MOVE TO COAST MADE CENTS
THEY were the stars of New Zealand’s budget but Vicky Freeman and daughter Ruby-Jean, 9, have instead moved to the Gold Coast to escape NZ’s high cost of living. The Freemans appeared on the cover of Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s budget report before deciding life on the Coast was too good to pass up.
THEY leapt to fame in New Zealand as the faces of that country’s budget.
Only they weren’t around last month when Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern helped deliver it. Ironically, Vicky Freeman and her daughter Ruby-Jean, 9, had escaped Auckland for the Gold Coast because the cost of living was too high.
The Freemans were looking for a fresh start when they moved to Tallai six months ago and were surprised to learn they were on the cover of one of New Zealand’s most widely publicised documents.
“My daughter and I did a paid photoshoot last year and the photographer put the images on Getty for magazines or whatever to buy,” she told the Bulletin.
“I spun out and I got very excited when we found we were the face of The Wellbeing Budget.”
After spending a year in Auckland having moved from the South Island, the single mum decided she’d had enough of the financial struggle and opted to try Australia.
“I lived on the Gold Coast in my 20s and owned a Kombi van and the decision to move back wasn’t a tough one. There’s sunshine, surf and well-paying jobs,” she said.
“I wanted to come back to where I was happy and my daughter is way happier here than she was in Auckland.”
Ms Freeman said she was spending less on rent and petrol and finding more career success in the modelling and film industry.
“The Gold Coast has those opportunities … in the first two weeks we probably made more money here than we did in Auckland,” she said.
Ms Freeman said while she did not keep up with politics or current affairs because it was “depressing”, she supported Ms Ardern.
“I’m all for Jacinda. I think that what she’s doing is amazing.
“Having a wellbeing budget is great because there’s so many suicides and people that are suffering from mental health issues.”
Ms Freeman said she would love to see improvements to mental health support in the Queensland budget today.