The Truth About New Zealand
Read these websites before considering going to New Zealand
www.NewZealandOldScam.weebly.com
www.TruthAboutNewZealandWine.com
www.nakedtruthnakedbus.weebly.com
If you, your family, or your friends plan on a trip to New Zealand in the future, especially using a “Working Holiday Visa”, then read this first.
Entry requirements for tourists vary in accordance with the country of which you are a citizen. An American may be granted a 90 day Tourist visa after completing a simple form distributed on the plane and receiving a stamp from the immigration officer upon arrival. The Working Holiday Visa is generally a one year visa receivable after such a visa is applied for through the New Zealand Embassy of your country.
The Working Holiday Visa program is an agreement between participating countries under which individuals under 30 years of age can, with little effort, acquire a visa of varying length and conditions to both work and travel within the host country. It is a wonderful opportunity for those of that age group to travel and live in other countries and support themselves while doing so, provided they are not subjected to illegal or unethical behavior of criminal elements of the host country. In the case of New Zealand, the country failed beginning even before my son William, aka Beau, even landed in Auckland.
Wipe away any of your preconceptions of what New Zealand is supposed to be; the country where the Lord of the Rings series was filmed; a nation in which sacrifice and honor were rekindled among men actually reeks of corruption. A country lush in physical geography, with a population of only four million people and sixty million sheep, a nation ripe for tourism and technological development, cannot seem to see the forest for the trees. What Beau discerned about the true New Zealand makes me wonder if the convicts sent to Australia in colonial times were actually dumped in New Zealand by mistake.
In The Beginning
This story actually begins at the in Los Angles International Airport, California – before Beau even left the United States. At the Air New Zealand check-in counter, he was told, without exception, that before Air New Zealand would allow him to board their plane he would have to obtain a forwarding airline ticket out of New Zealand and the one way ticket he currently held did not fulfill this alleged visa requirement.
Beau pointed out to the ticket agent that his Working Holiday Visa clearly stated, in bold print, that no forwarding ticket was required in accordance with the requirements of the visa. The agent coldly stated she did not care what his visa stated, in bold print, and they would not issue a boarding pass until he complied with the demands of Air New Zealand.
The SCAM of extortion against Beau was set in motion; he was instructed to proceed to the Air New Zealand purchase counter and that an agent there would sell him a one way ticket to Australia for a flight two days in the future, and that before then he could cancel the ticket for a partial refund; Air New Zealand would keep $100 USD of it.
Beau repeatedly argued with these agents but to no avail, so he proceeded to buy the exit ticket from Auckland to Sydney for USD 573.57, an unprecedented USD 300.00 more than the normal rate for either Air New Zealand or any competing airline. With his exit ticket purchased through extortion, and now shorted USD 573.57, he was allowed to board the plane, and he arrived in Auckland the following morning.
As soon as I found out about what happened the day of his arrival I contacted the New Zealand’s immigration office at the Auckland Airport and demanded an investigation into this criminal behavior, wanting to know if the immigration department was in on this SCAM also. Immigration responded within 24 hours, stating they had no knowledge of any problems occurring either at LAX or during Beau’s arrival at the Auckland airport and that, according to the records supplied by Air New Zealand, he had properly passed through check-in and customs without incident.
The full story of what had happened came out within the 48 hours from Beau’s arrival at the Auckland Airport. Immigration’s investigation stated the problem was with Air New Zealand and if there is any doubt regarding passengers entering New Zealand the airline agent is required to immediately contact the immigration office by phone for clarification. My son visited the Air New Zealand office in Auckland the day following his arrival to try and get his money back and was told without any hesitation from the staff they “don’t care” what his visa said; for anyone get on their plane an “onward ticket is required”. This statement confirmed that what happened to Beau was no misunderstanding, rather a calculated con-game orchestrated by Air New Zealand to skim extra profits off the unsuspecting, either through the $100 ticket refund charge or the inflated price of the actual ticket should the individual give up and take the loss on the overpriced ticket.
Air New Zealand did refund the entire amount and apologize for the incident, but only after Immigration was notified along with the manager of LAX Airport and the New Zealand Prime Minister’s office. Air New Zealand is owned by the government of New Zealand, so you best beware of this airline and all business in New Zealand as the rest of this story will show.
