labour report that migrants were choosing to settle in an area which had higher than national average salaries, or lower than national average unemployment. i.e. new migrants weren’t actually picking the geographical area’s with fewer people having the in demand skills. hmm, perhaps we were just a little strange that way. We came to Wellington because the pay is better and its where the demand is – mostly because its where the government is. Most migrants still gravitate to Auckland, where the wages are lower and house prices are higher. Take note!
Wowing an potential employer at interview is going to do you a lot better than hoping that ‘averages’ will mean you get a better salary. Clearly some of this report points to studies showing that isn’t the case and you’ll get less than the average of your new Kiwi colleagues.
Time to brush up the interview skills.
Of course if you bring kids over with you when you migrate, then they don’t have to work to close that 15 year gap. The study showed that 18 year olds entering the work place faced no discrimination over salary whether they were Kiwi born & bred, or had arrived the day before their 18th birthday. So that’s reassuring.
There is also a (brief) section on the economic impacts of immigration. Only based on one study mind you. Basically, immigrants are good for the economy. In ‘productive’ terms;
- Migrants bring cash which they spend (really?! – you don’t say),
- Pay more in taxes to Govt. than they draw in benefits (shock horror, migrants aren’t here to sponge off the state!)
- Migrants reduce production costs (read as: are forced to accept lower wages)
- Improve the competitiveness of NZ goods & Services, which helps exports. (same as above really)
So I’m not so sure that this study really does justice to the ‘immigrant’ contribution to the NZ economy. I wonder if they actually asked migrants what their ‘contribution’ was?
Adding Insult to Injury.
So, the Immigration advisors licensing act (IALA) is designed to stop people like me “harming migrants” with our advice – because of course our experience is going to be much more harmful that getting screwed out of thousands of pounds by crap agents.
So it was with a mix of incredulity, hilarity and disgust that I received a comment the other day from a different government department asking me to put their link on my blog so that my readers could access their site and gain “information galore” about immigrating to New Zealand.
Apparently – while one government department wants to send me to jail if I give advice because it will “harm migrants”, another government department wants to use my blog as free advertising despite the “harm” I have apparently done by giving said free advice.
At least they are consistent in being bloody hypocrites.
Obviously I refused to allow the comment, but sent a polite email:
Dear Sir,
It is against our policy to allow advertising on our website in the form of comments.
However, should you wish to advertise, please let us know and we can discuss suitable rates.
Please bear in mind that any advertisements need to adhere to the IALA and not in any way be able to be constituted as Immigration Advice.
Thank you very much for your interest in Avalon’s Guide.
I haven’t received a response.
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Immigration reports x2
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
The Dept of Labor have actually come out with two reports on migration, as a contribution to some OECD studies.
It’s possibly sad that I’m working my way through both of them at the moment. At 62 & 125 pages I should at least get some sleep, even if it takes longer to finish reading them.
My first question will be what’s the difference between;
International Migration Outlook
&
Migration Trends & Outlook
‘cos I sure can’t tell the difference first off. Still, why publish one paper using a set of research when you can publish two? It’s at least efficient if the reports have completely different purposes.
So I shall work my way through the reports. There’s some fascinating info buried in the tables and numbers already.
Still, it’s an excuse to swan off to the beach and read the paperwork in some sun 
The UK State Pension – what happens to it when you emigrate.
Filed under: Avalon's Money Thread, Cost of living, Future Finances, The Book
This is something that I’ve actually had a lot of emails about recently, so I thought I would write a little about it and there seems to be some really whopping great misconceptions out there.
The main thing you need to understand is that you cannot double dip on your state pensions. You do not have the right to take a UK state pension and add it to any New Zealand superannuation you may be entitled to.
You just can’t.
If you choose to take the UK pension you are entitled to – it gets taken straight off any Superannuation you would get. There is a chapter in Avalon’s Guide explaining the nuts and bolts – but this is the bit you need to understand.
- If you are currently receiving the UK State Pension, the amount of pension you will get is frozen at the level it is when you become a resident of New Zealand.
- If you emigrate, and then later become eligible for the UK State Pension, the amount is frozen at the level it was when you left the UK.
- Any UK State Pension that you do get will be taken off any New Zealand state Superannuation you may be entitled to.
