There is no certain answer to questions like these, but they have certainly preyed on my mind for the past 10 weeks. People don't just leave for more money, this forum is proof of that, most people coming into NZ are taking a cut in salary and status, so economic reasons are political smokescreens. I feel that an awful lot of educated kiwis are looking for a better life in a less isolated place. When you have only a handful of major places in your country then any large capital city looks appealing. Many kiwis travel away to visit the places their families came from, it's all part of the big OE. When they get there they often stay earning much more money than here and seeing the world. Let's face it NZ is not near anywhere and lacks history and culture because it's so new. ( actually it does have a true culture and that is Maori but not many people I've met here seem interested in that.) As to who the kiwis are....they don't know themselves. Take a look at the flags flying in their gardens, Welsh, Scottish, Union Jacks flutter alongside the NZ one, Caledonian societies and bowls clubs, cricket, croquet, polo are played, fish and chips, pies and balti feature on menus and when the palate is jaded there's Chinese or Thai. I am all for cultural diaspora but I think you need a sense of national identity to drive a country forwards in a positive fashion.
I had a moment of clarity in Te Papa Museum whilst looking at the impact of the settlers bringing in their own animals and plants when they first arrived. I think you can draw a parallel between that and what is happening with immigration now: Settlers brought in rabbits but they bred too fast and ate too much grass stealing food from the sheep. Next they brought in something to eat the rabbits , maybe it was possum or mink, anyway you can make coats out of it if you so wish. Then the predators bred too fast and ate the native wildlife almost in the case of the kiwi causing its extinction .Now we need to eliminate the newcomers using everything from cute come-hither cages to tasty cyanide tablets.
So, are we, the newly arrived settlers driving out the kiwis by taking their jobs or are they the smart ones leaving us to fill in the skills gaps?
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