Blenheim Slavery
Months before Beau left for New Zealand, I investigated temporary job prospects for him once he got into the country. The vineyard pruning work in the Blenheim looked like a good entry point for him and the websites were numerous offering jobs specifically to backpackers. I picked the company with the best looking website in the vineyard area of Blenheim with this assumption: “What could possibly go wrong in New Zealand with a population of 4 million people, who are vastly outnumbered by the sheep?” There was never as much as a hint as to what my son would encounter before he began to work in the vineyards.
He began writing emails to me regarding what he saw and the conditions under which he, other backpackers, and a previously hidden group of Malaysian immigrants worked. What he discovered was the vineyard owners hired foreign contractors, especially Indian and Pacific Islander, to bring in large groups of Malaysians and other SE Asian groups to work the fields, keeping them corralled up after work in confined locations as prisoners; the contractors confiscate the passports of their new slaves so they could not leave, overcharge them for food, overcharge them for overcrowded accommodation, and then pay them peanuts. Barred from consuming alcohol and chained with absurd curfews, these slaves are not seen in public; these workers are out of sight and out of mind, working long hours and paid far less than the required minimum wage in New Zealand until someone, like Beau, stumbles upon the operation and exposes it to the world.
Backpackers are enticed by ads on the Internet, at such sites as www.BackpackerBoard.co.nz www.SeasonalJobs.co.nz, to work for these contractors and the New Zealand Government promotes the idea of having backpackers come to their country for up to a year on the Working Holiday Visa to work in the agriculture sector. One of New Zealand’s chief industries is tourism, and what better way to expand than for the government to promote the youth of the world to visit and supplement a large labor force in agriculture. If the agricultural industry was all legal, the Working Holiday Visa program would be great for both the government and the backpackers. Sadly, this is not the case; please read the websites my son published before even thinking about working in the agriculture area of employment in New Zealand.
www.NewZealandOldScam.weebly.com
www.TruthAboutNewZealandWine.com
I spent a month traveling through New Zealand in my six month, ’round-the-world backpacking trip, and what I found buffered everything my son had to say. During my stay at my brother’s home in Australia, my brother warned me about New Zealand: “They will try, in any way they can,” he said, “to pick the last dollar out of your pocket before you leave”. This was a good description for what Beau and I were to unveil.
New Zealand is a beautiful, lush, green tourist location, but certainly not unique. I traveled from one end the the other and the best way to describe it is a shrunken version of the the United States. The renowned mountains of south island are like a miniature version of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska and having traveled through the Rockies many times and to Alaska I saw nothing in New Zealand that compared in the size or grandeur of that in the USA.
Christchurch was my favorite city and the outskirts of it were like a time warp. I walked the 6.5 miles from the airport to the city center and the sights and vegetation and the smell were like going back in time to 1950’s New Jersey.
The capital, Wellington, and Auckland further north are port towns with nothing over such similar locations on the pacific coast of the USA.
My evaluation of New Zealand was it had nothing which I had not seen may times before, however pleasant, and I preferred to visit the western USA for its far grander landscape.
The Kiwi People
You cannot understand the people of a nation until you have traveled amongst them in their home country. The Kiwi people are not at all what I expected them to be, coming from British and Irish stock. They are generally a spineless, cowardly bunch that would rather surrender their country to foreign invaders than stand up for their rights. I stayed in hostels during my month in the country and the repeated word I got from the management of the hostels was they did not care for Kiwis either. I sat and talked to the owner of a Subway sandwich shop in Blenheim and he also had nothing good to say about Kiwi workers: they were lazy, undependable, and semi-literate, which sums up the general population; instead, he hired European backpackers exercising the Working Holiday Visa program.
Business owners across New Zealand and I did not trust them as I felt, as my brother predicted, they trying to get the last dollar out of my pocket before I left. I deduce, if there were not foreigners here to actually work, the country’s economy would implode; it will destroy itself because the spineless, non-confrontational, “sweet as” nature of its people who are allowing corrupt foreign corporations and individuals to take over.