- This means that you cannot claim the UK state pension and add it to the New Zealand Superannuation.
- You can continue to contribute to the UK State Pension while you are resident in New Zealand if you wish.
- Any contributions that you make will increase your UK State Pension.
- Remember though that any increase you do gain will simply decrease the amount of New Zealand Superannuation you are entitled to.
As far as I’m personally concerned, I have not been expecting a state pension for the UK government since I was about 20 years old. The pensions system in most western countries is bankrupt, and there just isn’t the money to keep paying it.
You should also be aware that the National Insurance you pay in the UK is not being used to fund your retirement. It’s paying for the pensions of the people currently receiving a state pension. Your pension needs to be paid by future taxpayers. Thus the problem – there aren’t anywhere near enough people to pay it. The number of pensioners is growing, and the number of taxpayers isn’t growing anywhere near as fast.
And it’s no better here in New Zealand. As Gareth Morgan (an investment provider and somewhat annoying “guru” and “commentator”) says in his book Pension Panic:
If you think the government is going to keep you in the style to which you have become accustomed once you’ve retired, think again – unless you’re on the breadline now.
I just wanted people to be aware that this information is out there, and while I probably wasn’t able to think of everything that should go in a book about finances and emigrating to New Zealand, I really did think of most things. If you want to be prepared and not face these shocks, then read it. It may not always be fluffy – but it will mean you are prepared.
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How many Migrants leave New Zealand?
Apparently almost 20% of people who got residency in New Zealand between 2002 and 2008 have packed up and gone elsewhere.
Missing Migrants
Long-term absence for migrants approved for residence between 2001 to 2008 (top 10):
1. Taiwan: 2679 / 50 per cent
2. Hong Kong: 1132 / 40 per cent
3. Singapore: 1107 / 37 per cent
4. Indonesia: 1160 / 31 per cent
5. Canada: 1204 / 30 per cent
6. Malaysia: 2593 / 29 per cent
7. United States: 3511 / 29 per cent
8. Pakistan: 527 / 26 per cent
9. China: 14,868 / 25 per cent
10. Somalia: 519 / 25 per cent
21. United Kingdom: 14,650 / 16 per cent
22. South Africa: 6022 / 16 per cent
Total: 83,983 / 19 per cent
So – good news if you are emigrating for the UK or SA – looks like you are more likely to stay. Bad news if you are from Taiwan – you have a 50% chance of going back.
Unfortunately the article does say why people leave – except to speculate that people do their 2 years to get their IRRV and then bugger off to earn some real money so they can then fleece the free education system and wonderful healthcare and retirement system.
Theres no mention of people having to leave due to stupidly low wages and inability therefore for their families to have a decent standard of living.
What makes these figure really interesting – is it actually looks at people who have been granted residence – so actual immigrants – who leave. The more commonly seen figures are the net migration figures – which show how many people enter NZ vs how many leave. But that mixes up migrants and kiwis leaving. These figure show exactly how many immigrants turn round and go back home. It doesn’t however show how long they stayed – or whether they got the IRRV.
Despite not residing in New Zealand, these absent permanent residents – whom migrant advisers say were granted residency mainly through the business stream – will still be eligible for health and education subsidies should they decide to return.
Should they maintain their residency status, their children could also be entitled to New Zealand residency, which will make them also eligible for these subsidies.
Migrant advisers have raised questions whether this allows migrants to use New Zealand as a “second option” for retirement, as a springboard to Australia or use its services without contributing to the economy.
Of course completely ignoring how much money they coughed up to NZ to get here, including getting fleeced by so-called “advisers”.
This is where these articles are going a bit off the rails. Migration is often a give and take scenario – especially here in New Zealand because it actually has tough entry requirements. In order to get that IRRV and get those “subsidies” these people have to bring in a lot of money, and employ New Zealanders. Many Skilled Migrants have to live on subsistance wages to make that 2 years. They actually do contribute a huge amount – and put up with just as much and for migrant “advisers” to be spouting this kind of rhetoric speaks volumes about why they should not be given the veneer of respectability that comes with licensing.
