|
Jersey. Channel Islands, Great Britain / New Zealand
|
|
About Jersey |
|
Troy family history |
|
My family |
|
Our home |
|
Our horses & animals |
|
Morris Minors & Vmax |
|
E.Troy Ltd |
|
The occupation years |
|
Shuttlers Badminton |
|
Interesting snippets |
|
Contact us |
|
What's New |
|
Links |
|
Guest book comments |
|
©Troy Family publications 2001-24 All rights reserved
|
|
Updated every 3 months . Last update Jan 2024
|
|
Jersey |
|
March 24 |
|
Website administrator Maurice R. Troy |
|
If you have any comments you would like to add about anything on this website please contact the website administrator.
maurice@troyfamily.co.uk |
|
Many years ago when I was thirteen at school I chose to do a geography project on Australia and New Zealand and that sowed a seed in me that I never forgot. Now in the twilight of my life and after having struggled to raise my family I am lucky to be a citizen of New Zealand. All fifteen of us have dual nationality. I had started to save for a property in Jersey during my teens before I even had a girlfriend after seeing how hard it was for my older brothers and sisters to afford a house or land on our small Island of Jersey. The Island life was wonderful whilst my children were growing up but sadly began to change and there was unrest with the direction the Government was going. In 1996 Val and I visited NZ for the first time and we both loved it. On that first holiday I found a hire car for $10 a day as the hire firm wanted it taken from Auckland to Christchurch, it was a small manual Toyota Starlet that was quite old. We went all over the North Island then on the ferry and all over the south Island. It was winter and on the way to Methvan we were caught in a very heavy snow storm and discovered we had no snow chains, did not know where we were and could not see much but made it to the town, bit scary. Later on the way to Queenstown we picked up a hitch hiker who was just walking miles from anywhere and he was a student who had been before and showed us places we would not have seen on our own, left him in Arrowtown. On the TTS Earnslaw we met a Japanese man called Itsho then later in Lawrence met him again. Days later in Christchurch we met him again and stayed in touch for quite a few years. The early morning balloon ride over Christchurch was wonderful and the wild flight I had in a open top acrobatic bi-plane with a mad young NZ pilot was unforgettable. I wore a Biggle’s flying jacket and a leather flying hat. We came back again to NZ a few years later and still loved it. As our three children passed their University Degrees we treated them each to a holiday in NZ as a reward for their hard work. In 2001 at Christmas with all of us together I suggested that we look into the possibility of all of us as a family moving to NZ as the prospects for any of their future children at the time in my opinion were not too good on the Island of Jersey and they agreed with me. After being born and breed for our whole lives on the Island of Jersey we made a family decision to begin the move to a beautiful country on the other side of the earth, New Zealand. Val and I were the last of our family to gain residency on 1st March 2012. We all used a immigration company called Protea Pacific later renamed Immagine NZ Ltd. Their director Iain MacLeod visited Jersey several times holding seminars at the Grand Hotel which we attended and met him. Very straight talking man who tells it as it is and leaves you under no illusion how difficult and stressful the process is going to be. Our applications were handled by Paul Janssen of the same company who was excellent. Way back in 1989 we had looked into selling up and moving to NZ with the help of a NZ immigration company and I got as far as being asked to fly over to NZ on my own for some interviews for work but with our young children at a critical stage in their education we decided not to take it up at that time. Leaving Jersey in 2011 we attended two appointments at the Jersey Income Tax office to finalise, complete forms and pay (a large amount) all they required. We then permanently moved and became tax residents of New Zealand however in January 2012 the following year we received a tax return form and a provisional bill from Jersey Tax. The reason is that we had notified Jersey tax that being new residents of NZ every new immigrant is granted a four year tax exemption on all overseas income but Jersey said in that case we had to pay it to them. We were even charged the new Jersey Long Term Care tax for all Jersey residents (before the Jersey law was passed in 2016). We were also paying tax in NZ on income earned here and after four years of emails we did eventually receive a small refund from Jersey. Jersey Tax was the worst to deal with while overseas as they take three to four months to answer an email (or acknowledge) even if sent many times. You seem to just have to accept and do everything they say. We have had to give up and feel very frustrated especially after paying Social Security and tax for well over 45 years in continuous employment in Jersey and taking away the burden and expense from Jersey of us in old age. Permanent citizens of NZ having to pay tax to a country with a double taxation agreement seems wrong and NZ are the losers.in allowing this exemption. I have the complete correspondence in one long email if anyone having the same problem would like to see it. In 2019 another Jersey retired couple who have moved to NZ are receiving the four year tax exemption on their pension from Jersey income tax. They did not tell Jersey they were exempted probably!!!!!
