Wellywood Sign So Last Century; The Lawyers Circle

unoriginal and boring

The future of New Zealand's film industry is becoming more niche and high tech as the digital and 3D revolution takes over Wellinton's production suites. There is less and less emphasis based on celluloid scenes of mountains and green pastures.

Recent data released by Statistics New Zealand shows New Zealand's film production industry is declining (see below) and is being replaced by post production, particularly digital effects, on films such as Avatar.

But by a country mile the most stable and profitable sector of the country's industry isn't film work at all but television broadcasting, most of which comes out of Auckland and not Wellington.

zero points for originality

Regardless of all this Wellington airport and their majority shareholder, Infratil, have decided to advertise New Zealand's success (and by association, Wellington) by erecting a tacky pastiche of a sign that first saw the light of day on another continent back in the 1920s.

Was a rip-off of a hundred year old sign really the best they could come up with in this age  of industrial light and magic and 3D rendering? Zero points for imagination and innovation. A pastiche of a symbol from a bygone age does nothing but emphasise everything that New Zealand is not, and can never be.

The UK's Telegraph has picked up on the outrage that some New Zealanders are feeling about the Wellywood sign

Plans for the 92ft-long lettering atop hills beside the city's international airport have been argued over for more than a year, but council planners have now given permission to go ahead, triggering a storm of opposition.

Outraged critics have swamped social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, blasting the sign as "tacky, unoriginal and embarrassing".

One Facebook group was shut down after members suggested blowing up and setting fire to the sign, while others called on opponents to send a barrage of protest emails to the airport's website.

Another group threatened to stage a "slow-moving vehicle blockade" around the airport concourse in a bid to cause traffic chaos

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who hold the copyright on the Hollywood sign are said to be weighing up legal action to prevent the construction of the Wellywood billboard. Their president, Leron Gubler, said it could breach his organisation's trademark and

"We are not without a sense of humor, nor without legal rights. We hope that if the Wellington Airport wants to mimic our sign in this fashion, it will proceed in cooperation with us and will recognize that the holder of the rights to the sign and the party responsible for its continued existence is a nonprofit entity that works hard to raise funds so that the sign even exists to be mimicked."

What are the chances of a similar non profit association with the Wellywood sign? we say Zero.

Copyright Free for All


How would New Zealand react if Hollywood parodied New Zealand icons for commercial gain, or breached intellectual copyright. 

Remember the ruckus the All Blacks Haka caused, the wrath that descended on the heads of Philip Morris because of their Maori Mix cigarettes and the Mike Tyson/Hangover 2 tattoo? New Zealand should extend the same courtesy to Hollywood as it would like to attract to itself.

“It is astounding that a Pakeha tattooist who inscribes an African American’s flesh with what he considers to be a Maori design has the gall to claim … that design as his intellectual property,” Maori professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku told the New Zealand Herald. “The tattooist has an incredible arrogance to assume he has the intellectual right to claim the design form of an indigenous culture that is not his.

What's sauce for the goose..

For our other blogs about the Wellywood sign click here

Background
Revenue from post production in New Zealand has risen risen to 40 % and is now worth $584 million, in 2008 it only made up 25 % cent of the industry. source

Statistics NZ data

• In 2010 there were 3,189 businesses in the New Zealand screen industry, up 19 percent from 2009.
• Post-production activity has almost doubled over the past two years, and is now worth $584 million.
• Over two-thirds of all post-production revenue ($408 million) was generated by contractors.
• 58 percent of all production company revenue and 55 percent of all funding came from New Zealand sources.

NZ Poverty Not A Lifestyle Choice, Poor Families Can’t Even Afford Basics

 In February we wrote about John Key’s comments when asked about poverty and food banks in New Zealand, i.e. that beneficiaries who resort to food banks do so out of their own “poor choices” rather than because they cannot afford food.

