-Caveat Lector- THE TELEGRAPH ISSUE 1955 Sunday 1 October 2000 Ambitious Kiwis take flight to escape high tax by Mark Chipperfield in Sydney The Press (New Zealand news) FEARS over New Zealand's economic and political future are driving record numbers of young, educated people abroad, despite government pleas for them to stay. In the past year 71,600 have left the country permanently. A survey by TV New Zealand last week found increasing disenchantment with the pro-welfare, high-taxing Labour government led by the Prime Minister, Helen Clark. One in five New Zealanders is considering settling elsewhere. Most of the emigrants settle in Australia, to which New Zealanders have unrestricted entry. A smaller number go to Britain. A television presenter said: "If you're a Kiwi with any sort of ambition, having a crack at Australia seems like a natural step." Richard Wilkins, one of 350,000 Kiwis now living in Australia said "Australia lurks a three-hour flight away as the great land of opportunity." The Prime Minister, who last year made an emotional plea for expatriate New Zealanders to return home and rebuild the economy, has dismissed the latest emigration figures as a "blip" which will soon correct itself. She said: "It's the middle of winter, people sometimes think about a warmer climate, but if they're thinking of Australia I don't think the unemployment rate is any more attractive there and, of course, the tax rate is considerably higher." The Opposition claims that at least 10,000 professionals, mainly doctors, engineers, scientists, business managers and computer experts, have left New Zealand since Labour came to power last November. It estimates that the brain drain has cost the New Zealand economy £1.1 billion in wasted education and training, and gave a warning that there is worse to come. Penny Webster, an immigration spokesman for the Right-wing ACT Party, said thousands of new university graduates have been fleeing the country without repaying their student loans. She said: "Not only are they taking their skills with them, they're leaving New Zealand with a massive debt." The latest estimates suggest that the government is owed £37 million in unpaid university loans to students - double the previous year. About one-fifth of all new migrants to Australia arrive from New Zealand. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om