|
|
Life in New Zealand is wonderful for us but not perfect as there are obviously certain things that we have had to adjust our lives to. The people are nice and friendly, the climate is good and there is no class distinction. There seems to be no urgency in doing anything which can be pleasant. There have been a few problems when getting work done on our house that I will mention later with names and companies involved so as to warn others like us who do not know who to call on around our area. I think we may have just been unlucky with some who we choose. Most of the people have been excellent and I will praise them on this and my new NZ website. Main criticisms so far if asked my opinion. Lack of accountability by everyone. No need to be insured as the government and tax payers pay up for you also no need to pay fines or ordered restitution (usually used to get a more lenient sentence ) as the courts cannot force you as it is just a court request. Big companies/building firms are not held responsible for anything until a TV program called Fair Go gets involved then things happen. Unable to sue in NZ. I do find the Justice service and Police force are the most lenient I have ever seen as the punishment does not fit the crime. Bail is too easy and perpetrators appear to have more preference and attention than the victims. Depending who you are (i.e. a well known person, an up and coming sports person or even a police person) you can expect to be discharged from a crime you have committed with a absolute discharge at the discretion of the judge even when proved or pleaded guilty. No one in government, council or civil service ever seems accountable for any wrong doing they personally have been responsible for. There is no restriction on the power of the car that teens can drive and they don’t need to be insured as they are covered by the ACC ( Accident Compensation Corporation) scheme which we all have to pay for. It gives them the feeling of being unaccountable for their actions I think. You cannot sue for injuries in NZ. Life means life sentence has never been given in NZ even for released murderers who murder again. Parole is given/offered after a third of the sentence is served. Too much alcohol promoted and drunk. Television advert breaks are extremely long and loud, 29 minutes of adverts in every 60 minutes. We record everything we want to watch on Mysky and skip the adverts, it’s the only way. Most Radio station adverts are getting that way too but we enjoy the only phone in program on TalkradioZB.
To be honest I can see problems occurring in a few decades if nothing changes as the police and the laws here in NZ are not respected, largely ignored, no real punishment imposed and they admit that a vast majority of fines go unpaid. Completely ineffective. There are more gang members than police.
I have a dash camera in my cars and have built up quite a collection of bad driving standards in just a short time which will be made into a driving video for publication. Road deaths are high. Most large trucks and trailers mostly drive at 100k (90k is their limit although many truck drivers don’t know this as seen on TV in 2015) but never seem to be stopped by police. Trucks, public buses, cars towing small loaded trailers, large boats, horse boxes etc travel at 110kpm on Expressways which is wrong but allowed. Unlike UK driving with inappropriate footwear or in bare feet is allowed and drivers stopped without a licence, overdue road Tax licence and outdated WoF are usually allowed to continue with tickets issued. Drunk drivers are taken home by police after testing at the station as seen on the Motorway patrol TV programs affecting 111 response times. Driving in NZ is very easy and I now know why several New Zealanders who visited Jersey could not handle our small roads and traffic. One New Zealander on holiday in Jersey gave his hire car back after two days and another refused to drive completely. There was a saying that if you can drive on the Island of Jersey you can drive anywhere in the world although in my experience driving around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, London and Thailand were all tricky.
Our praises for NZ far out weigh the criticisms but I felt I needed to mention the above. I am reading as much history of NZ as I can and it is all very interesting. My new NZ Troy family web site will have lots of fascinating facts on it soon and it is now active.
Just cancelled my (never won) 1961 UK Premium Bonds from NZ and what a shambles. Sent all the witnessed official forms and never heard from them for months. Then they wanted every address I had ever lived at since 1961 (which I did) and my NS&I number which I have never had (lived Jersey). But strangely when I phoned from NZ they gave me all my details without any security checks, name and bond numbers given only. Luckily money appeared in my UK bank but they would not answer any of my emails asking if I had ever won for security reasons. Wish I had bought that car I wanted in 1961 instead of giving them my money interest free for 62 years. Big mistake.
To be continued……. |
|
My whole family moved to NZ between 2007 and 2010. www.troyfamily.co.nz
|
|
2013 NZ census form.
"What's with the question only for women about how many babies they have had? Where are the dads? Shouldn't those males also be asked how many they have fathered or are they looking for a virgin birth?"
