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386 comments · +4,275 / −1,015 · rank #144 of 40,276

Saw it for the first time recently. Was over it after the first 20 seconds. Its not even funny, and drags on way too long. Worst safety video they have done. Keep it short and simple and get on with the flight. 99% of people on the plane probably know the safety procedures anyway, and the other 1% probably dont care or are too young to understand. Point out the exits and get on with it. In the case of a real emergency, it will be what it will be, and most people will freak out and not follow the instructions anyway.

+76−3

I know 4 teachers as personal friends. All great hard working people. But the reality is they would be lucky to spend 20 hrs working in those paid school holidays. ON enormally goes skiing for two weeks, the others tramping or spending quality time with their kids. Not something normal employees get to do 4 times a year without taking annual leave or leave without pay.

+83−12

Unfortunately that is what happens when you have career politicians that have never spent any real life experience in real jobs. Unfortunately, it is also happening in local councils, where those that have stayed working in local authorities since they first started work have moved up to senior and management roles, but actually have no idea about how a real business works. Hence taxpayer and ratepayer money continues to be wasted due to stupid decisions and spending on non-essential items.

+61−5

The sense of entitlement is unbelievable. Based on current tax rates she is actually about $240 a week better off, after tax, on her new salary. When she no longer has dependent children and the WFF handouts stop that is effectively how much better off she is. I wonder if she would want to go back to $36K pa when the kids are gone. WFF needs to go. With the current WFF handouts this person essentially pays almost NO tax, unlike the hardworking people without children whose tax is effectively paying for her kids.

+47−3

Pay anyone megabucks who doesnt have their own skin and money in the game and you will always get monkeys. If these so called top CEOs were as good as they think they are they would be running their own massive businesses and making more money. Unfortunately they are all over hyped journeymen that talk themselves up and have nothing personal to lose, other than their over-the-top remuneration when they eventually get caught out. And it happens at all level of management, probably witnessed by the fact more than 20 people at Fonterra earn more than $1M a year.

+43−0

If Little wants to reduce the number of people in prison here is where he should start:1. More police and a dedicated squad to break down and disseminate the gangs. Remove the hideous (and expensive) drugs these outfits produce and peddle. The only way many of the people can pay or these drugs is by commiting crime to raise the money. Eliminate the gangs, and with that will come a reduction in crime, reduced demand on the police force to deal with burglaries, and a reduced demand on the health system.2. Focus on the initial cause. Poor parenting and poverty. Too many people on benefits, having too many children they cant afford to raise, or actually dont care about. The gangs and their illicitly earned money are breeding grounds for more crime. Better education, and removing the benefit dependent generation from the system would help.3. Demand that the judges actually hand down a proper sentence. It seems nowadays everyone before the courts for a serious crime has an excuse - poor upbringing, some kind of drug dependence or another addiction, suffered child abuse etc. etc., and the judges hand out a soft handed penalty that does nothing to deter the offender from committing the same crime again.Releasing more people from prison and removing the 3-strike law will only add the the problem.

+42−1

Well, if you look at the photo, taken recently in winter you will see the grasses and tussock etc are all still brown. i.e. the natural landscape doesnt have sufficient topsoil, silts, clays etc to hold water. So growing the nice green grass the cows prefer will require huge amounts of irrigation. The climate there also goes from below freezing with snowfall in winter, to 30 or 40+ temperatures during summer. Far better places available to run dairy cows.

+45−4

Or O for however you want to spell it. A little bit more depth in reporting the article would be good. Did these kids parents find out and discipline them, and make them return the money? One would hope so. But if not, and these kids had a guilt trip and decided to return the money themselves thats probably even better. We all mistakes at every age in life, just not always illegal ones. Hopefully the learning gained from this mistake at such a young age will point them in the correct direction without it affecting their future to grow into productive members of society.

+42−1

And presumably they have already paid for a geotechnical report and engineering design and detailing of the wall because they wouldnt have been able to even lodge the consent without all that. No mention of what that has already cost them? The CCC charge-out rates are crazy, they are over $120 per hour now for admin. staff. Consent processing officers range from $210-$294 per hour.

+36−1

You ruined the whole article by using the word pakeha. You should have just said non-maori. There are other races in NZ that are not white skinned, and if us so called white New Zealanders referred to everyone else as black New Zealanders there no doubt would be hell to pay.

+40−6

As someone who works in this industry as a self employed structural engineer, you have hit the nail on the head, more than once. Ive been doing this for 23+ years but the whole construction industry, in my opinion, is now in turmoil. The problem I find is clients always want the cheapest price. Sometimes I can spend a day working out what design might be required on a complex hill house. I provide a real price and lose the contract to someone that guessed it. They get the contract, then charge extras and variations and their final price is a few thousand dollars more than what i would have stuck to. People need to realize cheapest is not always best, and could cost you more in the long run.

