[MENTION=137148]Rayyman[/MENTION]- if you were questioning the reason as to why I stated NZ>AU here are the reasons why, I wrote this on another forum about 2 months ago:
The 2014 Legatum Prosperity Index has a good ranking- NZ is third, Australia is 7th (and likely to decline further with impending recession, while NZ has large economic growth and "proclaimed" 15% salary growth last year).
Depending on which industry you work in salary could be better off in one or the other. (this is listed under IT?)- IT salaries in NZ are considerably more than in Australia- and NZ tax rate is half of Australia, while cost of living is around 10% lower in NZ.
Currently NZs job market is much easier to secure work- they have a huge shortage of workers and actually theres more jobs available in NZ than Australia despite the significant population difference (for all last year and this year so far).
NZ is a lot safer- crime rate in Melbourne or Sydney is 12x higher than all NZ despite the same population scale (4.5mil).
NZ is less boring (in my personal opinion) theres a lot more to do. Shopping is also available later (through night markets, late night shopping etc), and banking hours are longer too if thats important for you. Much wider range of activities to do. Summer 2014 for example had 3x more "entertainment and event options" in Auckland than Sydney and Melbourne combined despite just 1.5 million people. Outdoor activities in NZ are easy to find and close, beaches arent surrounded by nets to prevent jellyfish etc, and theres a wider range of top beaches, ski fields, hiking, outdoor things like bungry, zorbing, luge, natural attractions, wineries, etc etc
I also find NZ to be more technologically advanced in day to day life (internet banking, mobile payment systems, environmentally friendly buildings, banking systems, phone networks, broadband speeds) are all much more advanced in NZ than Australia by far.
Benefits of Australia are time zone, travel distance and international connectivity. They are heading to recession though, and economically not doing well with massive layoffs in most industries- rising unemployment, no humans rights acts to protect employees, no salary growth.
NZ is always ranked most socially advanced country (for embracing and integrating with immigrants), better standard of living, fast growing economy, progressive tax system, salary growth, lowering unemployment.
A few people mentioned if you become Australia citizen you can work in Australia. The same is vice versa, and NZ passport is more widely accepted/recognised, and a more "safer" citizenship for international travel.
