Alan S wrote:

jwb@csse.monash.edu.au wrote:

>>> Australians love Australia, but they are happiest
>>> when living somewhere else. Kiwis are the same.

Jim replied:

> Well, at any point of time about 5% of Australian citizens
> and permanent residents, i.e. approx 1M, are living/working outside 
> the country. I think the proportion of New Zealanders living/working 
> elsewhere is a bit higher.

That's not a terribly high figure, compared with about 10% of Brits
living abroad.

Comparisons of Australia with European countries (which some people in
this thread are making) are also telling. In a recent survey by The
Economist, Australia was the only non-European country in the top ten
"best countries to live in", taking into account things like economy,
social fabric, standard of living, family structure, etc.

Britain, predictably, was way down there in 29th place (France and
Germany were only slightly higher). The USA was 13th.

And the best place to live? Ireland, apparently, with Switzerland a
close second.

John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com