Afrikaner in New Zealand - Koerantartikels

High cost of living hits immigrants
5:00AM Tuesday May 20, 2008
By Simon Collins

NZ HERALD

New immigrants to New Zealand love the lifestyle - but a third of them say they don't have enough money to make ends meet.

The first results of a Statistics NZ survey of 7000 people who gained permanent residence here in 2004-05 has found that 93 per cent were either satisfied or very satisfied with life here six months after they arrived.

Only 1 per cent were dissatisfied.

They loved New Zealand's climate and natural beauty (77 per cent), friendly people and relaxed pace of life (63 per cent) and their ability to achieve their desired lifestyle here (62 per cent).

But three of their top five dislikes reflected the high cost of living: high taxes (36 per cent), health costs (28 per cent) and poor quality or costly housing (18 per cent).

And a parallel survey of 600 skilled migrants, also published yesterday by the Labour Department, has found that one in every three migrants does not have enough money to meet their everyday needs.

The proportion saying they don't have enough money has risen from 27 per cent in 2005 to 30 per cent in 2006 and 35 per cent in the latest survey, done in the first half of last year.

Migration and Investment Association chairman Richard Howard said migrants were struggling with the same rising living cost as other New Zealanders, making this country less attractive compared with Australia and Canada.

The number of permanent residents approved dropped from 56,467 in 2005-06 to 52,765 in the financial year to last June, and he said numbers might drop below the target of 45,000 this year. "I think it will continue to be a challenging market for the next one to two years," he said.

The Labour Department survey found that migrants actually found it easier to make ends meet in their home countries, where only 15 per cent had not had enough to meet their everyday needs.

The proportions who could not meet their everyday needs doubled from 16 per cent at home to 32 per cent here for migrants from Britain and Ireland, and jumped from 10 per cent to 37 per cent for migrants from the rest of Europe, South Africa and North America. More surprisingly, the proportions who could not meet their needs here increased even from Asia (up from 19 per cent at home to 36 per cent here) and other countries (up from 17 per cent at home to 40 per cent here).

This was even though between 91 and 94 per cent of principal applicants from all continents had found jobs here.

The department said migrants might have stronger informal supports in their home countries.

"For example, it is not known to what degree migrants were able to rely on their extended family and relatives for additional support such as childcare," it said.

"Migrants from Asia would also be likely to have experienced paying lower taxes in their source country, but this would be commensurate with lower levels of government provision of social services. Also, for some migrants, additional financial resources may be required during the establishment of a new home."

Migration from Asia has declined since English language requirements were tightened five years ago, with migrants from China dropping from 17 per cent of the total in 2003 to just 5 per cent in the latest year. Instead, Britain has again become the biggest source of migrants, accounting for about a quarter of the total in each of the past five years.

Almost half the migrants in the latest survey (47 per cent) have settled in Auckland, followed by Canterbury (13 per cent), Wellington (11 per cent), the Bay of Plenty and Waikato (6 per cent each). But the proportion of Asian migrants settling in Auckland dropped from 60 per cent in 2007 to the same as the overall average (47 per cent) in the latest survey.

LIFESTYLE AND SECURITY IN GODZONE A WINNER FOR BRITONS

The Marshall family from England will be staying in New Zealand, even though they are worse off financially.

Software developer Royston Marshall, 37, and his wife Becky, 38, left their home in Chichester, southern England, because they felt Britain was no longer safe for their five children.

Mrs Marshall said the last straw was when their eldest daughter Lucy, now 14, was "chased by a gang of drug addicts who threatened to molest her".

"I think we have probably suffered a little bit financially. We are probably not quite as well off as we were," she said.

"But we have a fantastic outdoor life here. The children just love it. They are out and about, whereas they wouldn't have been in England - they would have been watching TV and on the computer."

Mr Marshall said they researched property prices in New Zealand before coming here and bought a similar house in Birkdale to the one they had in Chichester, with a smaller mortgage.

Other costs were higher than expected.

"Food shopping is what has hit us. If anything, it's slightly more expensive than England," he said.

"It's hard to get used to having to pay to go to the doctor. In England you don't pay at all and your children's prescriptions are all free."

But he said he would still recommend New Zealand to other Britons because of the lifestyle.

"It's just laid-back. The temperature is better than in England," he said.

Mrs Marshall said she had made a lot of friends, partly because she had to.

"I've been very outgoing. I think you kind of have to be. Through the church I have met lots of people, and through the children's schools."

Lucy had a scholarship to a private school in England, but Mrs Marshall said the local Birkenhead College had placed her in an accelerated group and arranged special tuition so she could keep up Latin and German.

"I think it's a better school than she had. They have been totally on the ball without us doing anything," she said.

Mr Marshall said the family were less impressed by the schools of their younger children, 12-year-old twins Alicia and Jacob and 8-year-old twins Beth and Rebekah.

On the other hand, Mrs Marshall said, one of their youngest twins had told her recently that the local teachers made learning fun.

By Brian Gaynor

The latest residential property statistics show that house prices are falling and there is unlikely to be any improvement in the short term.

A sustained downturn in the housing sector, which has been one of the main drivers behind the strong economy in recent years, will impact on consumer confidence, retail spending and domestic growth.

February sales data has been released by three organisations: Barfoot & Thompson, Quotable Value New Zealand and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

Auckland real estate agent Barfoot & Thompson reported settled sales of only 603 properties last month, compared with 989 properties in February last year, with the average sales price dropping from $504,079 to $495,272.

Managing director Peter Thompson said it was a buyers' market and volume had declined because sellers had been slow to adapt to the changing market conditions.

Quotable Value (QV), which produces national data on a rolling three-monthly basis, said the average sale price in the period from December to last month was $393,240 compared with an all-time high of $406,176 in the three months ended last October.

QV spokesman Bruce Hancock said: "Clearly the market is slowing down and taking a breather, and we expect this will continue given current market conditions. It looks like we may be in for a sustained period of less activity in the property market."

Finally REINZ, which produces the most comprehensive data, said the national median sale price was $337,500 last month compared with $340,000 in January and $335,000 in February last year.

As demonstrated by the REINZ figures in the first table, New Zealand house prices have risen sharply over the past six years. In the six years to last month the median price increased by 81.5 per cent from $186,000 to $337,500 while the stock exchange's NZX-50 Gross Index strengthened by 78.6 per cent over the same period.

The property market showed clear signs of peaking in mid-2007 when the median price reached $351,500 and last month's figure was 4 per cent below this all-time high. The sales volume figures in the second table give a clearer picture of market conditions over the past few months.

Volumes remained strong through the first few months of last year but began to fall, on a year-on-year basis, from mid-year onwards. The decline has accelerated in recent months with sales volume for the past six months 28.4 per cent down on the same period in 2006-07.

House price falls tend to lag volume declines and this trend is expected to continue over the next few months. It would not be surprising to see the median sale price fall to around $320,000 in the second half of this year, representing a decline of between 7 and 9 per cent compared with the second half of last year.

Auckland and Northland are the weakest markets in terms of price and volume. Auckland's February volume was down 42.6 per cent compared with February last year, while the median price fell 0.7 per cent.

The next few months will give a clearer indication of the state of the market as there is usually a strong bout of activity in the March to May period before the advent of the quieter winter months.

It is now a buyers' market but most vendors remain unwilling to drop their prices to achieve a sale. This is reflected in the number of days it takes to sell a house which has shot up from 32 days in February last year to 50 days last month.