Why the hell shouldn’t migrants come here, get their IRRV’s and then go elsewhere to earn a decent wage and then come back. If New Zealand really wants to change this – then maybe it should stop telling migrants they can’t earn much money here because they are foreigners and aren’t worth that much.
Just a thought.
Sometimes the solution to a problem is very simple. It doesn’t take a huge amount of hand wringing and high-level government law changes. Usually it requires no more than the application of (un)common sense.
Dr Coleman said the OECD has recognised New Zealand did as well as Canada and the US, and better than European countries, at retaining immigrants.
“Research shows that in general, business migrants are focused on establishing successful enterprises in New Zealand, and that they tend to be more profitable than similar-sized New Zealand firms.”
So possibly when you look at the global situation – there isn’t really a problem at all? Fancy that.
But business analyst Keng Lim says the fact a fifth of immigrants chose overseas showed they are not committed to New Zealand, and wanted permanent residency only as a “stand by option” or for “personal gain” – such as sending their children to New Zealand schools as domestic students.
The highest levels of resident absenteeism are from Taiwan (50 per cent), Hong Kong (40 per cent) and Singapore (37 per cent). At the other end of the scale were Tonga and Afghanistan (both 5 per cent).
“It shows that migrants from richer countries want residency so they can send their children here for free education, and hold on to their residency as a retirement option, rather than wanting to actively contribute to the economy,” said Mr Lim.
“With the high taxation here, many know they are better off elsewhere, but being able to get an indefinite residency makes New Zealand more attractive than Australia.”
I do wonder sometimes if these people actually know New Zealand at all. For a start – Taxation in New Zealand is actually not that high. It’s a LOT lower than UK levels for a start. And why do people think that you would want to fleece the system for a “free” education system that many people here are embarrassed by – and isn’t at all free anyway. It’s like saying we would come here for the benefits system – which is pants compared to what you could fleece the UK taxpayers for.
He said some would also use their New Zealand residency as a way to get into Australia.
Yes – and many people get residence in Australia just so they can get into New Zealand. We were advised to do just that seven years ago. By NZIS staff. Says it all really.
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Herald series on Migration Trends
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, The Family Sponsorship Saga
Lincoln Tan at the NZ Herald is running a three part series on migration trends in New Zealand. His first one interestingly looks at parent sponsorship, and shows some interesting figures.
China has now overtaken the UK as the top source of family sponsorship migration to New Zealand. One of the things that make this possible is that it’s much easier for Chinese migrants to meet the “Centre of Gravity” requirements because of the one child policy. This part of the policy has caused a huge amount of anguish for many people who have stepfamilies. It’s a bit of a blunt tool, and INZ tend to be highly inflexible over its implementation. Mind you – flexibility and INZ just don’t really go hand in hand anyway.
“The growth in Chinese immigrant numbers overall reflects the fact that increasing numbers of Chinese nationals are choosing to study here, gain recognised qualifications and then compete for and obtain skilled employment in New Zealand,” said Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman. Dr Coleman said New Zealand’s immigration policy was designed “to attract the type of migrants we want”.
(Ah yes – international students – such a lucrative source of money for New Zealand that you don’t have to be licensed to give them advice – because they might stop coming. Protecting migrants isn’t half as important as protecting the money they bring in.)
The article also shows that the UK is still the source of most of skilled migrants – with many of the Chinese migrants being younger – in their twenties, as opposed to the Brits being in their thirties and forties. This is seen as a bad thing as they are thought not to be able to provide for their aging parents. This does however ignore 2 things about the Family Sponsorship program. First you have to have a certain level of income before you can sponsor them. It’s stupidly low in my opinion – but that’s the policy. Secondly – you actually only have to be able to support them for two years – and as soon as your “aged” parents become residents -they have access to public healthcare.
We are going to be looking into the Family Sponsorship statistics ourselves over the next few weeks. I know that makes us sound like we really have no lives – but we want to try and understand just why INZ are holding back applications for 2 years.
In the mean time – I’ll be interested in what else Lincoln shows up.
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The Economic Impact of Immigration
Filed under: Economics, Hubby's Views, Jobs & Work, NZIS & Immigration issues
There was a recent report from the masterminds at the Dept of Labour looking at the economic impact of people emigrating to NZ. {Headline, immigration is good for the NZ economy – I’m glad we spent money studying that one just so as we’re sure}.
