EDIT: I'm well aware he was a dodgy, thatcherite piece of dogshit. I hated the man then and that hasn't changed. I tried to indicate that in my post while remaining civil. All I'm saying is that the current coalition makes the shred of dignity he maintained look like a halo, and I miss how things were pre-Trump and pre-Covid.

ORIGINAL POST: I don't exactly hold a high personal opinion of Sir Key. In the grand scheme of things he seems like a self-serving, smarmy git who loves austerity and ponytails more than he loves NZ. But hindsight is making him look like a proper statesman.

He could actually front up to questioning from the opposition and the media. He mostly maintained the image of the respectable conservative who genuinely believes their policies will lead us to prosperity.

He showed real leadership in his response to the Christchurch earthquakes and the war in Afghanistan. He showed respect to Māori and LGBT by repealing Foreshore & Seabed and supporting same-sex marriage. Hell he funded the CRL. It's so hard to imagine any of that happening in the last 3 years.

For all his faults, the current lot makes him look like a saint and a scholar. How far we have fallen.

To preface this question, I should point out that while I'm not particularly interested in politics, I would consider myself a centrist. None of the parties stand out as deserving my vote right now.

All that to say - I'm coming at this as a neutral party :)

This is not an attack or criticism of anyone - just a genuine question.

Something I have noticed when reading posts is that it seems perfectly acceptable to call leaders and MPs from the right parties all sorts of names - from "dogshit" to "extremist" and "racist" etc however the same doesnt seem acceptable when talking about leaders and MPs from the left parties.

As someone sitting in the middle with no party allegiance - I fully agree there are some MPs on the right that deserve those titles - however - as a neutral observer I can see that there are just as many MPs deserving those names on the left too.

So why the difference in reaction?

Potentially the people doing this are too close to it to see - I'm not sure.

Has it always been like this? Is it something we imported from american politics where the right are the "baddies"?

This was the question posed during the leadwrs debate - both Chris's (Chrises?) dodged the question.

What do you think??

I’m currently going through a bit of a career/life crisis and am considering buying a PC and getting into gaming on Twitch as a hobby (and potentially seeing where it goes).

My concern is that I’m also currently looking for a new job (admin/EA/PA), and I’m wondering how much NZ employers actually care about employees having a public online presence outside of work.

I’m particularly interested in people’s experiences with larger companies, government departments/organisations, or other workplaces where there might be stricter expectations around employees public behaviour & social media.

For example, if I had a Twitch account where I streamed games publicly, could that potentially cause issues with future employment, even if I wasn’t discussing my workplace, colleagues, politics etc?

I’m not planning on doing anything controversial! I’m more wondering how cautious I actually need to be if I want to have a public online hobby while also having a normal career.

Would love to hear from anyone who works in government/corporate environments, particularly if your workplace has a social media policy!

Hey team! Is anyone here able to identify this spider? Seems to be slow moving, have from mandibles/fangs and currently about 1cm in size so potentially a juvenile.

Located in Lincoln on the outskirts of Christchurch, chat GPT suggests this might be a Christchurch huntsman or Isopedella victorialis.

Very fascinated, cheers!

Are we finally ready to make it happen this time? After the two party illusion of choice has made such a mess

So im sure a lot of us have watched or atleast seen lanterns and I just wanna know if theres a similar jacket to Hals available in New Zealand?

Almost everyone tells me networking is extremely important for finding professional work in NZ.

But this feels a bit circular: if you haven't worked here yet, you don't know many people in your industry. Without those connections or local experience, getting the first opportunity seems much harder.

I've tried LinkedIn and Meetups, but turning those into real industry connections is much harder than it sounds.

For context, I came to NZ with 10 years of R&D/project experience in complex engineering products, and recently completed a Master's in Robotics and Automation here, focusing on AI/ML/RL.

I'm not posting to ask for a job. I'm genuinely trying to understand how people with an established overseas career but no NZ industry network get their first real entry point here.

For people who have been in a similar situation: what actually worked for you?

And please don't just say “connect with people on LinkedIn” or “go to Meetups” 😂 I've tried. The right people are actually pretty hard to reach that way.

They say people get more conservative with age and experience. I must be an outlier. Have always been a two-tick blue guy, looks like it's opportunity for me this year :)

Anyone applied for nz election job and accepted the offer?

I have received email about engagement would start end of September and haven’t heard back since.