Real estate agents will have to convince sellers to drop their price if they want to sell their property.

Several items affect the housing market including external migration, bank lending, interest rates and the employment situation.

External migration has fallen sharply from 34,906 in the 2003 calendar year to only 4799 in the 12 months ended in January this year. Based on recent trends there is a strong possibility that the country's annual immigration figures will turn negative by mid-year. This would have a damaging impact on the residential property market.

Aggressive lending by the trading banks has played a major role in the housing boom. Between January 2002 and this January bank mortgage lending surged by 115.2 per cent, from $68.6 billion to $147.6 billion. This has been encouraged by bank capital adequacy rules that allow banks to lend twice as much on residential property for any given amount of capital compared with most other types of loans.

For example, banks have been able to lend $200 million on residential mortgages for every $8 million of capital but only $100 million to businesses for the same amount of capital. This has encouraged the Australian-owned banks to focus on housing loans in NZ because it minimises the amount of capital they have had to commit to this country.

The trading banks have been given more flexibility under new capital adequacy rules introduced this year but they are unlikely to maintain their aggressive mortgage lending policies because of the downturn in values.

Individuals will also approach borrowing more cautiously because the floating interest rate is now 10.62 per cent compared with 9.63 per cent 12 months ago and the five-year fixed rate has risen from 8.04 per cent to 9.24 per cent over the same period.

A major positive feature for housing is the tight labour and low unemployment rate as individuals are much more likely to borrow and move to a better home when their employment outlook is secure. The unemployment rate dropped to just 3.4 per cent in the December quarter, well below 3.8 per cent in the December 2006 quarter, and the employment market continues to remain tight although it is normally a lagging indicator.

The housing market has a huge impact on the New Zealand economy because in terms of the total housing values/share market capitalisation ratio and total housing values/GDP ratio we are far more dependent on residential property than any other western country.

There has been a great deal of comment and analysis about the wealth effect of sharemarket falls on the United States economy but we should be much more concerned about the wealth impact of a decline in house prices on retail spending and the New Zealand economy.

Statistics released on Thursday indicate the retail sector is performing relatively well in this country compared with the US. Seasonally adjusted sales for last month rose by 0.3 per cent in New Zealand compared with January but declined by 0.6 per cent in the US over the same period.

Petrol prices continue to have a big impact on spending patterns as NZ petrol station sales rose 29 per cent last month compared with February 2007 and were 20.2 per cent up in the US.

Seasonally adjusted retail sales, excluding petrol, were 3.5 per cent higher in New Zealand compared with February last year while they increased by just 0.9 per cent in the US.

Retail sales will continue to be a major bellwether for the domestic economy but residential housing will be the most critical factor.

The best way to assess the state of the economy is to keep a close eye on the number of For Sale signs in your neighbourhood.

NZ houses world's least affordable

NZ HERALD

5:00AM Monday January 21, 2008
By Anne Gibson

New Zealand has the least affordable houses in the world.

It scores worst in an international survey of the world's six most expensive housing markets, passing Australia for the first time.

Demographia, an international survey business run by Hugh Pavletich of Christchurch and Wendell Cox of the United States, today issued its fourth annual report, showing New Zealand has slipped drastically on an international scale.

The United States, Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand were studied, and the results reveal NZ house hunters face the biggest gap between earnings and house prices.

Wages are so low and house prices are so high that it takes 18 years and six months of a household's entire annual income to pay for a home, Demographia found. That measure is based on median house prices compared to median wages.

Australia had been the least affordable country of the six, but New Zealand has overtaken it, partly because of high mortgage interest rates.

But in Aucklanders are no longer the worst-off New Zealanders. Tauranga is now the country's most expensive city compared to its wages, ranking 20th of 227 cities in the survey, followed by Auckland in 31st place and Christchurch in 34th.

"New Zealand has the highest-cost housing among the surveyed nations in relation to incomes. It also has the highest interest rates," the study said.

Houses in Los Angeles remained the world's most expensive, and California was the most expensive area.

The most affordable houses are in Canada's remote Thunder Bay, followed by Youngstown in Ohio and Fort Wayne in Indiana.

Demographia's authors say town planners should solve New Zealand's housing crisis by freeing more land on city fringes.

Mr Pavletich and Mr Cox cited former National leader Don Brash, who in an introduction to the study called for the abolition of urban limits.

"Despite all the evidence, governments continue to pretend they are powerless to make housing more affordable or, worse still, implement futile interventions which make the situation worse as the New Zealand Government is proposing," Dr Brash said.

He was referring to Housing Minister Maryan Street's Housing Affordability Bill, which would require developers to include cheap houses in new estates or to make compulsory gifts of money or land to councils.

The bill, introduced to Parliament last month, aims to stimulate the provision of affordable housing for first home buyers and low-income families.

But the Property Council and Master Builders Federation say the proposed law would push up the cost of houses. Other homebuyers would pay the price as developers put up the cost of mid- and upper-range homes to compensate for profits lost in building the cheaper homes for first-time buyers.

Real Estate Institute national president Murray Cleland said he was shocked to hear of New Zealand's ranking. First home buyers were being hardest hit.

He said tax rates were too high - "and that's an area that needs to be looked at" - but territorial authorities also had to take a good share of the blame.

Councils had restricted land supply unnecessarily at a time when people desperately needed more sections for building.

"You look at small provincial towns where the councils have freed up land - it's been swept up."

As well, exorbitant council fees and charges were making new housing developments unaffordable.

"A large part of this problem is the cost of getting building permits," Mr Cleland said.

Property Council national director Connal Townsend said yesterday he was not surprised by the Demographia survey and he criticised the Auckland Regional Council for its growth policy which restricted city limits.

No one wanted urban sprawl, he said, but "if people can't afford to live in the city, what's the point of the policy?"

5:00AM Saturday December 01, 2007

The average annual income of New Zealand households has increased only slightly faster than the rate of inflation during the past three years, official figures show.

Statistics New Zealand's three-yearly household economic survey puts average annual household income at $67,973 in 2006/07, up 10.2 per cent from $61,668 in 2003/04.

In comparison, a Statistics NZ official said the consumer price index had increased 9.1 per cent between the year ending in the June 2004 quarter and the year ending in the June 2007 quarter. But while the average income figure has done little better than inflation, the wage and salaries component of it has risen nearly twice as fast, up 17.7 per cent to $50,235.

Income from self-employment was down 24.5 per cent to $4213, from investments it was up 17.4 per cent to $3057, superannuation and war pensions rose 1.6 per cent to $3970, and government benefits were up 5.7 per cent to $3740.

The median annual household income was up 14.3 per cent to $55,976. The median figure means half of households receive more and half receive less.

The survey also found that in 2006/07 average weekly household net expenditure was $956. The three largest components of that expenditure were housing and household utilities at 23 per cent, food at 16 per cent and transport at 14 per cent.

Questions on material standard of living were introduced to the survey for the first time, with people being asked how satisfied they were with their standard of living, and how adequately their income met their everyday needs.

Nationally, 75 per cent of households were satisfied or very satisfied with their material standard of living, while only 10 per cent were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

Fifty-one per cent of all households reported their income was enough or more than enough to meet their everyday needs for such things as accommodation, food and clothing.

For households among the bottom 20 per cent of income earners - below $25,800 - only 31 per cent reported their income was enough or more than enough. For those in the top 20 per cent - above $98,800 - the proportion was 79 per cent.

