The unemployment rate among New Zealanders in Australia is lower than average, but they are more likely to drink and smoke than the Australian-born, according to figures issued yesterday.
New Zealanders were more likely to drink and smoke than people from anywhere else. Several years ago, New Zealanders had a reputation of being more like to be unemployed than the average.
The Bureau of Immigration Research published the figures in its quarterly üImmigration Update.@ The figures put the New Zealand unemployment rate at 9.4 per cent compared to the Australian-born rate of 9.8. The overall rate is 11.4 per cent in November, and the December Bureau of Statistics figure is out on Thursday.
The immigration figures show that English-speaking immigrants (8.6 per cent) are less likely to be unemployed than other migrants (15.5). Big unemployment immigrant-origin areas are: Lebanon (39.2), North Africa (31.8) and Vietnam (27). Malaysia (7.2) is lowest of those areas cited.
Next to New Zealanders (28.4), Australian-born (24.6) drank more than people from anywhere else. South-East Asia was lowest at 12.3. The average was 23.6. New Zealanders (38.5) topped the smoking list. Middle east was next with 35.5. Australia was about average on 28.6.
The bureau warned that these figures were based on self-reporting and people tended to under-estimate their own drinking and smoking habits. Perhaps New Zealanders are just more honest.
On exercise, the North Americans came out on top with 79.9 saying they exercised in the past fortnight. New Zealand was next on 70. Australian-born was 67.2 and Southern Europe lowest on 50.
The bureau reported also that the proportion of refugee, humanitarian and special-assistance settlers coming to Australia almost doubled from the September 1990-91 quarter and the September 1991-92 quarter, according to figures issued yesterday by the Bureau of Immigration Research.
It was up from 7 per cent to 13 per cent of total immigration. Up from 2244 to 3066 in absolute numbers. The big increases were from Iraq (20 to 545), the former USSR (11 to 172), former Yugoslavia (0 to 668) and Indonesia (3 to 199, nearly all East Timorese living in Portugal). Afghanistan and Ethiopia were down.
Family migration fell from 45 per cent to 40 per cent and skilled migrants fell from 41 per cent to 36 per cent.
Overall figures dropped 26 per cent.
The last figure is the same as that reported by the Bureau of Statistics in the middle of last month. It showed that permanent settler arrivals fell 26 per cent to 23,310 from the September 91 quarter to the September 92 quarter. The main decreases were from people born in Malaysia (58 per cent), Vietnam (50 per cent), Taiwan (49 per cent), Hong Kong (41 per cent), India (35 per cent), Philippines (34 per cent) and Britain (33 per cent). New Zealand settler arrivals were up 9 per cent. The former Soviet Union and Iraq increased, too.