“Knowledge is realizing that the street is one way: wisdom is looking in both directions anyway”
Albert Einstein.
Some Bobby calf treatment and handling has been exposed as really cruel here in NZ.
Take a look at the video clip in this article.
Road deaths are unacceptable mostly because narrow rural road speeds are the same as National highways. Head on crashes and truck accidents are inevitable. |
|
Val and I are kept busy helping with our seven grandchildren who are all growing so fast.
There are lots of surprising connections to Jersey here in NZ ie. Jersey surnames, Jersey cows, Jersey beanies, Jersey jumpers, St Heliers Bay etc.
Lots of Jersey history links to Pironga and Te Awamutu in the 1800’s with well known Jersey families arriving.
A large Jersey granite monument on the junction of SH12 and SH1 at the Singing cow café on the way to Whangarei. |
|
Anzac Day is on the 25th April.
Facts about loses at Gallipoli in World War 1
Far more British soldiers fought on the Gallipoli peninsula than Australians and New Zealanders put together.
The UK lost four or five times as many men in the brutal campaign as her imperial Anzac contingents. The French also lost more men than the Australians.
The Aussies and Kiwis commemorate Gallipoli ardently, and understandably so, as their casualties do represent terrible losses both as a proportion of their forces committed and of their small populations.
For New Zealand with a population of around one million in 1914, the First World War was a hugely traumatic event. 58,000 casualties out of a force of 100,000 equated to one in every three men aged between 20 and 40 being killed or wounded.
There were 120,000 British and 27,000 French casualties at Gallipoli. A total of 27,000 New Zealanders died and 4,700 were wounded. Australia suffered 26,000 causalities including 8,000 dead. In defending itself from invasion, Turkey lost 87,000 lives out of an estimated 250,000 casualties. |
|
Sadly we have discovered that NZ is not 100% pure.
Also
You cannot always believe what is stated on the ingredients of food products are correct as there is no law to prevent it.
But there is a law not to sell any food products in NZ without English on the label but this is not enforced and customs allows them in to NZ. |
|
The District Council gives grants to insulation businesses to insulate your house. The problem is they do not communicate with the owner and do not inspect the work. Is it done properly or even at all, how do they know? I respect the trust they have but am still slightly worried. Does it comply with the grant? Apparently $1,350 approx was allowed towards mine but I have no idea or any record if this is correct other than what was shown on my insulators bill. |
|
Is it a scam?
I have discovered something I have come across which must be new in NZ when booking tickets for theatres, shows etc. and that is there is often a one-off service/delivery fee from $5.25 per transaction that applies on all purchases (even in person at the ticket office). The actual service/delivery fee may vary depending on the venue and method of delivery selected. Then GST at 15% is added. They won’t accept cash.
It’s worth remembering an annual fee is also required from the bank for having your card.
I would much rather these charges put on the ticket price and not hidden in the small print.
I queried this with my bank who emailed saying.
“Regarding additional charges for using the card, the only fees that should be connected to transactions are international conversion, ATM
Does anyone in authority really know what is going on or are we just left to fend for ourselves at the mercy of big business! |
|
NZ’s CO2 emissions per capita are about the same as the UK. It is estimated there will be about 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide released by NZ this year. Of all the incentives around the world by various countries to promote electric vehicles and help prevent climate change there is unfortunately nothing done like that here. The government seem to think that dairy cows are the problem. Nothing is going to happen to reduce vehicle pollution. Maybe because they are supporting oil exploration around NZ. |
|
In NZ. We keep on hearing of the Justice system increasing the maximum penalties for various crimes to act as a deterrent but have never heard of any one ever receiving the maximum penalty for any crime.
Please correct me if you know of one?
With serious crime sentences home detention and name suspension seems the norm..
|
|
Dangerous dogs are definitely a problem that is not being properly addressed here in NZ. It’s a great shame that councillors, SPCA or even ministers do nothing about it to protect the public. It has affected us and others we know on where we take a walk on public roads, even in our area passing certain properties can put fear in you with the sight of these dogs rushing their gates and you hoping they don’t escape. Nearly every month we hear of a child or adult being killed or mauled by these type of dog.
|
|
Dogs kill a seal
The owner had unregistered and uncontrolled dogs. All five of the man's dogs - two of which attacked the seal - were put down. A witness described seeing the dogs throw the seal around on Tairua Beach and screamed at them from a distance to stop. White said the council decided against taking the man to court because of the additional cost of proceedings What if had been a child I ask? Increasing the penalties as they are doing would have made no difference here. Elsewhere the owners of the four dogs that attacked 7-year-old Murupara girl Sakurako Uehara are fighting charges laid under the Dog Control Act 1996.