Information in the survey was gathered from about 4500 private households chosen at random throughout the country between July 2006 and June 2007.

According to the survey, the 32 per cent of homes with a mortgage spent an average of $271 a week on mortgage payments, while for the 29 per cent of households renting, average weekly rent was $220 a week.

For all households, average weekly expenditure on housing and household utilities was $224, with $36 a week going on energy.

Weekly average household expenditure on food was $156, with $68 on grocery food, while restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food accounted for $38 a week.

The survey reported a weekly average of $19 on alcoholic beverages, with 55 per cent of households reporting such spending, but Statistics NZ said spending on alcohol was known to be under-reported.

Transport took up an average of $136 a week. Of that $67 went on supplies and servicing for private transport, an average of $38 a week went on petrol. The purchase of vehicles accounted for $48.

Average weekly spending on recreation and culture was $97, with subscriber television charges the largest single item at $6.

- NZPA

5:00AM Monday November 12, 2007
By Bernard Orsman and Anne Gibson

The property market has entered a slump.

The property boom is petering out with two sets of data showing falling prices and flagging buyer confidence.

Quotable Value figures out today show higher interest rates and cautious buyers are behind a slowing property market for the second consecutive month.

On Friday, the Real Estate Institute reported a big fall in the annual rate of growth in prices and fewer house sales. It was down to 8.02 per cent for the year to October, compared with 12.3 per cent to September, said president Murray Cleland.

Most banking economists predict a soft landing for the sector and prices flattening, rather than plummeting.

BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander said a survey of 27 real estate professionals found overwhelmingly pessimistic sentiments.

When asked about the market outlook, only six respondents were positive. Nineteen were negative and two were neutral. One Auckland agency said sales volumes were the lowest for seven years.

Auckland-based property analyst Kieran Trass said yesterday that the property market had entered a slump phase.

"We have had the boom. It lasted a very long time and was a very good boom. But all good things must come to an end."

Mr Trass said momentum was building into the turning market and while there might be a bit of a comeback early next year, conditions would soften again next winter.

Growth in property values fell to 12.7 per cent in the year to October, according to Quotable Value. That is down from September's 13.3 per cent and August's 13.2 per cent.

All the main cities reported easing growth in property values, with the exception of Hamilton, where annual growth increased to 15.8 per cent from 14.4 per cent in September.

In Auckland City, growth dipped to 11.9 per cent in the year to October (12.1 per cent last month), Wellington growth dropped to 13.7 per cent (14.1 per cent), Christchurch dropped to 12.3 per cent (13.1 per cent) and Dunedin dropped to 9.4 per cent (10.4 per cent).

The national average for house sales increased slightly to $406,176.

Quotable Value spokesman Blue Hancock said higher interest rates and flagging buyer confidence were now reflected in a general slowdown in market activity and a shift from a sellers' market to a buyers' market.

"Purchasers are being careful and taking a longer time to buy property. Developers and investors are also acting cautiously and seem willing to wait for further market signs to appear."

Glenda Whitehead of Quotable Value said reports from Auckland indicated developers were stepping away from infill housing because of council costs and time delays.

The Real Estate Institute's sales figures for last month showed 6854 residential properties sold, only marginally up on September's 5894 sales but well under the 10,000 deals being recorded monthly at the height of the boom around 2003.

* NATIONAL HOUSING SNAPSHOT

AUCKLAND
Average sale price: $524,180.
Rise in past year: 12.8 per cent.

With the exception of Rodney, other areas showed a general easing. Properties taking longer to sell, even in hot spots close to the city, such as Sandringham, Kingsland and Western Springs. Reports of developers moving away from infill housing.

HAMILTON
Average sale price: $368,194.
Rise in past year: 15.8 per cent.

Despite sales being down, Hamilton was the only main city to record a higher year-on-year rate of growth this month. Prices for the year to October rose 15.8 per cent (14.4 per cent in September). There were large, one-off increases in the central city, north-west and south-west areas.

TAURANGA
Average sale price: $450,122.
Rise in past year: 7.7 per cent.

The market continues to be somewhat flat. Anecdotal evidence suggests selling timeframes are longer and bargain house hunters are making low offers. Widening gap between seller expectations and offers, agents said.

WELLINGTON
Average sale price: $438,263.
Rise in past year: 15.9 per cent.

The trend towards lower price increases is more evident. The city's western suburbs, Hutt Valley and Upper Hutt continue to perform well. Demand still strong for central locations.

Source: Quotable Value. Figures are for the year ended October.

5:00AM Monday August 13, 2007
By Wayne Thompson

Property prices in the main urban areas are stabilising, while some provincial cities continue to have strong growth.

Quotable Value (QV) figures released last night showed an average 12.7 per cent growth in national property values over the three months ending July compared with the same period last year.

Over this period the average sale price was $381,298.

"However, the trends differ within cities and between regions," said QV spokesman Blue Hancock.

"There are clear signs the property market is slowing, with feedback of fewer listings and buyers resulting in fewer sales.

"However, as the number of buyers is dropping along with the number of listings, this is not putting significant downward pressure on prices," said Mr Hancock.

Values in the Auckland region grew more slowly than the national average and average prices dropped.

Greater activity at the lower end of the Auckland market resulted in the average sale price dropping from $492,857 to $490,818 last month.

When QV compared a property's base value to its sale price, this showed property values rose by 11.9 per cent over the past year, up from 11.2 per cent reported last month.

Mr Hancock said prices seemed to be flattening off in the main urban areas because values showed little difference in growth rates.

Auckland City's growth in values was 10.2 per cent compared with 9.9 per cent.

Hamilton and Wellington were static at 13.6 per cent and 14.7 per cent respectively. Christchurch remained flat at 13.4 per cent and Dunedin eased slightly from 11.4 per cent to 10.8 per cent.

Traditionally, the winter months have lower market activity.

"If the spring market does not provide a surge, then we could expect to see annual growth in property values dropping back to single figures in coming months," Mr Hancock said.

Signs of an easing market showed in drops in annual value growth rates for Rotorua to 8.9 per cent, Queenstown (11.5 per cent) and New Plymouth (10.3 per cent).

In Gisborne and Invercargill values grew by 25 per cent and 30.9 per cent respectively.

QV Auckland valuation manager Glenda Whitehead said that on the whole, activity appeared lighter than it had been for a number of years and houses were taking longer to sell.

In Hamilton, QV manager Richard Allen said higher mortgage interest rates were expected to slow sales but the general feeling was that prices were likely to be static.

The Tauranga market seemed to be on a plateau, said QV manager Christopher Boyd.

Buyers were more cautious and the lag between a property's listing and sale was longer.

New Zealand's bloated homes market, fueled by a labour shortage, is holding us back

Tuesday November 28, 2006
By Brian Fallow

In the second part of our special, the Herald examines how housing and the labour market can restore balance to the economy.

For businesses seeking relief from high interest and exchange rates, the continuing strength of the housing market can seem like the oppressive heat before an electrical storm.

The Reserve Bank is counting on the housing market to weaken in order to turn off the wealth effect, whereby home owners increase their debt to spend a few cents in every dollar of their increasing housing equity. That has seen consumer spending grow faster than incomes for several years.

The bank is counting on a couple of years in which consumer spending - about 60 per cent of economic activity - goes sideways in real terms, in order to vent inflation pressures.