Anyhow, I was looking around for the numbers and found they were rather difficult to find. So, because they are interesting, here is a nice simple summary.
The reporting, and follow up
The numbers;
At current level of 20,000 annual net inflow:
* Worth $1.9 billion per year to GDP and $1000 per capita GDP.
* NZ population will increase by 437,000 to 4.5 million and annual GDP to $248 billion.
* Will yield an extra $28 billion in annual GDP by 2021.
Doubling immigration level to 40,000 annual net inflow:
* Real GDP will be 7.6 per cent higher, and GDP per capita up 1.5 per cent.
* Export volumes will rise 8.5 per cent.
* Available labour will be increased by 7.4 per cent.
The Effect of Zero immigration:
* NZ population will fall 9.6 per cent below baseline figure of 4.5 million.
* GDP will fall 11.3 per cent, and GDP per capita to drop 1.8 per cent or $1000.
* Available labour will fall 10.9 per cent.
* Export sector will be most affected, with export volumes dropping 12.9 per cent.
But we are not allowed to advise you to come here.
The 2 year family sponsorship wait.
Finally – the fact that INZ are screwing thousands of people out of a $700 “application fee” and then sitting on their backsides for 2 years has made the news in New Zealand. The Herald’s Lincoln Tan has now written about this situation which is causing so much stress and grief for so many of us.
“Immigration New Zealand gets $700 for every application and 4000 applicants means it has received $2.8 million in advance payment for doing absolutely nothing and that’s a breach of trust,”
That’s a staggering amount of money sitting in INZ accounts when they are doing bugger all about it. I think this says it all really.
A family member of a 74-year-old applicant who has been told that she has to return to Fiji to wait for a case manager to be assigned, says it has resulted in “extreme stress” for the grandmother.
Whoever has “advised” this applicant I hope they have told her to apply for an exception to policy to be allowed to stay. There are thousands of people who get to stay in New Zealand on Visitor permits longer than 9 months – I don’t see why our families can’t be amongst them.
“Two years is a long time for a woman her age, and she is extremely worried about who is going to care for her during that time because she has no one to return to in Fiji,” said the woman, who did not want to be named for fear of jeopardising the woman’s application.
Yep – know that fear. It’s not a good time to be an immigrant here in New Zealand if you have to speak out about something. I’m terrified that my brother is going to be made to pay for the fact that I am trying to get the IALA changed. The immigartion minister shoudl really be ashamed that people feel this way about living here.
Lesley Haines, acting head of Immigration New Zealand says:
“Demand in the family-capped stream considerably exceeds annual supply of spaces, so applications are queued until places became available.”
This is total and utter bollocks. The queue is simply because the staff at INZ have been told to hold back applications until they get to the head of a “queue” in applications. It has absolutely nothing to do with the number of spaces available. The number of spaces is renewed each year. Are INZ suggesting that we should go an kill a couple of NZers to free us some space for our families.???
But a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said the minister did not find the waiting time unreasonable.
Well of course he wouldn’t – he’s not the one having to leave his family behind. He’s an MP so he gets thousands of dollars off New Zealanders to make his family life more bearable.
“There is no point allocating an application until places become available,” she said.
“In Australia, waiting times are between 18 months and 10 years on parent application, and for Canada, the processing time is almost three years.”
But – numpty – we don’t live in Australia or Canada – we’re emigrating to NEW ZEALAND. This is truly pathetic and scary that the best excuse the Immigration Ministers office can come up with for the desperate incompetence at INZ is “But Australia does it” (I can here the whine from here.)
And if you really want to see just how much bollocks they are talking – take a look at this from the INZ website under the Fortnightly Selection PDF for the Skilled Migrant Category.
The “year” runs from July to June. One third of the way through the year they have only processed 1141 application (throughout the world) for family sponsorship, and so far 1816 people have been accepted. That leaves about 3200 spaces left. Now it’s fair to say that they are actually accepting most applications (895 accepted vs 246 declined) but call me thick – I’m failing to see where the lack of spaces comes from!
While it’s true that there are currently more applications on hand than there are spaces left – it hardly accounts for the supposed 2 year wait.
