10 things NZ should adopt from Australia, according to a Kiwi

Thursday, 29 February 2024

OPINION: Lorna Thornber is a Stuff Travel journalist

I wouldn’t say I was unpatriotic. Born and bred in New Zealand, I love a lot about our country - the uncrowded beaches, blockbuster mountain scenery, characteristically humble people, pavlova… (you heard that last one right, Australians).

But, blasphemous though it may be, I sometimes wish I had joined the exodus to Australia. While it has its problems, The Lucky Country lives up to its nickname in more ways than one. These are just 10 things I wish we could import from across the ditch.

What do you think NZ needs to adopt from Aussie? Or vice versa? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Higher wages and better super

The higher wages across the ditch are one of the major contributors to New Zealand’s brain drain, with many Kiwis swapping sides of the Tasman to give themselves and their families better lives.

In an ideal world, which I am well aware this is not, New Zealand businesses would make more of an effort to match salaries. And, while we’re asking for more money, businesses could make a bigger contribution to our superannuation too. Here, employers are required to contribute 3% of an employee’s salary to their super. In Australia, it’s 11%.

The ‘no biggie’ attitude to encounters with scary or oversized animals

Late last year, Northern Territory cattle farmer Colin Deveraux made international headlines for surviving a crocodile attack by biting back.

Deveraux told ABC that he kicked the some 3.2-metre-long croc - or the “dirty bastard” as he called it - after it latched onto his right foot and dragged him about three metres into a billabong. Deveraux said that, after falling over and landing with his head near the reptile’s, he “managed to have a bite”.

While on the extreme end of the spectrum, the story highlights the bravery many Australians appear to have in the face of potentially dangerous and deadly creatures. It’s probably because we’re less used to aggressive and oversized creatures that Kiwis tend to be wusses in comparison. I’m not advocating taking on such creatures here. I’m just saying it can be helpful to keep your cool if and when you encounter one.

The Irwins

New Zealand’s not as world famous for its wildlife as the West Island, but that’s at least partly because we lack the PR power of Crocodile Dundee and his real-life counterpart Steve Irwin.

The late “Crocodile Hunter” brought Australian fauna to the world’s attention thanks to his knack for making their - admittedly attention-grabbing - traits and behaviours not just entertaining but enthralling.

His wife Terri and kids Bindi and Robert have continued his legacy on the conservation front through their work at Australia Zoo, wildlife refuges, promotional gigs and social media. New Zealand’s native species deserve something similar. The Bird of the Year contest is a good start, but it is just an annual event.

Better weather

Before I moved to Sydney more years ago than I care to remember, a fellow Kiwi told me I’d soon get sick of the endless sunny days. It never happened. Sure, Sydney gets its share of foul weather, but the sun shines down on the city far more often than it does in Auckland and the warm weather tends to last longer.

Perth is said to be Australia’s sunniest city, with an average of about 3200 sunshine hours a year - considerably more than the 2658 sunshine hours New Zealand’s sunniest place in 2023, Lake Tekapo, clocked up last year.

Cold and rain have their benefits of course. We wouldn’t have our snowy mountains and verdant forests without them. And it’s essential nations do enough to limit global warming. But, in the depths of winter, it’s easy to wish Australia would send some sunshine our way - hence the hordes of Kiwis booking mid-year trips to the Gold and Sunshine coasts.

Proper movie stars

When was the last time a Kiwi appeared in a bone fide blockbuster? Sure, Taika’s holding fort on the directing front with a string of Hollywood hits to name, but we’re lacking on-camera celebrities of the calibre of Australia’s Margot Robbie, star of 2023’s most financially successful film, Barbie and leading men along the lines of Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman.

There are Kiwi actors repping the country on the world stage - Sam Neill, Melanie Lynskey, Anna Paquin, Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement immediately spring to mind - but Australia’s claimed so many of our stars, it’s surely only fair we claim some of theirs.

Having a few more ultra-famous faces on the world stage would boost our reputation for talent, charm and good looks and consequently our egos, essentially making us more confident as a nation. And encouraging more people to google “New Zealand”.

Proper competition between domestic airlines

New Zealand’s sky-high domestic airfares aren’t helped by the fact that, regional airlines aside, there are only two major players in the market - Air New Zealand and Jetstar.

In Australia, by contrast, the national carrier Qantas competes with the likes of Virgin Australia, Bonza and Jetstar (although the latter is part of the Qantas group). Meaning Aussies are far less likely to have to drop a week’s wage on a flight that’s shorter than the TV episode you watch on board.

Barramundi

Controversial opinion here, but I reckon snapper’s price tag doesn’t reflect its actual taste. It’s so mild in flavour it can be pretty tasteless - why we’re so fond of covering it in batter perhaps. Barramundi, by contrast, has a sweet, buttery flavour that knocks snapper - which The Fishing Website describes as “arguably New Zealand’s most popular sport and table fish” - out of the ballpark.

The Outback

Our mountains dwarf Australia’s and our forests look far more lush, but we’re missing something akin to the Outback - a landscape with an aesthetic so pared back and pure, it clears your mind just being there.

Before visiting the Red Centre last year, I’d been envisaging red dirt stretching to the horizon on all sides, with only the hypnotic monolith that is Uluru to break it up. Instead, I found myself road tripping through a landscape of sunset-hued mountain ranges, hidden gorges with swimming holes reflecting groves of ghost eucalyptus trees, and duster-shaped desert oaks rising from plains of tangerine-coloured sand and golden spinifex grass.

More international acts

Taylor Swift was just the latest international act to skip New Zealand, but not Australia, on a so-called world tour. The most likely reason: Heading here wouldn’t make financial sense. How great would it be to secure a ticket to see your favourite musician or band without having to pay for inflated fares across the ditch?

Restaurants open for dinner bookings beyond 8pm

By and large, restaurant opening hours in New Zealand give the impression that we’re a nation of nannas. Even in major centres, you’re hard-pressed to find a restaurant that will take a booking beyond 8pm.

In Melbourne, on the other hand, as in all the best major cities, you can find plenty to whet your appetite for a midnight snack. Wander down the city’s street art-filled laneways and you’ll find options as varied as Cantonese-style chicken congee and doughnuts, Mexican-style tacos, fancy cheese and bacon burgers with steak tartare and oysters, chicken liver parfait, fried calamari, and steamed pork buns.

For those of us who aren’t tucked up in bed by 10pm seven nights a week, it’s a dream come true. You’re surviving not thriving when you order in.