+33−0

I see your point but it is a waste as it should never have happened. You could also look at it this way. On a minimum wage of $16.50 p/hr on salary at 52 weeks per year x 40 Hours per week, the tax paid would be $5,026 in PAYE tax (excluding ACC levies or any other rebates). So this government has just given away the equivalent of 20 years worth of tax collected from a minimum wage employee, to someone that is not even going to do a days work. I can think of far better places for our tax money to be spent. Health, education and police would be a good start, and am Im not involved in any of those industries.

+32−0

They havent even built a KiwiBuild house yet. They inherited ones already started and are now buying ones that were going to built by developers anyway.NZ needs to move away from the election process where the dominant party holds power. Every candidate that wins their electoral seat in their area should form a member of the government. That would promote honest debate from both political viewpoints, resulting in a broad representation of the people they represent. New bills and policies could be quickly approved based on a simple democratic process, rather than who holds more votes in house. At present we have a debating chamber of children, with a whole lot of hanger-on list party MPs that also end up with ministerial roles and are well out of their depth. Its not helping the country move forward.

+30−2

For those of you that cant understand the point of the article:The conference system is stupid.After this weeks round of results, if the teams were ranked in order of points, not conference winners, the top 4 would be; 1. Crusaders, 2: Hurricanes, 3. Chiefs, 4. Lions. NO Australian team would feature. The semi finals would be Crusaders v Lions in ChCh. Hurricanes vs Chiefs in WGTN. As it stands, the CRU v HUR semi-final is probably the 1 final. The point of the article is that if the Lions (at home) beat the Waratahs, and the Hurricanes beat the Crusaders, the 4th ranked Lions still get a home final because the Hurricanes didnt top the NZ conference. Yet, their final points after the semifinals (assuming no bonus point wins), would be the Hurricanes 55, Lions 50.

+34−6

If its private land the iwi can do what they want. Heres a couple of ideas for them:1. Identify and designate an area that is suitable for the off road activities and charge an access fee.2. Set up a tourism business that offers a 4WD drive adventure along the beach, including commentary about the history, why certain areas are sacred etc. culminating in a 4WD climb to the top of the dunes where a picnic type lunch is served, followed by a walking trip to see the botanical plant species they are trying to protect.

+29−2

How about an article on how many public votes each dancer got throughout the series, showing what those votes actually raised for their respective charities? When they advise the text votes cost $1, check with bill payer before voting etc, they should also disclose how much of that $1 the charity actually gets. And for those that donated more than $5 to one charity, how do they get their donation certificate to claim the tax rebate they are entitled to?

+30−5

Im yet to see a world map that calls this country Aotearoa rather than New Zealand? And everyone I know that was born here, whether Maori or not, refers to themselves as a New Zealander, not an Aotearoaian (who whatever the term would be).

+25−2

There should be no taxes on fuel and the taxes should all be levied by Road User Charges for all methods of power source (diesel, petrol, LPG, natural gas and electricity) on vehicles with a tare weight exceeding something like 500kg. With the rates based on tare weight, as they do now for diesel, then the heavy vehicles doing the most kms will pay the most, the light vehicles doing less kms pay less.

+22−0

If Mr Ryder is still a member of the gang then thats his first starting point, to educate the gang and start disbanding it in favor of law abiding pursuits. The gangs cause so much harm and cost to society, and ironically their own people, from their drug dealing, crimes, intimidation and violence, benefit dependence etc. The NZ govt. needs to come down on these outfits much harder.A second step would be to provide better support to primary or early childhood care facilities. These are probably the first opportunity outsiders have a chance to identify something is not right in the childs home. The earlier the problem is identified, the better chance of a good outcome long term.

+25−3

Cars kill people, shall we ban cars? People kill people, shall we ban people? The reality is it will be impossible to become smoke free, just as it will be impossible to become drug free, alcohol free etc. Education is the key, not total bans. And a lot of the time if the product is illegal, it worsens the problem in that the young people think its cool, gangster, etc, to partake in these activities, leading them to early addictions that have far greater ongoing social costs than what it would have cost to educate people of the risks of partaking in the first place.

+29−8

Id say that was called talking it up and giving the client an unrealistic expectation of what the property would sell for just to get the listing, then hoping like hell the client would accept some low-ball offer way below what the agent promised, so the agent could get the commission.

