I think you're right about Australia and NZ. My brother has lived and worked in both and he regularly goes to the UK on business. He is a citizen of all three of those countries.
Before we came I asked which was better. I remember what he said. He said it wasn't about which was better, but rather about how they were different. He said, as a one liner, if you want to be steeped in history go to the UK, if you want sunshine and beaches go to Australia, if you want rivers,lakes and mountains, then NZ was for you.
Many folk don't have a choice when they apply (there are also some who do, and will probably make a choice based on something like my brothers one liner). There can be no doubt Australian immigration requirements are stricter (especially when it comes to age) and it takes significantly longer than NZ (the last time I saw any discussion PR type visa's were taking 3 years to process) (WP type visa's will not be issued on-shore in Australia, like they will in NZ) and Australia is an immigration destination of choice (I read somewhere that only 1 in 7 people applying to immigrate to Australia will be accepted). So a lot of folk just can't get in, and if they are desperate to leave somewhere (like crime in RSA, or for economic reasons like Ireland) then NZ may become the only place they can go to. I think this often makes people try to "justify" their reason for coming to NZ, rather than Australia. Personally after 5 months I don't think there is any reason to "justify", I like rivers, lakes and mountains.