In 2018 ACC (NZ Accident Compensation Corporation) spent 247 million on motor vehicle related injuries. There is no need to have car insurance in NZ under the law as the government covers us all with tax payers money which seems crazy. If we were all required to have compulsory car insurance like most countries these millions could be put to better use or saved. Also you cannot sue for compensation. |
|
Just ignore the country of origin label as you will never know if it’s true..
There is no law in New Zealand to stop putting any country of origin on any product you wish unlike the new law being brought in over in Australia (2015). The reason given is that it will cost too much to enforce. Why not just legislate for a hefty fine to act as a deterrent anyway to protect the public. That’s what Governments are supposed to do.
Recently (2014) tourists being sold genuine NZ Possum furs discovered that they were imports.
Name suppression and home detention is the norm even for serious sexual child abuse.
Unlike Jersey any price can be displayed in the shop but more demanded at the check out. |
|
Car Costs. We can see from the facts below that it is very expensive to run a car in NZ compared to Jersey. In Jersey there is no annual road tax or MOT/WOF as the only tax is added on the price of a litre of fuel so that the more a car is used on the roads the more the user pays. In Jersey it is compulsory to have the vehicle insured by you to be allowed on the road ( seized if not or loose everything if you should kill someone) which does away for the need for ACC ( Accident Compensation Corporation ) NZ costs on vehicles which makes sense.
My NZ Kia car registration each year consists of Car Reg $43.50 + $321.53 ACC + $55.58 GST + other levies/Admin etc. = $426.05 per year (compulsory). My mileage charge is $724 for every 10,000K driven (compulsory). Warrant of fitness WOF $60+ approx (compulsory yearly). Car insurance $544.08 (not compulsory). Service, fuel, fuel tax and fuel GST not included in calculation. Total yearly cost for my car to be on the road $1,615.13 approx. (before my vehicle is allowed to be driven on the road although no insurance cover is required). Break down of NZ Fuel tax costs per litre: 56.524 cents - National Land Transport Fund 9.90 cents - ACC Motor Vehicle Account 0.66 cents - Local Authorities Fuel Tax 0.045 cents - Petroleum or Engine Fuels Monitoring Levy In addition, GST is collected on the overall price of fuel including excise. The GST on excise amounts to a 10 cents per litre "tax on taxes".There are no taxes on diesel other than GST. Instead, diesel vehicles pre pay Road User Charges. All fuels also pay an Emissions Trading Scheme charge (approximately 1 cent per litre). I have just paid $724 RUC in order to allow me to drive 10,000 kilometres. |
|
Owning five classic cars in Jersey is easy as your car is only registered once in it’s life time while on the island, obtain car insurance and then pay all the road user charges though the fuel charge at the pump. The insurance tab must always be shown on the windscreen by law. |
|
Sadly New Zealand's Registered Master Builders guild appear to protect their builder membership rather than their customers as shown on the Fair go TV programme recently.
There is no accountability for any wrong doings in NZ I feel. |
|
Is this right…..
The use of a police dog to capture a woman found hiding in a paddock in Paeroa after fleeing a police chase was excessive, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found. The woman had earlier been spotted in a stolen Mitsubishi Cedia wagon driven by a man identified as Mr Y when it was spotted by police at a petrol station in Paeroa on the evening of April 23. The car had licence plates that were registered as belonging to a Subaru Legacy. But when the stolen car was directed to stop by police, Mr Y instead sped up and drove "several circuits around the Paeroa Township at speeds of up to 100km/h in a 50km/h zone". It then drove up a cycle path as its passengers hung out the window and gestured towards police. "A male passenger specifically was pretending to aim at and shoot them with an imaginary pistol," Doherty wrote in his report. "The passengers then started throwing items out of the vehicle, including a bandanna, a guitar, and a guitar bag. "Police continued to follow the vehicle approximately 20 metres behind in order to avoid being hit by the items." The pursuit lasted nine minutes before the car slowed down at Claremont Av and three occupants jumped out and fled on foot. Ms X and Mr Y then ran through private properties before hiding in a drain pipe for about an hour. The police dog handler, identified as Officer C, then tracked the two to the drain pipe where he approached them on his own, although two other officers were close by. Unfortunately the dog bit the woman and the police were told they should not have used the police dog. |