New Zealand is an easy target as very few have the courage to do anything and they are usually foreign like my son or a Kiwi with half American or European blood. New Zealand has such a tremendous opportunity in tourism and the development of hi-tech industry, but the petty philosophy ‘grab the fast dollar today and forget about tomorrow’ of local businesses combined with the take over by corrupt foreign businesses is destroying the country.
The bus company NakedBus.com is a perfect example of a corrupt, money-grubbing business that my son has exposed in the website www.nakedtruthnakedbus.com. The few Kiwis that have honest businesses are being hurt by all the corruption and are too frightened of retribution to take a stand. The New Zealand Government is corrupt from it’s highest executives to it’s lowest inspectors. Prime Minister John Key knows full-well of the slave operation in the vineyards and the abuse of the foreign backpackers, but does absolutely nothing about it. The government knows, from the Prime Minister’s office to the local inspector, because Beau and I have repeatedly informed them of the slave trade throughout the winter and spring of 2009 and into the summer of 2010. There is no excuse for such inaction. One very bright German lad I met in Wellington said it best:
“Why should I stay here to work and get abused by businesses when I can go back to Germany where the workers are protected by real labor laws and the pay you actually get is twice that of New Zealand?”
This young fellow, like Beau, is very bright and would be a major intellectual asset for New Zealand. Thousands of such bright minds visit the country each year with the intention of staying, but the New Zealand Government and it’s people piss away their best chance to be a stellar beacon of prosperity in the world…for the fast dollar. My son came to New Zealand with the intention of staying and attending University there, eventually gaining citizenship. After nine months of being cheated, lied to, and extorted, he now wants little from New Zealand. My son’s websites and the following emails he sent to me really describe the Kiwi mentality best. Before you or your children go to New Zealand, you should at least know what your up against:
From: Beau Burdge
To: Chris Burdge
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:50:14 -0500
I’ve had no luck job searching here in Taupo. I just filed some applications today, so I will be waiting for a response this week, but I’ve had more problems with one of the foundations of this country: lies. This country is built on lies. I asked at every single hotel, motel, and hostel between my hostel 3km out of town and the town center, and every single place claimed they had no vacancies. Then, a few days ago, the local newspaper came out, and three of those places advertised staff vacancies. I went back to
them the day of the printing of the newspaper and they first denied they had such a vacancy, almost denied the advert was theirs, then claimed the vacancy was filled. I just looked at that Christchurch
article again on the motels closing down and I can tell you now that I am more than happy that they are suffering. Those lying, cheating bastards deserve it.
From:Beau Burdge
To: Chris Burdge
Date: Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:42:49 -0500
I’m confident I’m already a lot better at technical analysis than I am at finding standard employment. In New Zealand, you are expected to give 110% towards the job so the employer can hand you that extra 10% back in return as their entire contribution. There appears to be no respect whatsoever for the employee. What is very telling is their old Employment Contracts Act 1991, which made the employee and employer equal in the eyes of the law, ensured the right to receive employment records, etc. That was thrown out and replaced with the Employment Relations Act 200(1?) which has apparently stripped the employee of many employment rights originally granted in ECA 1991.
On my website, I write that although the ECA was replaced by ER Act, the complete failure to mention the clauses regarding the employee’s right to employment records means they are still in effect to some degree. That is only being optimistic though.
Read these websites before considering going to New Zealand
www.NewZealandOldScam.weebly.com
www.TruthAboutNewZealandWine.com
www.nakedtruthnakedbus.com
The Root of All Evil
However, to be fair to New Zealand, one more subject must be noted: money. In his travels in New Zealand, Beau found that the most wonderful aspects of the country involved no transaction of any kind, while the worst experiences always revolved around the acquisition or extortion of money.
The Naked Bus debacle was centered around hoarding passenger fares for services not rendered. The Slave Labor in Blenheim is a conspiracy to make large profits. The inactivity of the New Zealand government is due to profitable bribes from major institutions that are the real masters of New Zealand. Air New Zealand scammed Beau and others because it was profitable. What Beau discovered is the moment money becomes part of any situation, it changes it for the worse and the purpose of the interaction between the business and the customer becomes solely the acquisition of wealth and be damned with the quality of product or service rendered.