This may be of interest to you if you are considering emigrating to New Zealand because its a great place to raise kids and you think that you can manage on the lower salary you are being offered. Or you may be living in New Zealand now and struggling to make ends meet and resent being told that its your fault for making’ poor lifestyle choices’

John Key said

“But it is also true that anyone on a benefit actually has a lifestyle choice. If one budgets properly, one can pay one’s bills. “And that is true because the bulk of New Zealanders on a benefit do actually pay for food, their rent and other things. Now some make poor choices and they don’t have money left.”

But rising food prices mean that New Zealand is a country where it is now cheaper to buy cola than milk and where obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Read the blog here 

Published research from the University of Auckland, which  shows that low income families in New Zealand can’t afford to buy basic nutritious food for their children, is now being used by the Child Poverty Action Group to call for more support for families in New Zealand. The results of poor nutrition is being seen in New Zealand’s hospitals every day.

It may surprise Mr Key to learn that The highest cost for families is rent, then electricity, transport and education. Its far more than not being able to budget properly, its about having money left after the basic essentials for life have been met to afford luxuries like healthy food.
From Voxy

Nutritious Food Too Costly For The Poorest Families

“Latest research from the University of Auckland supports recent claims that many low-income families are unable to afford even a basic nutritious diet for their children. A paper published in Nutrition and Dietetics in December 2010 found that low-income families may not be able to afford meals recommended by the national nutritional guidelines, especially if there are teenagers in the household whose meals cost a lot more.
In response to the findings Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is calling on the Government to increase support for families so they are able to provide nutritious food to their children.
Professor Asher says, “In reality, rent is the highest cost faced by most families, closely followed by unavoidable expenses such as electricity, transport and school-related costs. This leaves little for a good diet, especially for older children who eat so much more.
Nutritious food for children is beyond the reach of many low-income families, especially those thousands of families ineligible for the full Working for Families package. This study clearly highlights that using food banks and purchasing cheap poor-quality food is not always a matter of choice. “
CPAG is calling on the Government to help all families better afford nutritious food by extending the In-Work Tax credit to all low-income families. The cost of basic food items have increased over the last year, exemplified by the rise in milk price – 9%. “We see the outcome of poor children’s nutrition in our hospitals every day. This problem can’t be solved just by budgeting, and will not go away through magical thinking.”
Spokesperson Professor Innes Asher i.asher@auckland.ac.nz 021492262″

Kiwi youth already suffer some of the worst health outcomes in the developed world. New Zealand’s young people have higher rates of mental illness, suicide, teen pregnancy and suffered more injuries than young people in other OECD countrie. (source)

“New Zealand’s children suffer not only a higher rate of hardship than other New Zealanders, but a greater share of New Zealand’s children face hardship than in many other countries. New Zealand’s older population faces a low rate of hardship relative to the other New Zealand age groups and relative to the same age groups in other countries. Having about one out of every five children facing hardship is a situation that must be improved.  The comparison to other countries shows that New Zealand is unusual in choosing to impose such a burden on the youngest segment of the population.” Source NZ Institute’s report NZ Ahead.

With regards to third world diseases NZ has 14 times the average OECD rate of rheumatic fever,  five to 10 times the rate of whooping cough and pneumonia compared with the United Kingdom and United States,  and four to six times the rate of child maltreatment compared with the best countries.

Household crowding is partly blamed for New Zealand having one of the highest rates of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) among children and teenagers in the developed world.The infectious disease, which can cause chronic rheumatic heart disease through damaged heart valves, is responsible for more than 120 deaths a year.

This is what Rahui Katene, MP for Te Tai Tonga had to say about how poverty is affecting children in New Zealand. No’ lifestyle choices’ here, just hard living in grinding poverty.

