The northerners are moaning....

[Churchill]

200 or so years ago, their ancestors moved in large numbers from a subsistence living in the countryside into the better paid jobs that the industrial revolution created. Why are the current lot not prepared to adapt?

[Gonzo]

Nah, I've fooked it up big time and landed in the wrong country.

It is Australia that is having a massive IT jobs boom. But I would have had to have married an Australian woman to get there ....

[meridian]

Nah, I've fooked it up big time and landed in the wrong country.

It is Australia that is having a massive IT jobs boom. But I would have had to have married an Australian woman to get there ....

Welcome to New Zealand. It's like England but in the 1960's. Only not swinging 60's, more like Corrie.

How much longer until you're eligible for the passport so you can move to Oz?

[GreenLabel]

Why are the current lot not prepared to adapt?

Because it's easier to sit around moaning with your hand out.

[HairyArsedBloke]

Well I have some sympathy for the Northeners. There are no private sector jobs for them to go to. And not everyone can be an entrepreneur.

Just suppose HAB Widgets wants to have a new factory. Do I build it in the North of England or in India?

Bob wins on every count. He is even easier to understand when he talks.

[Gonzo]

Welcome to New Zealand. It's like England but in the 1960's. Only not swinging 60's, more like Corrie.

It is more complicated than that.

In some respects it is a very progressive country, for example prostitution is legal here so that the women get full employment rights.

The size of the population also makes rolling out new technology manageable. For example, the computerisation of health service records and appointments that has failed to happen in the UK over the past ten years was finished here ages ago.

In other respects attitudes can seem terribly old-fashioned at times and don't get me started on the racism and homophobia.

How much longer until you're eligible for the passport so you can move to Oz?

Three and a half years, although Australia is not really an objective.

• Sydney - too expensive unless you are prepared for a commute that would rival London
• Melbourne - I don't like it, or at least I don't like the CBD which might not necessarily be an issue
• Adelaide - a bit of a "country" town, OK "garden city" if you are going to be charitable
• Perth - too isolated
• Canberra - too boring
• Brisbane - too hot

The country has long-term water shortage issues although if anyone is going to make desalination cost effective I would back them to do it.

Anyway, I have never planned three and a half years ahead and I am not going to start now.

[Churchill]

Nah, I've fooked it up big time and landed in the wrong country.

It is Australia that is having a massive IT jobs boom. But I would have had to have married an Australian woman to get there ....

Actually I meant that I'd got on my bike and headed in search of work to where the roads are paved with gold - well, nearly, Swindon...

[Mich the Tester]

Because it's easier to sit around moaning about immigrants who've got off their arse and moved somewhere to work nobody else wants to do with your hand out than getting off their arses and moving to somewhere they can find work.

ftfy

[Gonzo]

Actually I meant that I'd got on my bike and headed in search of work to where the roads are paved with gold - well, nearly, Swindon...

Ah.

One of my other gripes is how intelligence is looked down upon here. Maybe I am starting to fit in better than I thought.

[Churchill]

Ah.

One of my other gripes is how intelligence is looked down upon here. Maybe I am starting to fit in better than I thought.

Only by morons who profess intelligence themselves - I don't think they can stand the competition, but how would I know?