Its problem is that inflation in the non-tradeables side of the economy, where prices are not affected by the exchange rate or disciplined by international competition, has been stuck around 4 per cent for the past couple of years. As long as that remains true, headline inflation - now falling - could swiftly climb again should international oil prices rise or the New Zealand dollar fall sharply.

Although the Reserve Bank continues to forecast that house price inflation will decline, and even dip into negative territory, it admits in its September monetary policy statement that the slowdown has been more gradual than it had expected. So monetary conditions - interest rates and the exchange rate - remain tight.

The Real Estate Institute reported a jump in the median national sales price last month to $324,000 after four months in a tight range of $310,000 to $313,000. The median price has climbed 72 per cent over the past five years, compared with just 14 per cent over the five years before that.

Quotable Value says the average house price over the three months to October was 9.6 per cent higher than in the same period last year. While that is down from the 2004 peak of house price inflation at nearly 25 per cent, it is still a far cry from zero or a negative figure.

Although a correction in the housing market is a risk, it is not a particularly large risk, says Bank of New Zealand chief economist Tony Alexander.

"This is because the labour market remains tight, net migration inflows are running above average and even if the Reserve Bank raises its nearly meaningless official cash rate again we still expect mild downward movement in fixed mortgage rates next year as monetary policy is eased in the United States," he said.

Even though the economy has been growing at a well-below-par average rate of 0.5 per cent a quarter for two years, the unemployment rate is only 3.8 per cent and wage inflation is high.

"We never reached critical mass in the slowdown," Alexander said. "You get unemployment shooting up when businesses lose hope and act on that."

Business confidence fell sharply in the second half of last year but businesses did not act on that by shedding labour. "They were hoping everybody else would lay off employees so they could hire them. The downward spiral simply hasn't got going this cycle."

Westpac chief economist Brendan O'Donovan said firms had gone into the slowdown with a shortage of skilled labour, so in its early phase continued to hire. Job security had helped underpin the housing market.

"But when the housing market does run out of steam the economy will be in for a tough transition period," he said.

"We have seen corrections in the housing markets in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States over the past 2 1/2 years. I'm not sure why New Zealand would be immune."

When that would happen was impossible to predict, because the market was being driven by sentiment.

ANZ National Bank chief economist Cameron Bagrie said he did not expect to see a substantial turn in the housing market until the labour market turned. Other gauges of the property market gave a picture of a market that remained brisk but vulnerable.

House prices continued to grow faster than household incomes, leading to declining affordability.

The average house price was eight times the average income, compared with six times in Australia.

Household debt was rising and interest rates too, as a surge of two-year fixed-rate lending taken out during the "mortgage wars" in late 2004 came up for repricing.

But Bagrie said housing market turnover and the number of building consent issues showed a pick-up in activity consistent with rising net inflows of migrants.

Alexander said he expected slowing growth in the US to lead to falling interest rates over the year ahead, which would translate into slowly falling fixed-term rates in New Zealand.

"Even as the floating interest rate remains high along with one-year and possibly two-year rates, fixed rates for three years and beyond will decline."

MIXED SIGNALS CONFUSE PICTURE

Talk of a hard landing for the economy has so far come to nothing. Indeed, over the past month there have been signs that the economy may be picking up speed again. But there are also reasons to believe this may be a blip and not a longer-term trend.

Signs of an upswing

* Business confidence is the highest for two years and firms' views of their own outlook is at levels not seen since early last year.

* Retail sales in the September quarter were up 1 per cent on June in real terms.

* Imports hit a record of $3.9 billion last month as the country pulled in $1.43 of imports for every $1 of exports.

* House prices jumped last month, rising 3.5 per cent to an average $324,000, a record.

* Net immigration remains well ahead of long-term average rates for New Zealand.

Reasons for caution

* Pessimists still outnumber optimists among businesses.

* Retail sales in the September quarter were up only 1 per cent on a year earlier in real terms.

* The trade and current account deficits are at unsustainable levels and testify to unbalanced growth concentrated in spending, rather than earning.

* The jump in house prices followed a poor four months and house price inflation is dipping.

* Immigration tends to boost the demand supply of the economy sooner than the supply side, adding to inflation pressures.

Friday July 21, 2006
By Brian Fallow

Most employers agree there are barriers to migrants participating in the workforce but are doing nothing about them, a survey shows.

Recruitment firm Hudson asked 1705 employers whether barriers existed for migrants working or seeking work, and found those saying yes outnumbered those saying no four to one.

Most - 78 per cent - cited non-technical skills, especially communication, as the biggest problem.

Only in professional services and, to a lesser extent, utilities, were technical skills cited as an issue, and then only by one in five or one in six firms respectively.

"To be granted work or residency permits, skilled immigrants must have achieved minimum language and professional qualification standards, and are mostly from jobs identified as long- or medium-terms shortages," the Hudson survey says.

"Yet many people who are doing the hiring do not consider these candidates as ready to fit into their New Zealand organisations."

Hudson's staff find employers more open to using foreigners in back-office roles. But it is a different story when people interact with customers. The accent matters.

Hudson's survey found fewer than a quarter of employers had formal integration or settlement programmes for migrant employees. About the same proportion gave informal support.

New migrants in small companies - those with fewer than 20 staff - are unlikely to get formal or informal support. Seven out of 10 such companies told the survey they did nothing specific.

The Hudson survey cites Labour Department projections that in 15 years, a quarter of the workforce will have been born outside New Zealand.

"But migrants still find it difficult to find work in New Zealand and those who do are often placed in jobs well below their skill level," it says.

This is despite a labour market which, despite an economic downturn, remains tight and is expected by the Department of Labour to stay that way.

The net inflow of permanent and long-term, migrants bottomed out in October last year, and is now back in line with its long-term average of 10,000 a year.

Hudson says employers are in a bind.

Many young New Zealanders are going overseas, growth is constrained by a shortage of skilled workers and unemployment is close to a record low.

"Unless employers find ways of accessing the skills of non-traditional talent pools such as new migrants, the problem will show no signs of diminishing."

Most migrants in its experience were prepared to learn new skills or acclimatise to the New Zealand way of doing things and made it through recruiter screening only to fall at the final, hiring step.

"While many migrants are satisfied eventually with their work and lifestyle in New Zealand, some 22,000 a year are leaving the country because their expectations were not met," the survey said.

Property price growth still slowing

Monday September 11, 2006

The growth in residential property values continues to slow, Quotable Value said yesterday.

New figures show property values were up 10.5 per cent from a year ago, calculated over the three months to August.

But this was a drop from the 11.1 per cent growth reported in July, a trend noted since March.

The average sale price was $340,473.

"Across the country, there is a gradual easing in the property market," QV spokeswoman Glenda Whitehead said.

"Prices, and hence property values, are still higher year on year, with no signs of any dramatic falls, but conversely the demand that was pushing values up faster and faster over the past three years has definitely eased back."

Auckland city property values were stable, up 7.6 per cent in August, while Dunedin was up slightly to 6.2 per cent.

Other main centres saw growth rates slow. Hamilton grew 16.2 per cent, down from 17.5 per cent in July, Wellington City rose 9.5 per cent (from 9.9 per cent), and Christchurch was up 9.4 per cent (10.4 per cent).

Provincial cities also showed signs of slowing growth, including Gisborne, up 18.2 per cent, Palmerston North 15.8 per cent, Invercargill 11.2 per cent, Napier 6.2 per cent and Nelson 2.4 per cent.

The only provincial centre still growing above 20 per cent is Rotorua, at 24.9 per cent. QV said it was a late starter in catch-up mode.