In 2010; 2000 more children were admitted to hospital with poverty-related illnesses than during 2007-08

What seems to have slipped below the radar is the fact that a crisis is occurring in our hospital admissions.
That’s the fact that medical conditions which occur more frequently for children living in poverty have been increasing over recent years – particularly for Maori and Pasifika children.  Or that close to 250,000 children are living in homes reliant on the benefit for income.
My colleague, Te Ururoa Flavell, last night spelt out some of the consequences of families living in severe or significant hardship.  Families who go without fruit and vegetables; who put up with the cold to save on heating costs; who delay going to the doctor of the dentist, or live in cramped conditions, who tell their children that the opportunity to go on a school trip or play sport is a privilege which they can ill afford.
Is this a nation fit for our tamariki?  We need to heed the research which shows us there can be a different life for our babies, if we make it a priority.
Last year I spoke at the launching in Dunedin of the New Zealand Children’s Social Health Monitor Report 2010.  That report revealed the inevitable, that economic recessions have affected children’s health in other countries. And we saw research indicating the close correlation between recessions and high hospitalisations in New Zealand.
However, it also reported on the experience of Sweden in the 1990s where, despite large numbers of children living in low income families, there were no significant increases in childhood hospitalisations for poverty-related illnesses.
I noted that in 2010; 2000 more children were admitted to hospital with poverty-related illnesses than during 2007-08.
We’re talking about admissions for respiratory problems, infectious diseases, and other conditions with links to poor housing and economic hardship –all diseases of poverty which could have been prevented if children were taken to see a doctor earlier.
The Prime Minister said yesterday, when talking about these very children – the children who suffer the consequences of long term dependency – that “the Government is not prepared to leave those people behind”.  That was welcome news for the Maori Party.
But statements are at risk of becoming platitudes without a plan in place.  Slogans and placards are great for the camera, but where is the strategy to put the words into action?…

She went on to call for seven simple solutions to support children, whanau and families:

• We will set a deadline to eliminate child poverty by 2020;

• We will designate an official poverty line at 60 percent of the median household disposable income after housing costs and set net income for those on benefits at this measure to prevent poverty.

• We will increase minimum wage to at least $15 an hour.

• We will raise core benefit levels, including superannuation, veteran’s pensions.

• We will simplify Working for Families including extending the ‘in-work’ payment to all families.

• We will investigate the reintroduction of a Universal Child Benefit ;

• We will establish a ‘Neighbourhood Renewal’ Fund, which may include incentives to encourage living more collectively, eg community gardens, afterschool care, post-natal support for parents.

You may also find interesting:

1. Our other blogs:
“NZ: 100% Pure Rip-Off” (July 2010)
NZ’s Poverty Gap – Fat Cats Feast Whilst Queues Form For Bread And Jam (July 2010)
Immigrants Caught In Cold Poverty Trap (July 2010)
Ministerial Credit Card Rort (June 2010)
Family Gets $200,000 Bill For House Fire (July 2010)
2. And these external sites:

Wealth gap divides nation
“ACCUSATIONS THAT New Zealand is one of the worst performers in the developed world when it comes to the income gap between rich and poor have been validated by a Sunday Star-Times survey.
Conducted by Horizon Research, it shows the burgeoning gap between the haves and have-nots is frothing over into resentment, anger and disillusionment….”

Key: Poverty is your fault
“John Key says if you’re having trouble getting by on your income it’s due to your ‘lifestyle choices‘. Key has given himself at least $23,000 in tax cuts and had a $7,500 rise on our borrowed money. He has the worst economic record of any PM in 80 years: 86,000 more jobless Kiwis and falling incomes. And this bastard blames Kiwi families for their poverty…”

Families feel the pinch
Palmerston North families, many of them in paid work, are reaching out to food banks and budgeting advisers in growing numbers as new year bills and price rises tip them into crisis… Salvation Army community ministries manager Kevin Richards said there was no doubt more people were finding it harder to feed their families. In January, it faced a 25 per cent increase in customers compared to January a year ago, with 40 to 50 new clients each month. “Most are people who have never used us before. It’s a huge growth in demand, and it continues to grow.”
As well as about 180 people needing food parcels each month, the number of people looking for assistance with clothing, bedding and household goods had doubled to about 200 in six months.
Some were in work, but 99 per cent were beneficiaries.

