Who would have guessed it? Hither unbeknown, it turns out we have a brilliant mind-reader living in Auckland.
I refer to the news that 81,000 Kiwis left the country in the year to April, 2024, this spawning a New Zealand Herald correspondent, a Jeremy Coleman of Hillpark, who explained what motivated each of them.
Given his residential location, Coleman is plainly a man of modest aspirations, after all with his all encompassing knowledge, if so inclined, he could make zillions betting on the outcome of horse races, he already knowing the result, so too punting on the sharemarket, and so on.
The fact is, Kiwis with get up and go have always got up and gone abroad for a principal reason, namely than compared with New Zealand, life in Australia, Europe, North America and so on, is immensely more exciting.
Most of my adult children live elsewhere, specifically Australia, Portugal, America, Britain and Japan. They will never return other than to visit friends and family for a week or so.
I’d be off in a shot if I was compelled to live in one place, but of course I’m not. So I spend about half my year or more abroad. Having commercial interests, plus homes in other countries, makes this more amenable.
Conversely, I love coming back to my 50 acres of gardens, my library, friends and so on, thus I venture abroad about 4 times annually for circa 6 weeks’ each time.
There’s a very good side to this steadfast exodus, specifically the offset of a better class of people than the Coleman ilk, namely Asians, who have got up and gone for the better opportunities in New Zealand compared with their homelands.
They’re industrious and self-dependent plus they integrate readily, and best of all, their females are a huge step up in the beauty stakes, a never to be under-estimated bonus.
For example, given his underlying misanthropy, if Coleman has a daughter or two, it’s odds on she’s ugly, which will be another factor driving his negativity.