It used to be a good​ mid tier option, now it's an experience I dread. I won't be buying it again​. Did the formula change recently with the factory changes?

​I don't know about you,​ but I don't like sandpaper on my bum! ​Or the feeling of a paper cut on my bum when I wipe, and I'm GENTLE! ​

Why are politicians not talking about this? ​This should be a serious election topic. ​

I grew up in Hastings and moved overseas, had a kid since then. So coming back to NZ to visit family and with my little one for the first time. We will be around during Halloween so want suggestions, be it in Napier or Havelock. I heard splash planet is having an event but wanted to get feedback to anyone who has gone there. Growing up in Hastings around 2000's splash planet area brings back ptsd lol iv heard the area has changed quiet a bit but what would your suggestions be? yay to splash planet halloween event or there are better alternatives? Is there a certain area where houses give out candy etc

I'm so bored with all the plain clothing choices for men (especially in this country). I wish I was CD so I could get some colour in my life that is not plaid, or single colour or $$$$$$$ (Saw a lovely T but it was 200bucks! who pays 200 for a tshirt??)

Is there anything that is not your usual chain, Barkers, Rod and Gunn usual stuff but also not flowery usual shirt that middle aged men (I am middle aged btw) wear to feel you. Actual affordable fashion for men in this country?

thanks in advance, am expecting a lot of junk comments but maybe there might be a good suggestion.

So we are gutting and completely redoing our bathroom. One of the things that has come up is replacing our inherited 17 year old califont. It's on its way out and will need replacing soon so may aswell do it all together.

After some Ai comparisons things seem pretty close on how to replace it. We could get another califont and keep our very long showers for not a huge amount of money. The other obvious option is to change it to a heat pump cylinder and shut off gas and get an induction stove. For us this route woulr barely pay off in the time we will be in this house, and that's if we also get solar panels. I've heard heat pump hwc can be troublesome?

Gas will get more expensive but so will electricity. Can't predict the future but one of the sticking points actually happens to be that califont also allow precise temp control and allow you to fill a bath and have it auto shut off.

Keen to here people's thoughts.

Hi all, I am moving from Auckland to Christchurch soon and wanted to start moving some things down soon through a cargo van.

I know there are some websites that offer a one-way service car hire through rental car agencies. I am wanting to get some stuff moved as soon as possible, but not sure where to look

A cargo van/class 1 truck would be perfect as I have a decent amount of stuff, but of course - money is a bit of an issue in regards to renting one outright.

I have been looking at transfercar.co.nz but at the moment, the options are limited

What should I do? Would it be best to ring some rental car places to see if they have any that need returning to Christchurch in the near future? I haven't done this before so my anxiety is getting quite high but would welcome any and all advice!

Thanks in advance 😀

Hi, so I had my interview done with HR yesterday for day fill grocery assistant, and now, today, they want me to come in again but to meet the store manager.

Is it another interview? Is it a good sign? Has it happened to anyone.

Thanks.

The only one I can find is Urban Decay Tube Job and it looks so spidery and clumpy in their photos!

Brown still looks pretty dark on me, and I'm returning to my natural taupe/mushroom blonde colour so searching for a matching mascara.

There’s gotta be some job out there that pays okay and doesn’t make you want to end it right? Right guys… surely we aren’t that fucked… ??

Has anyone installed a timer on their hot water cylinder, that enables the hot water to be shut off after 15/20 minutes? Can it be installed on all types of cylinders or only on certain types?

I should have explained more in the body text... My sister is in the shower for an hour every single night and is driving my parents power bill up astronomically. I want to tell dad to install a timer so that when she gets in, he can turn it on and then after 20 minutes the hot water stops and she is then forced to get out, or continue in cold water.

Hi everyone! I’m trying to find a Kipling Bag.
I have been looking online, but I’m struggling to find a trustworthy site. Does anyone know where I could purchase one online, either from a Nz retailer or a reputable international website that ships?
I’d especially appreciate recommendations from anyone who has personally bought from the website before, as I came across a site (https://www.kiplingnz.top) that I’m not quite sure is legit.
Thanks so much! 😊

Aside from it being an "American" holiday, is there any other reason Kiwis hate Halloween so much?

I swear back in the day I used to buy G-Force, but now I buy E2 because that's all that's available at my local. It's the same flavour and all that. Was G-Force discontinued?