Banks face downgrade
“The big banks look set to lose their prized Aa2 credit ratings after ratings agency Moody’s Investment Services said it was considering a downgrade of them.
The big four banks ANZ National, Bank of New Zealand, ASB Bank and Westpac all hold Aa2 rating for their long-term senior unsecured debt and deposits…”

Petrol prices highest since 2008
“Petrol prices are on the rise again, hitting their highest level for more than two years.
Overnight the price of a litre of 91 octane petrol rose 3c to $2.02 and 95 octane rose to $2.11…”

New Zealand: Unite takes on minimum wage
“In New Zealand, 100,000 workers live on the minimum wage of NZ$12.50 per hour, which is just 51% of the average wage.
Unite’s “campaign for a living wage” calls for the minimum wage to be immediately raised to $15 per hour. Then, it would be further increased in stages and set at two thirds of the average wage. The union is organising a petition drive, aiming for 300,000 signatures calling for a citizen’s initiated referendum by May 2010. If this is achieved, the government would be required to call a referendum on the demands within a year…”

Kiwis discuss Key’s comments online
“I know of two people on the sickness benefit due to recent circumstances completely out of their control. One receives $180 a week. She pays $150 a week rent, which includes power in a tiny granny flat. $10 a week is allowed for her cell phone because she has medical emergencies, so she is left with 20 a week for food. The other of those people also receives temporary assistance which takes her total up to $300 a week…in order to cover the mortgage payment. In her case, the mortgage, rates and house insurance is…you guessed it, $298 a week. She has $2 a week to cover her food, power, phone. Budget that, if you can.”
“WE are fortunate to be sort of middle income and I have to say that over the last 18 months despite tax breaks and pay increases we are about $80 – $100 a week WORSE off than we were with all the increases. We pare things down to the bone. Rarely have special treats or outings.I am a good experienced cook and we cook from scratch. I can’t imagine how a beneficiary would cope these days. Edit to add also a lot of beneficiaries are not on unemployment benefit.. they may be on sickness etc and have extra costs for medical care …”

Today's posts - click here

Made In New Zealand, Not

It could be the ‘world cup effect,’ or just a coincidence, but there has been a lot in the media recently about New Zealand promotional goods not actually being made in New Zealand.

Two different stories have cropped up in the last few says  which makes us wonder if there are moves afoot to clean-up the industry before next year, or whether it’s the country of origin (China) of some of these product that’s causing patriotic Kiwis some embarrassment.

In the first story Prokiwi International Limited, a company based in Christchurch that supplies souvenir and gift shops at airports and major tourist destinations, were fined $48,000 for breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

Apparently the company pleaded guilty to 17 representative charges for providing products that were “packaged in a way likely to mislead customers that the products were New Zealand made when this was not true.” The products in question were a range of soaps and skin products, manufactured in China made from ingredients sourced from Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

The Commerce Commission’s media release said:

“Prokiwi International’s company logo is a graphic of a kiwi together with the words Aotearoa New Zealand. This, combined with the names of the products, such as New Zealand Honey Hand Lotion, New Zealand Kiwifruit Lip Balm and New Zealand Lanolin Soap, and the use of iconic New Zealand images such as a bee on a manuka flower, kiwifruit and a merino ram in front of Mount Cook on the packaging, would give consumers the strong impression that they were purchasing New Zealand made products,” said Graham Gill Commerce Commission Enforcement Manager, Auckland.”

Cheeky, naughty even for misusing the carefully cultivated  brand image , but here’s the rub – honest Kiwi businesses were loosing out because overseas products were undercutting them:

“Many consumers are influenced by the country of origin of goods and this is particularly so in the case of prospective purchasers in tourist or souvenir shops where buyers are looking for a memento of their visit to New Zealand that is New Zealand made. The packaging used by Prokiwi International not only misled consumers who believed that they were buying New Zealand made souvenirs, but disadvantaged other businesses who were selling genuine New Zealand sourced and made products. The Prokiwi International products were sold at significantly lower prices alongside nearly identical competing products that were genuine New Zealand made products, unfairly giving Prokiwi International a competitive advantage,” said Mr Gill.” Read the full statement here

How can locally made products be more expensive than imported Chinese made goods that are subject to shipping charges, import charges, customs and MAF fees etc. ? is everything “made” in New Zealand charged at a premium because of the strong image ‘brand New Zealand’ has?

