British Expats No Longer Favour New Zealand As Top Destination

A Natwest International survey has revealed that New Zealand is no longer the top destination of choice for British expatriates, it has been displaced by Australia:

“A survey commissioned by British bank NatWest has found Australia has displaced New Zealand as the top destination choice for Brits abandoning the mother country.
Brisbane has also overtaken Perth as Australia’s most popular destination for migrants.
So popular is it that, according to the third annual NatWest International Personal Banking Quality of Life report, one in every 10 Brisbanites is now a British expat.
The NatWest figures fly in the face of those in the 2006 national census, which found just 4.5 per cent of Brisbane residents were British.
But Brisbane Marketing chief executive John Aitken said there was no doubt southeast Queensland had become Australia’s fastest-growing region, with 1100 people now arriving each week from interstate and overseas. more here”

Immigration in New Zealand has virtually slowed to a trickle and could soon turn negative, economists say. Net migration has hit its lowest monthly level since late 2008, having significant implications both for the economy and the housing market.

Just 70 more people arrived in New Zealand than left in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to Statistics NZ, down sharply on the monthly gains of more than 1000 at the start of the year.

Net migration has hit its lowest monthly level since late 2008.

“ANZ Bank economists said the support provided to the economy from net immigration was “clearly diminishing” with arrivals trending down while departures were rising.
On current trends the prospect of New Zealand losing more people from migration, rather than gaining them as is usually the case, “is very real”, ANZ said. “This does not augur well for the housing market and domestic spending.”
There has been a slowdown in the number of migrants arriving in New Zealand, with a sharp drop in work visas in the past year. At the same time more people have been leaving, especially for Australia, since the end of last year.
Migration has been a key support for economic growth, housing and retail sales. There is a link between strong migration and rising house prices and rents, while house prices tend to fall in times of migration loss, economists say.
For example, during the economic downturn of the late 1990s, more people left New Zealand than arrived for a couple of years, and house price inflation slumped from more than 10 per cent a year to zero…more here“

Also read these recent blogs:
Migration to New Zealand continues downward spiral – 21 June 2010

“More bad news for the NZ economy today with the release of the latest set of immigration figures. Net migration has sunk to an 18 month low as more as more and more Kiwis leave for Australia…”

New Zealand Immigration Growth Continues To Slow. Trans-Tasman Departures At 12 Month High – 23 April 2010

“New Zealand’s annual immigration growth slowed for a second consecutive month in March, suggesting that the economic recovery is weaker than first thought.
The number of permanent migrant arrivals exceeded departures by 20,973 in the 12 months ended March 31, Statistics New Zealand said today in Wellington. That’s down from 21,618 in the year to February. Migration into New Zealand was in negative figures for March, which is bad news for an economy that is so dependent on a buoyant housing market and income from migrants…”

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Armed Offenders In Nawton, Hamilton

Within hours of writing about the Armed Offenders call-out in Kamo, Whangarei, this morning there was news of another armed stand-off in the town of Hamilton.

The siege has now ended but the offender escaped. Here’s what Yahoo News had to say about the incident, which may have had gang connections:

“An armed offenders squad callout in Hamilton is over after a suspected sex offender was holed up in a house in the suburb of Nawton. Police said the scene was being cleared but refused to say if the man had been apprehended or if he had fled.
The man was understood to have assaulted a woman two days ago and held her against her will. She is being treated in Waikato Hospital. Streets were cordoned off as armed police surrounded the house in Sunnyside Rd.
Police earlier believed the man, who had gang connections, may have had a firearm.”

Another report stated

Colin Kiriona, a 25-year-old Mongrel Mob member, was thought to be holed up in a Sunnyside Road property earlier this afternoon.
Members of the Armed Offenders Squad surrounded the property, using seven distraction devices, or stun grenades, before realising no one was inside the house.
A firearm was recovered at the address…
3 News understands the woman is currently in hospital for injuries sustained during the incident. She is not in critical condition, although police have said this was nearly a homicide investigation.
Police have asked members of the public to be on the lookout for Kiriona, who has a prominent tattoo of a bulldog.”

Meanwhile, staff at the Whangarei school close to this morning’s call-out have been praised for their action – read about it here

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More Work For Armed Offenders Squad In Kamo

New Zealand’s curiously named Armed Offenders Squad (shouldn’t it be defenders?) has again seen action in a call-out in the Whangarei suburb of Kamo this morning (Update - later in the day there was another AOS incident in Nawton, Hamilton)

Residents in the town, located in the country which is supposedly ‘the most peaceful nation on earth,’ endured major disruption during a four hour standoff during which stun grenades and tear gas were used to arrest a 35 year old man on  Wilkinson Ave, opposite Kamo High School.