- NZPA

Monday June 26, 2006
By Anne Gibson

New Zealand's residential property market is one of the world's most risky and second only to Denmark in the likelihood of a serious price correction, says the OECD.

The organisation studied 17 countries and found New Zealand one of the most hazardous markets - the single most volatile country in which to own a house because it had more booms and busts than the others.

The report - "Are House Prices Nearing a Peak?" - found that since the 1970s, New Zealand has had more housing peaks than any other country.

The duration of our housing cycles have been shorter and more cyclical, the report said.

Peaks were invariably followed by a downturn and a price drop.

New Zealand was at extreme risk of a real estate downturn, particularly if interest rates rose by only 1 per cent when the country would have an 83 per cent chance of a big price correction, the OECD found.

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard is not expected to push up rates further this year.

The OECD said Denmark's chances of a house price crash were the highest at 95 per cent and Japan's the lowest at 0 per cent. New Zealand was one of the world's most vulnerable housing markets. But Denmark and New Zealand had also consistently topped world house price charts in the last two years, having experienced the steepest value increases.

The OECD report by Paul van den Noord shows that if prices were to continue rising this year at the same rate as in 2005 and if interest rates rose by a percentage point, Denmark, New Zealand, France and Sweden would be almost certain to suffer a crash. The Danes are most vulnerable, followed by the Kiwis then the French.

Real Estate Institute data this year shows the market plateauing and prices staying stable rather than rising fast as they did last year.

"A rise in interest rates by 100 to 200 basis points would suffice to raise the probability of a peak in the United States, France, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden," the report said. The report follows rankings from Britain's Economist that put New Zealand at the top of the world for the steepest price rises. In June 2004, New Zealand topped a chart of house price rises in the world's developed countries.

In an article headlined "Hair-raising", the magazine added New Zealand, Denmark and Switzerland to a list of countries tracked since 1975.

Shamubeel Eaqub, an economist with Goldman Sachs JBWere in Auckland, said the OECD report might prompt homeowners to question how much money they had tied up in the residential market.

It was also a warning for New Zealanders not to rely on housing's good fortunes continuing, he said.

"This should be good reminder for households to diversify their portfolio because 77 per cent of gross assets are in housing," he said.

A spokesman for Finance Minister Michael Cullen dismissed the report, saying any crash was extremely unlikely to occur and was an emotive concept. But the Government was also being careful not to encourage the housing market, he said.

"The Government is well aware of inflationary pressures in the economy and that's why it is maintaining a disciplined fiscal policy. Any further fiscal stimulus at this time would add to inflation and increase the risk of interest rate rises which in turn would hurt homeowners.

"That's why we regard National's multibillion-dollar tax cuts as reckless.

"Had they been introduced, inflation would have risen, as would interest rates and that would have impacted on the housing market," the spokesman said.

BNZ economist Tony Alexander also dismissed the OECD report.

"They use the last quarter of 2005 when New Zealand house prices on average were 15.3 per cent ahead of a year earlier using Real Estate Institute data.

"Annual increases have already slowed substantially so the scenario they posit is unlikely for New Zealand," Mr Alexander said.

John McDermott, Victoria University associate professor of economics and finance, also doubted the chances of the OECD report's predictions being fulfilled.

"House prices, while still increasing, are doing so at a slower pace than 2005 and official cash rates are unlikely to increase this year and are likely to be lowered in 2007 so the prospects of the OECD conditions being met seem very low," he said.

Real Estate Institute data released this week showed national sales volumes down 17 per cent between May 2003 and last month.

Auckland volumes dropped 46 per cent from 4078 sales in May 2003 to 2981 sales last month.

But prices were still rising steeply, up 36 per cent in three years in Auckland, 35 per cent in Wellington, 77 per cent in Christchurch and 96 per cent in Dunedin.

Agents are reporting an increasingly stressed market. Anne Duncan Real Estate in Mt Albert sent out a flyer this month saying the company was about to launch a series of clearance sales to auction off houses that had been on the Auckland market for a while.

The glossy flyer, headed "Clearance Sale Special", said the market had started to settle and was moving into one of its quieter phases.

Howard Morley, the Real Estate Institute's president, said housing was proving strong because the national median remained at $305,000 between April and May.

"The sales statistics show that the market has consolidated. Prices remain strong with a good number of properties continuing to sell which shows a resilient residential property market," Mr Morley said.

Price of houses will drop, says Reserve Bank head

Tuesday June 27, 2006
By Matthew Brockett
NZ Herald

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard expects house prices to start falling by the end of the year as higher interest rates begin to bite.

"We are seeing the rate of increase slowing a lot," Dr Bollard said in Basel, Switzerland, where he is attending a meeting of central bankers.

By the end of the year the bank expected house prices to "go negative".

His remarks come after an OECD survey found New Zealand's residential property market was one of the world's most risky and second only to Denmark in the likelihood of a serious price correction.

The organisation studied 17 countries and found New Zealand one of the most hazardous markets.

With more fixed mortgages coming up for renewal and interest rates rising worldwide, Dr Bollard said, the property market was starting to cool.

House prices in May rose 12.4 per cent from a year earlier, the slowest annual pace in 14 months.

"It takes longer for houses to come to market and longer for them to sell," Dr Bollard said. "Monetary policy is now having an effect and we feel more comfortable as a result of that."

The Reserve Bank raised borrowing costs nine times between January 2004 and December last year, taking its key lending rate to a record 7.25 per cent.

Most economists do not expect it to increase rates further this year.

Dr Bollard said the lending rate increases were driven by the booming property market, which fuelled inflation by boosting household wealth and consumption.

New Zealanders were wrong to think they could "overwhelmingly save through housing".

The OECD report found that New Zealand house prices increased 69 per cent between 2000 and 2005.

But there are signs that the bank's interest rate policy is having an effect.

The latest Real Estate Institute data showed national sales volumes down 17 per cent between May 2003 and last month.

Auckland volumes dropped 46 per cent from 4078 sales in May 2003 to 2981 sales last month.

Real Estate institute president Howard Morley said the property market was in positive territory and was likely to remain there.

Economists had been predicting the demise of the market for four years but it still performed strongly.

Mr Morley said a recent survey of property investors showed that 90 per cent intended to increase their holdings over the next five years.

"This has shown real estate has been one of the better investments."

- BLOOMBERG

Cancer sufferer Anita Lategan with her family, husband Ockert and children (from left) Alisha, 21, Angelique, 15, Monique, 12, Andre, 19, and Sonay, 22. They immigrated from South Africa last year and need to find $80,000 for Mrs Lategan's chemotherapy.

Saturday June 24, 2006
By Angela Gregory

A South African mother of five who is dying of cancer is pleading for the New Zealand Government to part-fund her chemotherapy.

Anita Lategan, 40, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in April, a year after she moved to New Zealand with her family.

Now the Flat Bush family are in a desperate race for time to find about $80,000 needed for her chemotherapy.

Mrs Lategan is not eligible for treatment under the public health system as her work permit is 56 days short of the two-year requirement.

Chemotherapy could extend her life by a few years but without it she could die within a few months.

Mrs Lategan said returning to South Africa was not really an option because her illness was so fast moving she feared she might never see her children again.

The private medical insurance she had in Durban had lapsed and the public service there was substandard and unlikely to help.

Mrs Lategan said that when her young and healthy family arrived in Auckland, getting medical insurance was not an immediate priority.