Our second story appeared in the NZ Herald and involved a subject a lot closer to New Zealand’s heart  – rugby, surely the last bastion of New Zealand patriotism.

It seems that All Blacks scarves and beanies aren’t made from New Zealand wool, shocking! but what’s far worse is – they’re not even made in New Zealand.

The scarves and beanies sported by All Blacks supporters are being made of acrylic – not New Zealand wool – after their manufacture was shifted overseas, where they have been made since, well, ages ago!… 1999 if the Herald’s article is anything to go by.
The Herald said that

“supporters of the local wool industry say they are dismayed at adidas’s actions before the Rugby World Cup.”
Margaret Tenet, chief executive of Textiles New Zealand, said she believed the All Blacks should be backing New Zealand industries.”

And rightly so. Besides which, many visiting fans may want to buy these products because they are looking for a ‘memento of their visit to New Zealand that is New Zealand made’

“Nick Nicholson of the Council of Wool Exporters said Chinese manufacturers, who were among the main producers for adidas, had “developed an awful lot” but he was also concerned wool was not being used. “I would be surprised if [the items] were not produced overseas but the fact is it’s not wool [which is] a far superior product.”
But New Zealand Rugby Union commercial manager Paul Dalton said the days of local clothing suppliers producing specialist items for a global market were probably long gone. He said adidas had made much of the All Blacks’ line of clothing overseas since 1999.
The price tags of $50 for scarves and $40 for beanies would probably be twice as much if they were made locally and with wool.” read the full article on the Herald

$50, for an acrylic souvenir scarf. How much would a British fan have to part with to collect rugby supporter scarves from different nations? we did a quick straw poll, comparing New Zealand with two other countries based on today’s exchange rates on xe.com

All Blacks scarf $50 =£22.58
Wallabies scarf $30 = £15.17
England scarf = £4.99

Should fans be paying such a high price for an item that’s not even made in New Zealand and if they wanted to buy a genuine ‘Made in NZ’ piece of Kiwiana  to treasure for always would they be able to find one?

You may also like


Concern over "Made in New Zealand" Products

Toxin Found in Honey Samples - Tutin, a potentially fatal neurotoxin,  again found in NZ honey

Demand for Accurate Chemical Measurement in NZ Grows - NZ risks falling behind in chemical assay work

Consumer NZ Calls for Cosmetic Withdrawal - A NZ brand of  Baby products contained iodopropynyl butylcarbamate (IPBC),  a banned preservative

NZ: 100% Pure Ripoff

Price Gouging and Cleaning Up, the Rugby World Cup

Today's posts - click here

"NZ: 100% Pure RIp Off"

Oh dear, bet the guys who coined the “100% Pure NZ” are cringing right now.

It will be interesting to see how well the brand’s image survives this latest onslaught on the slogan that lends itself so easily to abuse. It is currently being used to highlight how expensive New Zealand has become.

It all started with an article in the NZ Herald under the header “NZ: 100% Pure Rip-off. Rip off New Zealand?” written by Peter Bills, an international writer for Independent News & Media.

“Guys, just 14 months out from the 2011 Rugby World Cup, you are sleep-walking into acquiring such an unwanted reputation worldwide.
The price of ordinary, everyday articles and living costs horrify me in this country. I’ve been here, admired the place, loved the people since 1975. I wasn’t even put off by my first ever weekend in New Zealand – 17cm of rain in 24 hours and sitting shin-deep in water at Eden Park as the All Blacks aqua-planed past Scotland in that infamous 1975 test.
But what I see today is of far, far greater concern. This place is becoming one of the most expensive I visit, one giant rip-off. And most of you seem unaware of it.”

We think not, thousands of migrants struggle to make ends meet in New Zealand, many of them attracted by baiting 'NZ is cheap’ campaigns, such as that run in Singapore recently.

“What I find here amazes me. So much so that I don’t know how most ordinary folk manage to balance their budgets. True, petrol is much cheaper than in Britain. But in just about every other field, hotels, car hire, restaurant food, wine, clothes or whatever, you’re the victims of massive overcharging.
Of course, it’s always difficult to compare like with like when speaking of different countries but this is an overall impression from someone from Europe.
I sat down for a simple lunch at a restaurant on Auckland’s waterfront last week. The sun was shining, the setting fabulous. A glass of splendid New Zealand sauvignon blanc was a delight – until we saw the price. $28 for two ordinary sized glasses? You don’t pay that in Paris or London, unless you go somewhere like the George V in Paris or London’s Ivy restaurant.”

But ordinary folk don’t balance their budgets. Many are up to their ears in debt, working two jobs and sending their kids to school hungry – 230,000 children are living in unacceptable poverty in New Zealand. As for those who like to maintain lavish lifestyles? well, there’s always good old fashioned fraud and theft to fall back on. Little wonder that crime is on the rise.

“Now let’s be fair. The NZ dollar has appreciated significantly against the pound over the course of the past 12-18 months. When I last visited NZ it was $2.40 to £1. Today, it is around $2.04. But does that explain a growing number of instances where an overseas visitor felt totally ripped off?
And there is growing evidence that it is chiefly the cities of this country who are leading this “grab what you can, make a killing” attitude towards visitors. If that is indeed the case, then it is the country areas, the less populated centres, who will suffer most.
Take car hire. Am I the only visitor to New Zealand who has ever decided that it would be better to drive from Auckland to Wellington and stop for a couple of nights somewhere to see the North Island? It hardly struck me as a revolutionary idea, yet this set me up as a target for just about every major hire car firm in Auckland.
Hertz demanded an outrageous $300 drop-off fee if I wanted to leave the car in Wellington. Yet isn’t that what 90 per cent of visitors would do if they were touring, especially going on to the South Island? Companies such as Avis, Europcar and others were demanding only slightly smaller amounts. Some didn’t even have a drop facility in Wellington…

…Parking in one city centre carpark in Wellington this week was $9 an hour, $39 for four hours. In Monte Carlo, the first hour’s parking at public carparks is, er, free.
Then there are the hotels. This weekend in Wellington at the InterContinental, a king room costs $410. Now it is rugby test weekend and it has club facilities but even so. £205 a room? You might pay that in New York or London but not in most European capitals. And just imagine what on earth such a room will cost on the weekend of October 8/9 next year when Wellington hosts two of the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.
The capital city costs a fortune and it’s not just an Englishman who thinks so. In the winter of 2008, in the company of several visiting South African writers, we sat down in a harbourside restaurant. When the menus arrived, we were so horrified by the prices we all got up and walked out. It was daylight robbery.
Last week, at Kermadec in Auckland, one main lunch dish was $33. In the evening, entrees were $25, mains around $42 with desserts $18. The wines were equally expensive. In a Takapuna restaurant, also last week, a bottle of Stoneleigh pinot noir cost $48. I could take you to a dozen restaurants in Nice where you’d drink a perfectly good French wine for nothing near that amount….”

Welcome to New Zealand.

So long as someone is prepared to pay those sort of prices people are going to charge them. It’s a free market economy. Perhaps more people should be “horrified by the prices” and ‘get up and walk out’ and spend less time being mollified by the scenery? Whilst they’re absorbed in gazing at those vistas, searching for the lifestyle and dangling from the end of bungy cords they’ll not feel their pockets emptying until it’s too late (In NZ, everything – even the scenery – comes with a price tag)

“Does any of this matter? After all, it’s only tourists who might get fleeced and they won’t be back every year (ed. only tourists?! quite a few immigrants would take issue with that remark) And the Rugby World Cup which is being held here next year might be the last time it is hosted exclusively by New Zealand. So hey guys, grab what you can in hiked up profits, make a fortune and smile all the way to the bank. Right? No, wrong, dead wrong. (ed. why not? it’s been going on for 150 years and has worked just fine)