When a backpacker works for accommodation, as Beau did across the country, he meets the best kind of people. Neither the (honest) backpacker nor the (good) host attempts to short the other. On the other hand, when money rather than service is the purpose of a relationship, he who stands to gain shorts as much as possible he who stands to pay in order to extract maximum profits. This is true for hostels in cities like Queenstown, where local hostel owners and bar managers claim there will be work “in a few weeks” just so the backpacker stay at their hostels and drink at their bars, unpaid, for those weeks waiting for work that will never come. This is true across New Zealand, where a backpacker can go for months without finding any work for which he is “eligible”.
Eligibility should not even be a problem, especially for jobs like washing dishes, shoveling dirt, changing beds, washing sheets (with the help of washing machines), etc. However, because money (wages) is a part of the exchange, the business forgets common sense and focuses on the extraction of profit. It takes a half-hour to train an employee to do any of the above jobs, yet the business sees that half-hour as lost wealth and refuses to hire anyone without “experience”. In the real world, experience in washing dishes, particularly with a dishwasher, is completely irrelevant and it is idiotic to request references for such a position. To cut costs, however, businesses in New Zealand demand references and experience for the most basic, first jobs, so they can spare the thirty minute training session and maximize profit.
You have to have had a first job before you can get your first job.
This is not only the opinion of a backpacker, but also the testimony of a number of Kiwis who themselves cannot find employment; Kiwis just out of high school or college, who are in a tight space – people who have no “work experience”, making them “undesirable”, and in defense must confess their age, being 15-20, to explain their lack of “experience”, thus making them, once again, “undesirable”.
The moment money is not an object, life in New Zealand is wonderful. Working for accommodation and hitch-hiking across the country have been amazing experiences for my son, per his own testimony, but the moment he walks into a store or pays for accommodation at a hostel, the giver is replaced by the deceiver. There are exceptions, but not enough to negate the rule.
William Burdge
Beau, my son and author of the attached websites, is an exceptional young man. He was a straight “A” honor student his first 12 years of school, has at least a genius IQ, has lived in Europe and traveled through it five times, and has the best soul of anyone I have known and all at the age of 18 on his arrival in New Zealand. Below is his college profile for which he won a Discus Award:
http://www.discusawards.com/winner.php?id=1101
William Spencer Burdge
12th Grade, FL
ATTRIBUTES
Academics
I’m a perfectionist. I have been at the top of my class since first grade and that was never enough for me. Discovering how mechanisms work (and how they could work better) is my passion, be they appliances or social systems. I do my research on everything I learn so I know the truth. I find pleasure in learning and satisfaction in using what I know to benefit myself or others, and I enjoy the challenge of debating what I and others have learned, which is in itself a learning experience. If I’m wrong in what I think or assume, I win because I have learned something from it.
Community Service
While my “traditional” community service, the work you do in exchange for recorded hours, is not my specialty, a more potent form of community service is. I am a co-founder of the unofficial Burdge Law Office (no website yet). This started with one website my father and I published about a man who brutally abused my family. This website, and the others that followed, use the open forum of the Internet to tell the truth about individuals and organizations who violate peoples’ rights. Some would call me a whistle-blower, others a muck-raker, but in the end I am standing up for what is right, for my rights and others, demanding justice when justice systems fail, and that is all that matters.
Technology
I have a philosophy about technology: if you can’t invent it yourself, invest in it. I research new technology on a regular basis and I come up with my own ideas that I will put into practice before, during, and after attending university. My passion is to discover the inner workings of devices and ways to improve upon them. For instance, I theorized that falling water power generation would be more productive than standard hydroelectric power with horizontally flowing water. I was told it would not work. Then I got to see the idea in action, both on television and in person while I traveled in New Zealand. Given the opportunity at a university, I will be able to make more of these developed ideas into developed patents.
Here it’s raining and chilly (so much for that spring weather… but it does give the three short sleeve shirts I own a break), and sanity is waning… So thank you all for sharing your life survival tips. Please take a look at my other blog, focused on the fine line we women professional tread: