Facts And Figures That You Won't See On Campaign Posters

  Don't drink the Kool-Aid

We’ve all seen the ‘Campaign Posters’ and very effective they are too but here are some of the less well known about facts and figures for New Zealand. Unfortunately some of them make for very grim reading.

Despite propaganda to the contrary CRIME RATES are actually very high.

Says who? well the OECD for one. They say “New Zealand is second only to Ireland in 26 OECD countries in internationally comparable data on vehicle, theft and contact crimes. 22% of New Zealanders experienced such a crime in a 12-month period, compared to an OECD average of 16%.” You’re more likely to experience this type of crime in New Zealand than in almost any other country in the OECD.

In 2009 there was a sharp rise in HOME INVASIONS. There were 112 compared to 85 in 2008. The attacks are happening in both rural and city areas, see link and link.

An independent think tank, The New Zealand Institute released a study which showed that New Zealand has the fifth highest MURDER RATE (assault mortality) in the OECD.

A UNICEF Report Ranks NZ as among the worst in OECD for CHILD ABUSE. A 2003 UNICEF report showed that New Zealand has one of the highest rates of child death from maltreatment (physical abuse and neglect) among rich OECD countries.

NZ ranked 25th on a league table of 27 countries with 1.2 deaths per 100,000 children. For two examples of what goes on read “Man jailed for shooting daughter and “Nia Glassie“

New Zealand, along with Norway, is unusual in that SUICIDE RATES for young adults are greater than for older people. Most OECD countries have higher suicide rates for older people.

The NZ economy is among the most indebted in the OECD and its LIVING STANDARDS lag behind many other OECD member. Relatively low labour productivity growth since the 1970s “has opened up a large income gap relative to the OECD average and an even greater one with leading countries such as the United States. The poor productivity performance is explained to some extent by New Zealand’s special geographic situation, which hinders the transfer of human, physical and technological capital from abroad, but also to sub-optimal policies in a number of areas” for more see link

More Facts and Stats

Crime

• The NZ Institute placed NZ 5th out of 30 OECD countries for its high murder rate

• In 2009 crime rose 3.5 percent, there were 9% more violent offences over 65,000. There were 65 murders, up 25% over last year, the highest figure for 10 years 10 years. Serious assaults up 6% and minor assaults increased nearly 12%.

• 80% of people questioned think that crime is a serious problem in NZ

• There was a total of 1,160 aggravated robberies in 2008, hardly a day goes by without an armed robbery occurring somewhere in New Zealand.

• South Christchurch averages 150 burglaries a month

• Whangarei averages about 27 burglaries a week (108 a month) The hotspots are Kamo Rd, with 14 burglaries reported since the start of the year, William Jones Drive 13, Raumanga Valley Rd 10, Mill Rd and Park Ave 8 each and Corks Rd 6.

• Nelson Bays averaged about 71 burglaries a month in 2009, or 847 in the year. This is an increase of 230 over 2008’s figures.

• Tasman District averages  127 burglaries a month, or 1519 in 2009. That’s a rise of 248 since 2008.

• The estimated social cost of sexual violence in NZ $1.2 billion per year. It is NZ’s most costly crime.

• Alcohol offences skyrocketed in Palmerston North during 2009, up from 87 to 409 on the previous year.

Living Accommodation

• The ‘Leaky Building’ epidemic is estimated to cost NZ$11 billion in repairs. This equates to about 10% of its GDP. It is so high it could adversely effect the country’s credit rating.

• Tauranga has been ranked one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in with housing described as ‘Severely Unaffordable‘. It was the 20th city on the list, more expensive than Auckland (22) and and Christchurch (31)

• The mental and physical costs of poor housing cost $26 million a year. There is also a misconception about the indoor/outdoor lifestyle balance – in NZ people spend 3/4 of their time in their own house.

• 250,000 homes are so damp, cold and poorly insulated that they ruin people’s health.

Economy

• Migrants are important to the NZ economy. The migrant population of 927,000 people had a positive net fiscal impact of $3,288 million in the year to 30 June 2006. The net fiscal impact per head was $2,680 for recent migrants, $3,470 for intermediate migrants and $4,280 for earlier migrants. The net fiscal impact for the New Zealand-born population was $915 per head.

• International students are worth $2 Billion annually to the NZ economy. One leading academic has described them as being “only seen as cash cows“

• OECD data shows that New Zealand’s wages lag around 30% behind Australia. In the past 12 months Australian wages have climbed faster than New Zealand’s (Feb 2010)

Children and Youth

• The NZ Human Rights Commission released a report in which it identified significant human rights issues in relation to violence in New Zealand Schools.

• A study of Western Southland youth showed that 56% of them had been bullied within the last year at school. An overwhelming 92% thought it was because of their ethnicity or culture. 45% identified themselves as being a New Zealander, 33% as European and 18% as Maori.

• 12 Children were apprehended for sexual assault in 2008-2009 financial year. 716 Children were reprimanded by police, the youngest included a four-year-old girl, two five-year-old girls and five five-year-old boys, for dishonesty offences (shoplifting, burglary or theft of property valued under $500)

• Kiwi youth suffer some of the worst health outcomes in the developed world. New Zealand youth have higher rates of mental illness, suicide, teen pregnancy and suffered more injuries than young people in other OECD countries.

• The drug trade in Northland is run by gangs, a gang called The Headhunters is moving into small communities like Ruakaka. “Which is why we have got violence in Ruakaka schools.”

• One child is abused to death every 23 days. “Thousands of children in New Zealand are suffering horrendous abuse at the hands of the people charged with nurturing them every day. And even more are suffering lower levels of abuse and neglect.”

• Arson in schools amounts to $3.2 million a year.

• School vandalism costs $10 million a year, money that would otherwise be spent on educating children. The damage consists mostly of smashed windows, graffiti and break-ins. The worst hit school is Auckland’s Papakura High School where $262,000 was spent on cleaning up and or repairing vandalism.

• “Complacency and an underestimation of risks” contributed to a canyoning tragedy that killed 6 students and their teacher.

• The average university student’s debt is $16,000 and loans must start to be repaid as soon the borrower reaches a salary of least $19,084. Those who leave the country to avoid making repayments are charged charged interest at  6.8 % PA after six months away. It’s one reason why many graduates don’t return home.

• 20% of young New Zealanders leave school without adequate literacy and numeracy skills. “For the last 20 to 30 years there has been no national standards in New Zealand, and one in five young New Zealanders are unable to read and write properly.”John Key, educated in NZ.

• 66% of students entering high school aren’t numerate.

Health and Death

• There is a workforce crisis in New Zealand’s hospitals. Specialist senior doctors are being lost and there is a shortage of cancer specialists. Staff are lost to Australia (where the salaries are 35% higher) and to private practice. The causes are low pay by international standards, overwork and lack of resources to do the job.

• “Taumarunui Hospital is facing a critical shortage of qualified medical staff after one of its remaining two doctors resigned in the wake of the town’s after-hours care crisis.” March 2010

• New Zealand has the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world, thee disease kills about 1,200 people a year.

• 261 people in Canterbury are waiting more than six months for cancer-detecting colonoscopies, raising alarm among doctors. In July 2009 the figure stood at 75 people. A private procedure costs £1,000.

• Prostitution is legal in New Zealand. A 19 year-old woman recently sold her virginity to the highest bidder on an on-line NZ auction site.

• NZ’s Road death toll is twice that of the UK. I n 2007/8 there were 366 road deaths in New Zealand, that’s 8.6 road deaths per 100,000 of population, the UK’s  average is 4.3 road deaths per 100,000 of population

• 29 people died and at least 540 were seriously injured in adventure tourism activities over a 5 year period.

• NZ police don’t carry guns but the country has 11 times as many guns per capita as Britain and 60 percent more than Australia where the police are armed. There are an estimated 230,000 licensed firearms owners using approximately 1.1 million firearms, enough for 1 in 4 of the population. There are no figures for the number of weapons illegally owned by unlicensed people. During a call to one domestic incident in a house in Otahuhu, South Auckland police came across an arms cache of about 45 high powered shot guns and rifles and ammunition. Police confiscated 11 guns from a farmer after a fire on his property caused a major power outage in the North Island

• Road accident deaths in Northland since 1980 are equivalent to the population of a small NZ town. Over 1,100 people have died.

Green Credentials

• NZ farm animals eat their way through 25%  of world’s supply of palm kernel 1.1 millions tonnes, second only to the combined countries of the European Union.

• Applications have been made to operate 16 massive factory farming dairy units in the environmentally sensitive MacKenzie Basin, South Island.  If successful 18,000 cows will be kept in cubicles 24 hours a day for 8 months of the year.  The potential for damage to the environment is significant. One of the farms projects that it will produce 54,000 litres of effluent a day,  another will produce 93,ooo litres.

• There’s an estimated $140 billion of minerals including gold, copper, iron and molybdenum beneath NZ. Plus another $100 Billion worth of lignite in the Southland lignite field. The minerals industry is now pushing the National led government to open up conservation land for mining. They are pushing at an open door.

• New Zealand is the world’s greatest user of the toxin 1080, it is dispersed from helicopters over large areas of countryside in an effort to control mammals and unwanted pests. It is an indiscriminate poison and humans, native wildlife, livestock and pets are affected by it. See also: Videos about 1080

These are NZ’s OECD and World rankings (click on links for data sources)

1st highest country for

*Suicide rates in ages 15-24

*Melanoma Rates

*Cannabis use

*Property crime victims
*Car ownership – 720 per 1000 people, even more than the USA’s 675 per 1000 (2005)

*Rates of driveway deaths in the developed world

*Rape victims In NZ only 9% of sexual offences get reported to police, and of those only 13% of rapes resulted in convictions. The median age of victims is 23 and Europeans account for 61% of the victims – See ‘Conviction rate in sex cases‘

*McDonalds Restaurants per $GDP
see also: Teenager dies in death pact

2nd highest country for

*Suicide rates in ages 25-34
*School bullying

*Total crimes per capita
*Car occupant deaths resulting from collision with car, pick-up truck or van

*Imprisonment rate in the Western World

*Total crime victims

*Asthma prevalence

*McDonalds restaurants per capita

*Immigration foreign population

*Personal income tax

3rd highest country for

*Rate of obesity in the OECD

*Adults prosecuted per capita

*Child maltreatment deaths

*Assault victims

*Teenage pregnancy

*Lone parent families

*Students finding school boring

*Amphetamine use

*Motor Vehicle Deaths

*Imports of brown coal (lignite) per capita

*Loss of electrical power between source and destination
7th fattest country in the world
62.7% of New Zealanders are obese according to the WHO, Kids watching too much TV and ‘modern development’ mostly to blame
8th highest country for Economic Crime (Fraud)
* See PWC Economic Crime Survey
For Road Death and Injury Statistics,  see: Road Death Toll.

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