New Zealanders will be dumb if they even think of such a philosophy. The World Cup ought to be an event that showcases the whole country to visitors from every corner of the globe. They should go home extolling the virtues of this land. Think long term, six or even 16 years of profits on the back of that scenario, not a money grab operation spanning six weeks which will persuade many visitors never to return.
Already, the word is getting out in an international sense that New Zealand is getting expensive. The fact is, you just can’t afford to allow that image to take root. You’re too far away from the rest of the world to afford such a scenario. In Paris, Rome, London or New York they can get away with that purely due to population numbers in those parts of the world. It is very different here. International travellers are not fools; fewer will come if New Zealand is known as too expensive…” read the whole article here

New Zealand draws most of its international travellers from Australia, most of them just a few hours flight time away from New Zealand. Other fans from wider afield are said to be basing themselves in cities like Sydney and plan to fly in and out for matches, or watch the games in 3D cinemas, outdoor venues, bars etc.  There’s only so much that can be done in New Zealand during winter and who’d want to hang around for longer than they’d have to?

Some of the visiting teams may decide to do the same. In September last year the Springboks decided to give ‘boring Hamilton’ a miss and jet in from the Gold Coast, Australia, for a match. How many teams will do the same next year is anyone’s guess but who will blame them for wanting a bit of sun, sea and sand?

The Herald today published another contribution on this subject, this time from former All Black Justin Marshall who agreed that New Zealand is expensive and not just for visitors, he admitted that he’d ignored the warnings from friends that New Zealand was more expensive than Britain:

When former All Black halfback Justin Marshall left for England five years ago, a litre of petrol cost about $1.30. He remembers a flat white coffee costing about $3 and a beer at his local about $6. But since his return to New Zealand about a month ago, Marshall has noticed his British pounds are not going as far as he had hoped. “I think five years ago you could get a coffee for around $3 or $3.50 but I wouldn’t think there would be many places you’d get one for under $4,” he said. “Petrol is now close to $1.80 a litre and if you’re drinking quality lagers in a pub, a lot of the bars are charging up towards the $10 mark. “It’s expensive and something you can’t help but notice.”
Marshall, 36, agreed with rugby correspondent Peter Bills that New Zealand was an expensive country – and not just for visitors. Bills – sounding a caution ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup – said the prices of everyday articles had “horrified” him and Kiwis were “victims of massive overcharging”. He said New Zealand was becoming “one giant rip-off”.
Marshall, an 81-test All Black who is now a Sky TV rugby comments man, said his rugby friends had also warned him that the cost of living had become higher in New Zealand than in Britain. “All of my mates who had come home kept saying to me that I needed to be aware that the expense of living in New Zealand is something you really have to take into account … It really has become an expensive country to live in.”
He said his weekly grocery spend in Britain was between £150 and £200 ($323-$431) to feed his family of five. Here, the bill is $400 to $500 a week.
“I’ve really noticed it with things like cheese, milk and bread and butter … When I was in the UK I bought a leg of imported New Zealand lamb for 17 quid [$36.60]. I bought the same thing here and it was close to $40. “Even when you take the exchange rate into account, it still costs more to buy our own meat here.”
New Zealand Beef & Lamb chief executive Rod Slater said Marshall was “pretty much on the mark” and said prices for export lamb in Britain, our biggest market, were generally “on a par” with prices here. Mr Slater said this parity was partly because of New Zealanders paying GST on food whereas consumers in Britain did not. “So that’s 12.5 per cent right there.
“The other thing is a huge part of the lamb sold in the UK is frozen, whereas we get it fresh here. Our currencies have come closer together as well. I mean, not long ago it was $3 to one pound; now it’s two to one, so that has made a difference, too.” Marshall said retailers, hoteliers and people in the hospitality industry were in a Catch-22 situation with next year’s Rugby World Cup looming.
But he agreed with Cup chief executive Martin Snedden, who expressed concerns that rorting visitors could damage the country’s reputation. “You want people to come to NZ and see it for what it is,” Marshall said, “but in the same breath we want to make money … It’s an opportunity to maximise businesses and maximise what New Zealand has to offer and people are going to be here anyway.
“It’s very difficult to pull away from that opportunity when it is so evidently going to be in your face but you want those people who come here to go back to the UK and not talk about how difficult they found it to find cheap hotels or how expensive it was to go out for dinner.”… read more here

Little wonder that well over 500,000 New Zealanders live in Australia and a similar number in Britain, they know when they’re onto a good thing.

