Jake Howie is a New Zealand writer living in Sydney.

OPINION: Kia ora, my fellow Kiwis. Im coming to you from the other side of the Tasman, where according to most New Zealand media everything is better, cheaper, faster, easier and did I mention cheaper?

My husbands job brought us to Sydney three years ago, and Im enjoying living in such a beautiful city. The sun! The beaches! The bridge! What Im about to divulge is in no way an outdated anti-Australian sentiment I love Australia.

I also love Aotearoa. Its just a different perspective from a Kiwi who isnt a moaning, informationally selective New Zealander complaining with gusto about Auckland, or New Zealand, or the weather in Wellington, or wages, or how Australia is better, or NZ is worse, or NZ is better AND worse and cheaper and expensive. Did I mention cheaper?

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This is just my experience living in Australia and a sobering reminder that New Zealand has an unhealthy obsession with painting Australia as this perfect place. Spoiler alert: its not. There. I said it. Watch the Kiwis obsessed with using Australia as an example of the dream get their feathers in a ruffle. But..cheaper! Less expensive! Money! Wages! Sun!

Yeah, yeah we get it. But I live it, so heres a few things a Kiwi living in Australia has learnt.

Brook Sabin

Living in Australia might sound like a dream for some Kiwis, but it has its own set of challenges.

Okay, I live in Sydney so may be slightly more traumatised than some. But, as an Aucklander, I know an expensive housing market when I see one. And Sydney is expensive. Not only is it wild and unpredictable (something Kiwis will be used to), but Australians have stamp duty (a government tax) on any property you buy. The tax depends on the price of the property, but the average house in Australia means youre looking at an extra $40,000 plus when buying a home. Theyre removing this in some cases but are keeping the legacy with a land tax that means you pay roughly the same amount over time rather than one lump sum. Yikes!

Supplied

The average house price in Sydney is peaking upwards of $1.6 million.

While certain parts of Australia may vary, property experts at Domain say the average property in Australia is over $1 million, peaking at upwards of $1.6 million in Sydney. On our side of the Tasman, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand says the average house price is around $840k with Barfoot & Thompson suggesting the figure bumps up to $1.2 million in Auckland.

Overpriced? Hell yes. More expensive? Sorry, Kiwis Australia has us beat. And lets not forget to add those pesky taxes to the average property price.

This brings me to groceries. Kiwis are obsessed with it. On a recent trip home, I had three people ask me how much a cauliflower was in Australia. My response? Theyre not in season, my darling. So why are you even buying them at a time when feijoas are essentially free?

Upon going to PaknSave, I was startled by how much cheaper some things were and how much more expensive other things were. Potatoes, po-taaa-toes. It all somehow equalled out. According to global cost of living database Numbeo, grocery prices in Australia are 7.29% higher than in New Zealand. Milk and eggs are cheaper in Australia, but bread and apples cheaper in New Zealand.

Long story short, its all overpriced. Theres no raw deal New Zealand is getting that Australia is somehow magically freed from. New Zealands duopoly is being addressed by the government, which should help. But, quite frankly, theyre just as ridiculous as each other with data suggesting it could be just a little bit more ridiculous in Australia, overall.

But the wages are more?! I can hear the chorus of Kiwis asking this. This one is slightly true. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average Aussie earns AU$36 per hour. Back home, Stats NZs research says Kiwis earn NZ$36.18 per hour. Boom. Facts. Arent they brilliant?

Aussies do earn around NZ$3.50 more per hour when you factor in the exchange rate, but youre going to need it for bread, apples and those darn house prices, am I right? Youll also need it for the flights home when you realise how much you love your friends, family and our beautiful whenua. And with the global situation, itll take more than $3.50 an hour to pay for flights.

If I had to get one message across to New Zealanders, it would be this: it aint that bad. Im not trivialising the global crises were all facing and the very real impact it has on families but looking outside for a reason wont make things better.

The truth is, New Zealand, Australia is hurting just like you. Prices are rising sharply, wages arent growing, crime is up, homelessness is noticeably increasing.

These issues are issues we face as a global community, and the once quaint comparisons between two sister nations are now pointless, whingey and quite frankly wildly privileged. Were lucky we havent had to be as resilient as so many other nations have been forced to be. Were lucky weve made it through a global pandemic and international conflict as unscathed as we can be. Were lucky were discussing two wonderful countries that offer so much hope for the future. Were so, so lucky.

So rather than looking across the ditch for bitter Kiwis claiming things are so much better, look closer to home for all the beauty being born into such a wonderful country provides. Whether you want to admit it or not, New Zealand just aint that bad.

See the original post here:

Is living in Australia really better than New Zealand? - Stuff