"The first three months we were sleeping on mattresses to keep the costs down," she said.

Now three of her older children all had secure jobs, as well as herself and her husband. The youngest two daughters, aged 12 and 15, were at school.

The family were committed to making a new life in New Zealand and were applying for permanent residency.

The cancer has spread at an alarming rate. "It is in my stomach, pancreas, everywhere," she said.

After her plight was raised on talkback radio yesterday the expatriate South African community and sympathetic New Zealanders had rallied to offer help.

Mrs Lategan said she did not expect New Zealand taxpayers to pick up all her costs, but pointed out five family members were paying taxes.

Her daughter Alisha, 21, said it would not be easy for the family to return to South Africa, adding: "There is no future for us there."

The Ministry of Health said that when people came to New Zealand they were clearly informed about their access to publicly funded health care.

Donations: ASB Bank 12-3042-0303345-00

26.03.06 5.00pm

The top five after-tax incomes of state house tenants range from $78,520 to nearly $95,000, the National Party has revealed.

Housing spokesman Phil Heatley obtained the figures through written parliamentary questions to Housing Minister Chris Carter.

"Fair-minded New Zealanders have no problem helping those who are struggling to make ends meet, but that goodwill is likely to evaporate if Labour doesn't put the checks in place to make sure taxpayer money is being spent wisely," Mr Heatley said today.

"Labour should focus on moving those who are able to look after themselves into their own homes, and free up Housing New Zealand properties for people in genuine need."

The figures show the top five after-tax household incomes as $78,520, $80,588, $82,240, $84,968 and $94,938.

Mr Heatley said Statistics New Zealand reported in June that the average annual gross income for a household was $65,520.

The Government's routine answer to National's complaints about state housing is that the previous National-led government sold thousands of homes and it has been rebuilding up the stock since it came to power in 1999.

- NZPA

Christel and Kevin Broederlow brought their sons back to Auckland but couldn't afford to live here on one income, so returned to Australia. Christel and Kevin Broederlow brought their sons back to Auckland but couldn't afford to live here on one income, so returned to Australia

22.03.06
By Simon Collins

When Christel Broederlow joined the crowds at Logan City's Waitangi Day celebration south of Brisbane last month, she found it hard to believe that she was in Australia.

She estimates that 10,000 people attended, 85 per cent of them Maori.

About the same number attended another Waitangi Day event a few kilometres away, and 7000 turned out for one at Redcliffe, further north.

The Logan City event has been going for only three years.

"When we first arrived here nine years ago it was like 'spot the Maori' at the shopping mall," Mrs Broederlow says.

"Now it's like one in every 100 people. You can tell when you go shopping, when you go to the beach, you can see it everywhere you go."

In the past 40 years, the New Zealand-born population of Australia has grown from 50,000 to 442,189 (as at 2004) - 12.8 per cent of all Kiwi-born people in the world.

Maori in Australia have leapt from 4000 to well over 100,000 - around 13 per cent of all Maori alive today.

In the 200-odd years since Europeans began settling on these islands, transtasman migration has waxed and waned with the economic fortunes on each side of the Ditch. There have been long periods of net inflows to New Zealand when this country was wealthier, bringing in future leaders such as Prime Ministers Ward and Savage.

But the last sustained inflow ended in 1967, when a collapse of New Zealand wool prices allowed mineral-rich Australia to pull decisively ahead of us in average incomes.

A net outflow began which reached 10,000 people in 1969, was staunched as our economy picked up in the early 1970s, but then haemorrhaged to around 30,000 a year at the end of each of the last three decades.

In between, the flood halted briefly when the Australian economy soured in the early 80s and 90s, and after the New York terrorist attacks in 2001 and Bali in 2002 drove Kiwis of home.

But after each of these respites, the bleeding resumed. In the year to January there was a net loss of 21,439 people across the Tasman - 412 a week.

Despite common impressions, this is still only 0.6 per cent of the population. But over 40 years the continued drain has taken out a very significant part of our working-age population. Just over one in six of all NZ-born people in Australasia in all age groups from 20 to 60 now live in Australia.

Retiring to the Gold Coast is still fairly rare - only 9 per cent of NZ-borns in the 65-plus age bracket live in Australia. As do only 6.5 per cent of the under-20s, indicating that most migrants do not take children with them.

In contrast to New Zealand, where emigration has left a surplus of women in the marriageable age groups, the NZ-born population in Australia has 2.6 per cent more males than females.

Partly because they are mostly in the working-age groups, the NZ-born are more likely than other Australians to be in paid work, and were more likely to earn more than A$800 ($921) a week in 2001 (23.6 per cent of NZ-born, 19.1 per cent of Australian-born).

They are more likely to have university qualifications (11 per cent vs 9.3 per cent) and trade certificates (12.6 per cent vs 9.4 per cent).

They come from across the workforce, slightly weighted towards the low-paid end where Kiwi wages are hardest to live on. Last year a net 0.7 per cent of tradespeople, plant and machine operators and assemblers crossed the Tasman, compared with 0.5 per cent of professionals.

Mrs Broederlow, whose husband Kevin was a builder and is now a draftsman, says he worked 70 to 100 hours a week in New Zealand, and she worked 30 hours, to make ends meet.

"We were sick of working round the clock with bills up to our head and never really feeling we were getting ahead," she says.

In Australia, Mr Broederlow works Monday to Friday, and Mrs Broederlow can stay home with their four sons. They receive A$400 a week in family payments from the Government.

"We own our own house now," she says. "Here there's a A$7000 grant to first-home buyers."

After five years in Australia, the family moved back to Auckland in 2001 and Mrs Broederlow enrolled in fulltime study. But they couldn't afford to live on one income.

"We came back," she says. "We know so many Maoris and Kiwis and Polynesians that have lived here for a few years, gone home - and come back within the next 12 months."

21.03.06
By Simon Collins

The flight of Kiwis to Australia is on the rise again - and this time it's looking like a long-term exodus rather than another short-term migration.

The net outflow of people across the Tasman has doubled in the past two years to 21,439 in the year to January and is heading towards the peak losses of just over 30,000 a year reached in the late 1980s and again five years ago.

National leader Don Brash highlighted the trend in his Orewa speech citing 600 people a week leaving for Australia, although the net effect - taking into account New Zealanders who leave and Australians who come here - is 400 a week, still enough to empty a city the size of Taupo every year.

But this exodus is different from previous migrations, which coincided with economic slumps at home. New Zealand is losing people despite recent boom conditions and the world's lowest unemployment.

The trend is also different because the exodus is led by people who have immigrated here and can't get jobs in their professions, even though employers are short of skilled labour.

Both native-born Kiwis and immigrants are leaving a country where unemployment has fallen to just 3.6 per cent and are competing for jobs in a new land where unemployment is still 5.2 per cent. But they are being lured by incomes which are persistently higher even when the Australian economy, like ours, is slowing.

Electrician Grahame Boyd, made redundant by a former star of New Zealand industry, Ion Automotive, has doubled his wages from $18 to A$33.70 ($38.70) an hour by shifting to a mining construction site in Queensland.

Eileen Ruka earned $10.50 an hour at an Avondale plastics factory but expects to earn A$19 an hour as a bar manager in Melbourne.

On average, after adjusting for prices and the exchange rate, real incomes in Australia are now 32 per cent higher than here. The gap is widening with a 7.4 per cent drop in the kiwi dollar against the Australian dollar so far this year.