We have been told on more than one occasion that this always happens – and come the end of the year when INZ haven’t made their numbers then there is a rush to get the rest of the applications through. Suddenly they realise that in fact they miraculously have spaces left. Funny that.
Now – lets compare this years figures with last year:
So basically – this year at the same time – they actually have MORE spaces left than they did last year. And yet it is only this year that they are insisting on making applicants wait for the 2 years BEFORE they assign a case office. Bear in mind that nearly 2 years ago – they said the same thing to my parents – it would be a long wait before a case officer was assigned, and yet one was actually assigned in 2 months. 6 Months prior to that, another applicants parents got accepted inside of 3 months – having being told the exact same pack of lies.
Make no mistake about it – INZ lie through their teeth, and no one wants to take them to task for it. Yes – they now seem to be making Family Applicants wait – but for no sensible reason.
(The figures for previous years don’t help us see what happened because they grouped parent and adult sibling with Partnership and Dependent child application – which have no cap on the numbers)
You know – I get that family sponsorship is not a priority. But the thing is we have proved our worth to New Zealand – and we have earned the right to sponsor our families. It’s as simple as that. That’s why they make us work our arses off for 3 years before they even let us start this process. To then make us wait another two years (which will turn in to 4 years if like us you want to bring a sibling out as well) – its not on. Especially as the real reason is because of systemic mismanagement in INZ – and nothing to do with the number of spaces. Lying about it to cover up incompetence is reprehensible – although it’s a very Kiwi thing to do.
INZ are taking the piss, and the Immigration Minster is letting them get away with it rather than cleaning up their act. I am really disappointed in Mr Coleman’s’ “can’t be bothered” attitude to the problems at INZ.
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Nearly everyone wants to move to New Zealand.
Why oh why do they need to study these things? In fact the more surprising thing is that NZ is beaten by Singapore and Saudi Arabia (for the money rather than “the Lifestyle”.) Apparently if everyone who wanted to come actually did – the population would boom to 11,000,000. Blimey – that’s quite a scary thought.
“Economic migrants see countries like Singapore as a centre for opportunities, but lifestyle migrants will choose New Zealand for the quality of life, education and peace that it offers,” Professor Spoonley said.
The poll interviewed about 260,000 people aged 15 and older in 135 countries.
The survey found that around 700 million people, or 16 per cent of the world’s population, wanted to migrate permanently if they had the chance.
I wonder if this shows more that we all have a tendency to think of greener grass, rather than proof that one country is fundamentally better than another to live in. Of course places like the Democratic Republic of Congo probably blow that theory out of the water – at –60% it ranked last – meaning that 60% of its population want to get the hell out and no one want to migrate there.
Annual immigration to New Zealand is about 20,000, and the Department of Labour estimates that to be worth $1.9 billion a year to GDP and $1000 per capita to GDP.
There you go – we really are worth something to New Zealand after all. Surely that’s worth Kiwi’s putting up with a little bit of “whinging” from the ex-pats?
Sitting outside on the patio having lunch today – it’s the kind of thing that makes you really chuffed to be one of the lucky ones to have got through the process and got in. Being one of the people who get the chance to emigrate is something to be really chuffed about I think. It can be a hard won privilege – but I honestly thinks its worth it.
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Emigration myths & vitriol
Filed under: For the numpties amongst us, Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Jobs & Work, Life in New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
I have to admit that I once voted for Winston Peters. Party vote only, during the 2005 election. I thought he was a good chap to keep in Parliament, in opposition to keep biting at the Govt. and being a bit of a useful trouble maker. In what can only be described as an outstanding political move, Helen Clark made him foreign minister, and silenced him completely. Kudos to Ms Clark. That’s old news though.
Only how he’s out of a job, and trying to get back in. Making ridiculous claims about emmigration that would have anyone purporting to give immigration advice heading to prison for seven years. And since he’s not an MP, he isn’t exempt anymore. Hmm, I wonder if the IAA are listening? Perhaps there’s a cell spare next to Phillip Field?
Kiwiblog has a lot of interesting comments on this. Although since I don’t really do short, I thought I’d be better writing my thoughts up here.
So to be fair, did Winston Peters say anything I could agree with? Well yes;
“We know that the Immigration Service is possibly the most incompetent and dysfunctional government agency of all“
That’s it though.