+24−3

I agree. Who decides what consultants get appointed. Where was the opportunity to tender for this work advertised, or is it closed to a select few of invited firms? The gravy train seems to keep flowing for the select few, who seem to be getting paid very well for producing nothing that has been constructed and so have little to no liability attached.

+25−4

I disagree. The Anglican Church Trustees wanted to demolish the crappy, broken Cathedral and build a new one. They were stopped by the Historic Places Trust and other advocates, that have delayed progress and cost millions of dollars in lawyers fees etc, none of which has produced anything productive. The Cathedral site is a mess, the square is a mess, and we have a mess of a proposal to regenerate the square with a timber slug that will detract from the cathedral and is not fit for purpose. Time to demolish the Cathedral and move on.

+27−7

You probably wont. These big companies constantly use subcontractors for everything. In fact some of them hardly employ any real on-site construction staff. They try to operate from an office, via useless project managers, to save costs. The project managers and top staff get paid plenty, while they screw the subcontractors over. And when it all fails, the subcontractors get screwed, while the over-paid idiots at the top have already banked their money and can move on to the next project.

+21−1

Its a shame none of these people mentioned the appalling slave labor Dubai thrives on, especially for its construction and hospitality industries. They exploit Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese etc no end. They get a sponsored visa for entry, have their passport taken off them and held by their employer. In construction most lived in labor camps and were paid around US$300 per month. They were bused to work early in the morning, made to work outdoors in extreme temperatures for long hours, then bused back home to their camp at the end of the work day. But I suppose those low wages helps subsidise the high salary packages of the educated. You also cant own a business there without a sponsor who must hold at least 51% of the company. Basically, they are happy to have expats there to achieve the end goal, but once its done they can deport you and send you home.

+27−7

That Mayor sounds about as out-of-touch with her council as Dalziel in ChCh. Ooops, we have a problem, lets engage some consultant to tell us what went wrong. Guess what Mayor, its obvious what went wrong, not enough experienced on site and stuff-ups were made. Where were the council building inspectors and what have they done about it f the quality is so poor. Leave the main contractor to get on with finishing the project without having to worry about all the interference from idiots that dont know what they are talking about.

+21−1

If you read the article you will find the utensils are legally sold in NZ. That they may have been used for an illegal purpose is irrelevant. What is relevant is this person entered someones house and removed items owned by the occupants. That is theft! Is he saying its OK to steel someones property if he doesnt report a potential crime to the police?

+21−2

Can we have a referendum that says politicians that have been on the tax payer gravy train for more than 25 years have to retire? And regardless of time in office, they should have to retire no later age 70. Too many of them have been on the gravy train for too long and have achieved nothing other than lining their own pockets.

+27−8

This coalition government seems to be good at coming up with warm fuzzy ideas in all their policies that they think will solve all NZs problems. Nothing wrong with focusing on the potential positives of the policy. The problem is they dont seem to be able to assess the potential negatives of the policies before they announce them, and when the negative outweigh the positives theres no point even announcing the policy.

+25−6

A 2 for SBW is rubbish. If thats the case then BB gets no more than a 4. The ball hardly got to the centres in the first 30 mins, as BB kept aimlessly kicking it away. It was only when Crotty came on the game changed for the ABs. I expect he was told to tell BB to stop kicking possession away and pull his head in. MacKenzie did play well. Ioane once again showed his defense is not great - how many time does he come in off his wing leaving a massive opening?

+23−6

Read the article. This is a high country station with low stocking rates of beef cattle, not dairy cattle. This farm probably has no irrigation, the cattle survive on the natural grass that grows with the annual rainfall, and perhaps some supplementary feed when required. And like the wild animals that also live in that environment, they drink from the river. Big difference compared to intensive dairying, where they regularly pile on water and fertilizers to keep the grass growing so they can continue to feed the animals because they have overstocked the land beyond what it can produce naturally. One of them is working with nature, the other completely against it. Learn the difference.

+17−0

So the Labour Inspectorate has only managed to visit about 2 building sites a week, and as a result prosecution has raised $45,000 in fines, which probably cost twice that in lawyers fees to achieve, not to mention wages paid to the inspectorate staff. And only a $7.5K fine. Hardly sends a message to the offender. They have probably saved 5 times that on underpaid wages over the last few years. Time for judges in NZ to start imposing sentences at the top end of the scale, not the bottom.

+17−0

Ever had a pet you cared about? I knew exactly what my 18 year old cat wanted/needed before we had to put him down last year because of renal failure. And his sister is now 19 and I know exactly what she wants based on her vocalizations. Once you build a bond with an animal, it doesnt matter if they speak in meow, woof, chirp or whatever, you will know when they are distressed or not.