Enough of our thoughts on this. Let’s take a wider view and look at the responses this article drew from people who live, or have lived, in New Zealand and see what prospective visitors and migrants can learn from their comments.

This is a sample from the  TravelMSN site where there was a massive response on a very emotive topic:

NZ a giant rip-off?

kiwi rip off
Posted by: Nick, auckland, on 19/07/2010 9:50:59 PM
I am a recently returned Kiwi and about to become a recently departed one. New Zealand has become, very sadly, ridiculously expensive and there seems little reason for it other than blatant profiteering. the result is an escalation in crime and an influx of the rich. I feel terribly sad to have lost my homeland and very let down by the politicians who are responsible yet unaccountable. If anyone is likely to save this country I for one think it will be the Maori and good luck to them, they are fighting for the values the pakeha seem to have abandoned and I feel ashamed.

Land of Milk & Honey?
Posted by: ndawoodz,Wellington, on19/07/2010 10:38:16 AM
I wish I could disagree…but alas! Single mother of two, prices for food are ridiculous! With pride I have often said, “this is the land of milk & honey”. Seemingly the best of our milk & honey etc gets exported overseas & foreigners get NZ quality produced goods, for cheaper than us!! What!!?? This is seriously not good, us that live here contribute to our economy & I am now left wondering…for what?. The rest of my family had moved to Oz many years ago, so when I visit them I often spend hours in their supermarkets looking at the huge array of variety & prices. The Australians & co are definitely spoilt for choices & prices. Of course us Kiwis are not happy about…but we don’t get any options…Just do what your told! Hmmmmn maybe another family off to Oz soon!…great economy, realistic wages & apparently cheaper NZ produce!

Have to agree
Posted by: goldie, Auckland, on 19/07/2010 9:02:16 AM
Having just moved back to Auckland after 10 yrs living in Europe, the USA and Hong Kong I have to say that I agree mostly that NZ is over priced. Also the quality of things like clothing is crap here compaired to the UK and the USA. I have been looking to set up a house and the choices in furniture and beding etc are pretty poor here. I have just ordered a whole lot of 100% cotton beding from the UK at a much cheaper price (including shipping) than I can get here in NZ. I will be buying most of my clothes from the UK and the USA as the colour choices here (black or red neither of which I wear) are so limited that I can go into every clothing shop in the likes of St Lukes and not find anything in a colour that I would wear. Also most of the clothes we get here are synthetic fabric and I only wear natural fibers. Food here is also very expensive. My supermarket shop is about twice as expensive here as it was in the UK. As much as I love NZ I do find it to be overpriced!

i agree
Posted by: Gemz, Wellington nz , on 19/07/2010 7:02:59 AM
I am a english lass, lived in nz for almost 6 years now and i agree with the reporter. Houses are cheaper here, cars and petrol but thats about it. Clothes are very expensive and i do not agree that they are better quality. Food is totally over priced, its cheaper to buy new zealand lamb in britain then here……what the hell is up with that. Wine is over priced here everything is, they seem to sell nz products to other countrys for much cheaper and then make us pay prices through the roof. Its stupid. New zealand is a beautiful country and i love living here, can hardly afford to live here as the ongoing problem with price rising and wages not rising. Somthing must be done.

NZ a giant rip off?
Posted by: Linds, Te Pahu, on 19/07/2010 5:32:59 AM
Having just returned from a trip overseas to both Italy and the UK and I can vouch for certainty that in NZ we are ripped off for food and clothes in our shops. But then European countries don’t seem to add the equivalent of GST to food or clothing as these are, rightly, considered essentials for everyday living. So why do we put up with this tax on essentials in NZ? As for accommodation, car hire, eating out and wine, NZ is cheaper but then our average incomes are, I reckon, over 40% down on most European countries. One thing most noticeable about the European countries we visited is the abundant affluence as manifested by the huge numbers of new cars on the roads plus the shops, restaurants and pubs were mostly full of customers spending freely. They seem to have fully recovered from the recession.

Today's posts - click here