Migrant groups said the exodus of immigrants was no surprise given the number of well-qualified migrants working at Auckland's petrol stations and supermarkets because they can't get jobs in their own professions.

"An engineer working at a petrol station will get depressed. His self-esteem is down in the dumps," said Shankar Nair, a retired major-general in the Indian Army who chairs the Migrants Support Services centre in Onehunga.

Michene (left), Gavin, Tristan and Lorinda Penfold face a forced return to South Africa. Picture / Richard Robinson

Paperwork delay ends family's life in NZ

NZ Herald

09.03.06
By David Eames

Failure to notify immigration authorities about a job change has cost a South African family the chance of a new life in New Zealand.

Gavin Penfold thought he was doing the right thing when he belatedly notified immigration authorities of a change in his place of work. But his tardiness resulted in his permit being revoked, his residency application rejected and his family branded as overstayers.

Now Mr Penfold and his family wait - boxes of belongings at the ready - for immigration authorities to come for them.

"It's scary," he said. "You almost feel like you are in trouble with the law.

"We have anxious moments every time there is a knock on the door. They can come at any time and take us away."

A spokesman for Workforce - a branch of the Department of Labour - said Mr Penfold was no longer welcome in this country and for the good of his family should return to South Africa.

Service delivery group manager Graham Baker last night told the Herald Mr Penfold waited too long before notifying the department of his work-permit variation.

Mr Penfold - with wife Lorinda and children Tristan and Michene - arrived in Whangarei in December 2004 to take up a position at a motor vehicle dealership.

He had a valid work permit, and after about six weeks moved to a position with an Auckland car dealership.

But Mr Penfold later learned he should have notified immigration authorities of the change to his working conditions.

After speaking with a consultant, Mr Penfold alerted immigration to his predicament, and also applied for residency. But his application was rejected on the grounds he had admitted a breach in his work conditions and was working in New Zealand illegally.

Now he has no work permit, his wife and son's visitor's permits have been revoked, and his daughter's student visa has been rescinded.

Mr Baker said the variation request was received about 10 months after the Penfolds moved to Auckland. That was too long, for the department's liking, as the permit only allowed him to work at the Whangarei dealership.

"[But] the reality here is that [Mr Penfold] then moved, of his own volition ... then worked for what looks like 10 months without telling us.

"He applied for a work permit after the fact."

Mr Baker said it was up to the department's "border security group" whether the Penfolds faced immediate, forced deportation.

The shadow of deportation has thrown the family into confusion.

Tristan, 5, has already started school in Auckland, but if forced to return to South Africa will have to wait until he is 7 before he can continue his education.

"Everything that we do, we are uncertain about it," Mr Penfold said.

"We try to keep the kids out of it, but they can obviously feel the tension of the household."

Mr Baker said he appreciated the child's plight, but said it would be "much better" for Mr Penfold and his family to return to South Africa, then reapply to enter New Zealand.

"The reality is this man now really does need to go back to South Africa, removing himself from the unlawful status that he has."

Bleak, moody, suicidal - that's NZ

19.10.05
By Angela Gregory

An early impression of New Zealand for Douglas Davis, writer for the conservative current events magazine The Spectator, was the "chainsaw voice" at Auckland Airport announcing that New Zealand's agricultural regulations prohibited the import of "enumels".

Davis then escapes the terminal - and the banned animals - where he notes a heavy grey sky overhanging Auckland which "offers a clue to the national mood".

In visiting the city for the first time in 30 years Davis reports an "involuntary tightening of the sphincter" and finds Auckland even more dour and dull than he could remember.

While friends rave about New Zealand as a Pacific paradise, all he sees is "a relentless sprawl of clapboard houses which entomb the bleak moodiness of their inhabitants".

While New Zealanders excel at rugby, in most other endeavours they barely touched mediocrity, he says.

"New Zealand is everything that Australia is not.

"While Australia exhibits the characteristics of a thrusting alpha-male, New Zealand remains stuck in sullen adolescence."

Davis, writing in the latest edition of the weekly magazine, says while both New Zealanders and Australians derive from a common British ancestry, he is surprised their world views and aspirations have diverged so radically.

Davis says our domestic policy appears to be informed by an overarching guilt complex about "supposed" historic wrongs done to Maori.

Oblivious to the backlash attracted by Tariana Turia's holocaust remarks, he claims the "chattering Pakeha classes" quickly lapse into bizarre jargon like acculturative stress, material deprivation, colonial trauma and collective grief to describe their angst.

Meanwhile, New Zealanders have acquired a passionate hatred for Americans, Israelis, and anyone else who is not aware of nuclear issues, globalisation, the environment, ecology, or animal rights.

Davis says alcoholism and drug abuse continue to take a crippling toll, suicide is a significant cause of death, and the incidence of violence against children is among the highest in the developed world.

"Not a very happy paradise."

Jobs that shut out migrants

NZ Herald

17.05.05

by Julie Middleton

For many job-seeking skilled migrants, there is nothing more frustrating, humiliating and esteem-sapping than the words "no New Zealand experience".

It's a vicious circle. "It twists you and then it destroys you," says PD, a 30-year-old software programmer born in India.

PD, and others like him, flourish their evidence of top-class qualifications and experience and argue: "How am I expected to get that New Zealand experience if you don't give me a job?"

Like many skilled migrants interviewed for this series, PD is not willing to identify himself because he fears publicity will make his job search even harder.

He has a Bachelor of Arts degree and his skills lie in IT - mainly internet banking, content management and travel industry applications.

His resume bears names with worldwide currency, such as the bank Credit Suisse and consultants Arthur Andersen Worldwide. His industry is crying out for people.

Within a week of migrating from India to Singapore in 2000, PD had three job offers: "It was mind-boggling trying to pick one."

In New Zealand since November with his Kiwi wife, he has been careful to target relevant jobs rather than scatter CVs round like confetti. But he says the 100 or so he sent out resulted in 15 interviews and a dispiriting number of suspiciously swift, automatic responses by email saying that no New Zealand experience equals no job.

PD's English is near-perfect, his accent no hindrance to communication. He's articulate and personable. So what's the problem?

"I don't talk like you. I don't look like you," he says bluntly, sitting at the cluttered table of his Morningside flat. "All they're looking at is cultural differences."

New Zealand employers, he says, are not racist as much as clueless with people from other cultures, and avoid dealing with their inadequacies by pushing people aside with an ambiguous, catch-all phrase.

PD knows this is penalising him - not that it is ever said out loud. For one job, he was the sole applicant out of 20 to reach the shortlist. He and the recruitment consultant thought he was in.

But nothing happened for three weeks. When he pushed for a response, he learned that the client felt he was lacking a particular skill - one that had not been mentioned in the interview.

The actual reason, PD suspects, was a boss uncomfortable with the idea of an Indian worker.

To discriminate in employment on racial grounds is against the Human Rights Act, but PD feels challenging the decision will complicate his job hunt.

A Herald report last month about the "ethnic penalties" employers impose on CVs bearing Chinese and Indian names brought PD both despair and some cheer: despair because the story confirmed his suspicions, and some relief to see the issue aired openly.

In that report, Auckland University academic Marie Wilson castigated employers for "shutting out a huge resource ... If you want to be internationally competitive, you can't be provincial in your hiring".

Although PD says he's not too bitter - yet - he is increasingly uncomfortable being dependent on his wife. He will give the job hunt three more weeks before giving up and returning to India with her.