Fortunately staff and students at the school were kept away until the situation was resolved but neighbouring residents weren’t so lucky when police and AOS officers arrived with a search warrant at 5.45 this morning, searching for a man wanted on serious methamphetamine related drug charges. Read about it here.

Police, no doubt mindful of the recent suburban shooting of two officers and a police dog in Phillipstown, Christchurch (video included) last week, were taking no chances with this operation and their tactics obviously paid off.

Police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett told reporters at the Whangarei leader “it’s all about safety“.

Does that mean this method of executing a search warrant likely to become the norm now?  Because  suburban shoot-outs and stand-off are becoming more and more frequent in New Zealand, the pressure is on for NZ police officers to carry guns. The country cannot afford many more fatalities.

On Monday we wrote about an man getting shot in the stomach during the execution of a search warrant in New Lynn, Auckland; and an armed police operation in Dunedin in which it sounded as if police used stun grenades (smoke, tear gas or other devices)  to subdue a person in an apartment near Dunedin Polytechnic.

New Zealand may not be fighting any wars on  its own soil but real battles are sure as heck going-on in the streets every day:

Related:

Tourists caught up in Northland shoot-out - 11 July 2010

“A party of tourists on quad bikes near Ahipara were caught up in the aftermath of an armed “squabble” between two brothers.
The group was stopped by fully kitted out Armed Offender Squad officers looking for the offenders, no doubt scaring the wits out of the visitors looking forward to a quiet day at the beach…”

Another Armed Offenders Squad call out in Auckland - 22 June 2010

” It’s been a busy period for the Armed Offenders Squad.
Three  days ago there was an armed robbery of a pub in Point Chev that led to an AOS stand off in the residential area of Flatbush, 20kms away.
Then this morning they cordoned off roads and surrounded a house in Pakuranga Road, South Auckland. Witnesses said the police were negotiating with a person holed-up in a property. The incident is thought to have ended without injury or loss of life. See “Another dickhead on the lose in Panmure“
The day finished with call out to the North Shore suburb of Hllcrest, another quiet residential area…”

Family row led to shots being fired from house – 23 June 2010

“A Pukehina Beach man at the centre of an armed police seige after he fired several gun shots has been sentenced to 100 hours’ community work and six months’ supervision. Shaun Albert Cockburn, 39, who earlier pleaded guilty to charges of discharging a firearm near a house was sentenced in Tauranga District Court yesterday.”

Armed police called out in Southland – 10 June 2010

“An Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) call-out, an unprovoked assault which left a man unconscious, and an aggravated dairy robbery at knife point kept Invercargill police busy overnight.  At 8.50pm police received a 111 call from Bluff, reporting that a man with a weapon was threatening to kill the two other people at a property — another man and a woman.”

Police seek man after armed offenders called out -15 May 2010

“Police say the AOS was sent out on Saturday morning to a rural property where it was thought there had been an altercation between a man and his nephew. They say the women who called them had fled the house saying she had fears for a young man after her partner had assaulted him and threatened him with a firearm.”

Norsewood gunman puts lower North Island into lockdown –  5 October 2009

“Residents of the lower north island towns of Dannevirke, Ormondville and Takapau have been advised to stay inside, lock their doors and stay away from windows after a body was found in a car abandoned by a gunman on the run. Police closed State Highway 2 between Norsewood and Waipukurau while they hunted for the man who had also fired at police and shot at a farm worker, injuring him in the arm. The offender was described as a European, aged 46 and highly dangerous. He was later named as David John Bourke from Wanganui.”

Armed sieges and gun politics in NZ – 7 May 2009

“An armed stand-off in Chaucer Road South, Napier that started yesterday morning continues into today. A routine cannabis bust went horribly wrong when the suspect, Jan Molenaar, shot dead policeman Len Snee, 53 and critically injured 3 other people yesterday in the small tourist town of Napier, famed for its art deco architecture. Len Snee was the fifth police officer to have been shot dead since the Aramoana massacre of 1990 and one of 29 officers to have died as a result of a criminal act in New Zealand.”

A Selection of posts tagged NZ’s Armed Offenders Squad

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