So what’s he said that’s got me so irrked?
‘When it comes to immigration NZ is being taken for a sucker. People are coming to NZ as migrants – but many use us as a transit camp. These people stay just long enough to get permanent residency so they can bring their families over – often elderly parents – and then they move on to Aussie. We are being left with the care of elderly parents – while Aussie gets the workers. This sort of scam –and others like it – must end.”
Err – nope. While there are indeed many refugee’s who stay in transit camps for five years while fleeing war in their own countries. I wouldn’t classify five years as a ’stay just long enough’ approach. You have to be an NZ citizen to move to Australia exercising your right as a Kiwi. So people are only doing what every other commited Kiwi is doing.
There are many migrants who have been in NZ for 5, 10 or 15 years, and have not for whatever reason, decided to apply for NZ Citizenship. I don’t see any less commitment from them than from those of us who apply for NZ Citizenship.
As to bringing elderly parents over, well that takes being here for three years as a permanent resident before you can sponsor parents. That process takes two or more years at the moment. Again, a five year commitment to NZ before family are reunited in the same country again.
So are we bringing over our parents to sponge off the NZ taxpayer (of which we are one)? Well, to qualify for an NZ state pension, you have to have been a resident for 10 years, five of those after the age of 50. So in total if you want to sponge off of the NZ taxpayer, you need to have a 15 year plan. Again, doesn’t sound like a sure fire high paying quick win scam to me.
Now there’s probably a presumption of being a taxpayer in that time, however it doesn’t stipulate you have to have been working. Just resident. But if you’re living here, then just like everyone else every $ you spend has GST attached to it.
“Every person we allow into NZ as a permanent resident will sooner or later be a claim on the state pension system. And often they are claiming on our social welfare and health system within a very short time of arrival. “
Sooner or later? Well the oldest age at which you can emigrate as a skilled migrant is 55. Wait ten years, and then you qualify for a pension. Not exactly soon in my mind. As to the later, well heck, contributing to the tax base for 10 years and paying the pensions of existing pensioners doesn’t qualify me somehow?? WTF!
As to claiming on social welfare & health systems in a very short time of arrival. Again, lets just accept tax payers can do that, and think about those elderly parents just champing at the bit to bleed NZ dry in ten years time of $310 a week (or it’s equivalent at the time.)
You get the picture.
If I had $600k+ NZD sitting in a savings account at the moment it would pay me just ~$350 per week interest (which I get to pay tax on of course). A 3% return for a ten year investment? Well, I doubt I’ll be able to retire happily on that.
As to the health system, well again once you’ve waited three years to sponsor parents & two years during the application processing, part of sponsoring your sponging elderly parents is a commitment to ‘reimburse’ the NZ Health system for any costs the Govt. feels like claiming off of you for the first two years while they are here. And they don’t qualify for WINZ in that time either.
Yep – that sounds like a sure fire strategy to ensure someone else pays the cost of care for ‘growing old’ in a very short time.
“These people are feasting on your pension pie. And they will be feasting on it for 10 – 20 or possibly 30 years. The pension pie you and other Kiwis paid for”
It’s at this point that I stop getting all uppity with such inflammatory codswallop and start laughing.
Bake a bigger pie. It’s a principle I picked up from a book I was reading a while ago.(The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan & Robin Koval, which is happily available via Google books for free!) NZIS are indeed baking a bigger pie, I should be fair and give them credit. Current pensioners are not living off of the contributions they have made through their working lives – that paid for the pensioners at the time. No, it’s those contributing taxes now who are paying for the current set of pensioners to eat their pie. The more taxpayers there are, the bigger the pie. So, if anything Grey Power should be demanding NZIS increase the number of emigrants allowed into the country. Since those are the people who are paying for them to have pie.
Perhaps I’d better go on to plan B – and apply for a job as an MP. Sponging off the NZ taxpayer for 3+ years, with cut price travel, all expenses for living in Wellington taken care of, allowances for this that and the other. I get to vote on my own pay rise, and enshrine in law my future benefits in various forms including a final salary pension not measured against average income.
So I’ve found something else I can agree with Winston on;
“This sort of scam –and others like it – must end.”