New Zealand's first equal employment opportunities commissioner, Judy McGregor, agrees with PD's assessment of New Zealand bosses as ignorant rather than rampantly racist.

The phrase "lack of New Zealand experience" is "in some cases ... blatant discrimination", she says. But more often, it is "code for a number of uncertainties".

"One, it's about fit - about social acceptance in smaller organisations. If you employ five people and they all have to work together every day, as opposed to 50 where there would be less bonding, they want to know workers can get along."

But says Dr McGregor, who works for the Human Rights Commission, fit is "a completely nebulous concept and hides a whole lot of prejudices and stereotypes. But we wouldn't be human if we didn't do it, and it's silly not to acknowledge it exists".

"We need to ... think of ways through those prejudices and stereotypes.

"Secondly, many employers are completely unsure because they have never hired anyone different from themselves. They don't know if it's going to work for them."

Thirdly, says Dr McGregor, there might be, in some jobs, a genuine need for local knowledge, but she calls it "a marginal factor".

Leah Gates, special projects manager for Auckland Chamber of Commerce, agrees: "I honestly believe [employers] are risk-averse, and see the migrant as being more work, or more concern, or more costs, than somebody who has been here for a while."

Everyone has tales of migrant taxi drivers (or pizza delivery people, or supermarket checkout operators) invited here under our skilled migrant category but woefully underemployed.

"There's a lot of frustration," says Asoka Basnayake, the settlement services co-ordinator for the Auckland Regional Migrant Resource Centre.

"I heard about one person who attempted suicide. Lots of them get depressed, and I've come across people who have got into gambling or have suffered mental health problems. It is really tough."

Chemical engineer Praveen Bhagat, 54, is still riding the emotional rollercoaster. With his post-graduate skills given the tick by the Qualifications Authority, Mr Bhagat arrived five months ago from India with his tertiary-trained psychologist wife Jyoti and their 15-year-old son, Shikhar.

His early elation at finding a better place to educate his son was replaced by anger and depression as he struck what he calls "roadblocks". Some suggested he should work in a service station.

He refuses to do that, and is cold-calling in the evenings for a market research company while watching his savings dwindle.

"I have been very, very angry sometimes," he admits. About a month ago, acute frustration led to a sudden loss of confidence.

"I wasn't able to talk to people, and I was going down and down ... I was depressed," says Mr Bhagat.

Although the family remain close-knit and he has made some Kiwi friends, "I feel I'm all alone here in New Zealand".

Are migrants arriving with realistic job-search expectations? "It varies," says Mary Dawson, executive director of the migrant resource centre.

"The majority recognise that there is more adjustment involved in being a really viable employee, more than they anticipated before they arrived here."

This is a country founded on immigration - and at present, nearly one New Zealander in five was born overseas.

Our population is ageing and people are having fewer children. With fewer people going straight from school to work, the labour pool has shrunk and employers need to exploit less "traditional" sources of skilled staff.

They are struggling to find staff with unemployment at its lowest in 19 years, according to the Department of Labour, and skill shortages exist everywhere.

Those shortages reached 30-year highs by the end of last year, with 61 per cent of firms saying they were having more difficulty finding skilled staff compared with the previous year.

But it seems that when immigration rules were changed in 1987 to rank skills over Anglo-Saxon heritage, both employers and migrants were ill-prepared. Migrants in general were left to fend for themselves.

Labour Department spokeswoman Michelle Williams says the Government aims to attract between 45,000 and 50,000 migrants a year, with about 60 per cent of those skilled - that is, aged under 55, with a certain points "score" for their education, skills and experience.

Last year's Budget heralded the New Zealand Settlement Strategy, a work in progress that aims to better co-ordinate all the services that support migrants.

"New Zealand benefits from the skills and resources that refugees and migrants bring," says Judi Altinkaya, national co-ordinator for a new programme that aims to better link migrants to information sources.

"It's in everyone's best interests to have them settled successfully."

At various meetings last year, migrants relayed clear messages to the policy wonks. Settlement information was fragmented, they said. Lack of New Zealand experience and having a foreign name was a serious barrier to landing work, and many migrants felt forced to change their names to escape prejudice.

Migrants believed that many employers were reluctant to give them jobs because they were perceived as high-maintenance. Many were vulnerable to exploitation at work as they tended to put up with poor pay and conditions, fearing another job would be impossible to find.

Language and cultural conflicts with employers were cited as a reason for migrants' high levels of self-employment.

The Government, ran one thread, had an obligation to do more to help people into a first job.

Also underpinning planning is a longitudinal study that will survey 5000 migrants' experiences until 2010.

The pilot, called Migrants' Experiences of New Zealand and released in March last year, canvassed 1240 people.

It found that employment rates improved for all migrants between six months after arriving (53 per cent) and 18 months after (62 per cent). That leaves many still searching.

People from England, South Africa and North America do better in the job market than those from Asia or elsewhere, says Department of Labour research manager Stephen Dunstan.

But being from one of these countries does not immunise migrants against discrimination, and those interviewed say it is most likely to happen at work.

The fact that many jobs are filled by word of mouth rather than through advertising works against recent arrivals, Dunstan says.

Some migrants realise that they might need to study locally to get a qualification that bosses will recognise. But employers, they say, need more education about what migrants can offer.

Amen to that, says PD. The day after meeting the Herald, he was off to Wellington for an interview. He had already done well during a half-hour phone interview and had high hopes of getting a better hearing than usual.

Why? He was to be interviewed by another migrant.

Ham roll lands Springbok manager in a pickle

16 March 2003

By Melanie Peters

Springbok rugby communications manager Mark Keohane is in hot water with New Zealand customs officials - over a half-eaten ham roll in his three-year-old son's backpack.

Keohane took little Oliver to Auckland to visit his sick granny last weekend, only to be faced with the customs officials from hell.

They cleared Keohane and then searched Oliver's backpack. Shock, horror, they found his lunch box with the roll the boy had been unable to finish.

The lunch box was confiscated and Keohane was slapped with a NZ$200 (abour R900) fine for failure to declare the leftover snack.

After travelling for an exhausting 30 hours, with stopovers in Johannesburg and Singapore and a son who was sick along the way, Keohane was held up at customs for another hour while officials investigated, discussed, took pictures and debated the weight of the ham roll.

How Government policy changes will affect your firm

23.12.2002

Government policies already in the pipeline will load an extra $43,877 on to the costs of a medium-sized business in the coming year, says a study by Business New Zealand.

A similar study done at the start of this year concluded that policies implemented by the Labour-led Government would have cost a medium-sized firm an extra $26,000 over its three-year first term.

But the latest study shows that three months into the Government's second term, the burden on business has increased sharply.

Business NZ chief executive Simon Carlaw said the study - suggested by the Business Herald - showed that the impact of Government policies on business was gathering pace.

"An extra $26,000 over a three-year period is bad enough. But more than $43,000 a year in extra costs - with even more signalled - shows why business has every reason to feel concerned."

The object of the exercise, he said, was to show that while many Government measures might at first glance appear to have little impact, the cumulative effect was significant.

To answer that question, Business New Zealand calculated the impact of those policies on a medium-sized company, with a staff of 20, representative of the 18,000 businesses with 10 to 49 staff.

The study was done in consultation with relevant professional advisers and with real businesses of a similar size.

Carlaw said costs were calculated conservatively and some real business would doubtless feel an even heavier impact.

The results are recorded in an exchange of memos between the chief executive of a fictional company, The Great NZ 7