+16−0

No. Because Serena is such a look at me-look at me person. I suspect she knew she wasnt able to win this one after the first set so has found something to complain about to once again get the attention. Im pleased she lost. We done Osaka.

+16−0

You seriously dont think anyone in this coalition government could successfully manage and run a business do you, let alone a country? More likely they will waste more taxpayer money on another working group to tell them how to project manage this farce they announced at election time without any real detail being done.

+17−1

The water in Christchurchs deep aquifers is some the best in the world, and may be a few hundred years old by the time it reaches Christchurch from the original rainfall and snow melt in the Southern Alps. The gravels filter it, which is why ChCh has never needed treatment of its water in the past. Add a useless Ecan into the mix, and the fact companies dont get charged for the water they extract within the limits of their resource consents, and it is quite literally money for jam.

+15−0

As a Uni 3rd student in 1991, a 1 liter jug of beer cost $3.50. Sometimes $1.00 for a few hours when the bars ran an end of term party. At an average 3% inflation over the last 27 years, that would put the same jug of beer at about $7.80 nowadays. But today you cant even buy a 330ml bottle for less than about $9 in a bar. Seems the bars have been doing well over the last 10-15 years at least.

+14−0

The central city residential development service would provide information, advice and support on housing development to land owners and developers within the four avenues.Isnt that what the current planning department are supposed to do?Perhaps if the CCC could start listening to what people want, and stop wasting their time creating new entities that offer no value, but cost developers and ratepayers money, maybe things would start happening.

+16−2

The hydro canals have been there for years and actually fit well within the landscape. They also provide massive benefit to NZ in terms of electricity generation, salmon farming and recreational fishing. Fishing wise, they are also available for public use. Drawing massive amounts of water to plonk another bunch of green circles in the middle of an environment that cant generate green grass by itself is just stupid. Not to mention the temperature extremes in that environment. Hardly conducive to farming dairy cows.

+14−0

The problem is they are already outsourcing. And the staff they have, largely have no experience in the real world, they have come from university straight into local government and stayed there their whole employment career. They are out of touch with the real world, yet the councils are largely a monopoly. The building consent departments and planning departments are the worst. Inexperienced people checking experienced peoples work and charging 50% to 100% more per hour than the people that know what they are doing.

+15−1

Landry might be out of his depth? If cycling NZ could have communicated to Lucas & McIlroy earlier and let them know costs and requirements, they may have had a chance to raise funds and do what was required to attend. A 5 person team may have had a chance. A 3 person team sounds like a waste of time and money.

+14−0

Theres a big difference between a business that actually owns or leases the building they operate from and pays all the outgoings compared to this guy. And naturally, if a dairy stopped stocking or supplying what the customers want it will also go broke and shut down.

+16−2

The commercial CBD and roads are. But if you look at places like Rolleston, West Melton, Halswell, Prestons etc etc. there have been more than enough houses built to replace those red zoned. Unfortunately some people are still waiting for final EQC payments or insurance settlements so they can move on.

+14−1

The problem with hot water cylinders is they are storage units that have to be maintained at a minimum temperature to eliminate bacteria. Regardless of the thermostat, they are constantly using energy to keep the water hot, despite the fact that water might only be use mornings and evenings in most cases. Point of source water heaters, that only heat the water as needed must surely be a much better energy efficient option, i.e gas califonts, bench mounted instant hot water units etc.

+13−0

This is really sad. What I dont understand is why, in other articles related to rugby, people all calling for Ryan Crotty to retire, despite being in a professional environment with the best specialist care, testing and advice available. Any inkling of a head injury or concussion in professional rugby and the player is taken off for a head injury assessment (HIA) and not allowed to return if they fail. Yet the HIA in boxing is largely the ref holding the fighters hands and looking for resistance, then checking they can still talk and want to carry on and take another beating. With all the money the promoters, hangers on, broadcasters etc now make from boxing, Im surprised they dont have more duty of care to the people actually making them the money-the fighters. Its just bizarre.

+18−5

The past has nothing to do with future. Look forward not back, because the back is history and cant be changed. What I saw today was the Aussies finally penalised for all the shoving, pushing and holding they do in the defensive circle. And yet their coaches comment was well have to talk to the umpires about all the penalties, as if the Aussies did no wrong. The so called non-contact sport of netball has started to turn into rugby or league.

+13−1

Tax - from a quick google search=a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions.Increasing the fuel levy is a tax increase.

+12−0

This is NZ, not USA. The article states someone has a tower crane on one these sites, and is setting one up on another. That could be $1+ million worth of tools, let alone the lost hire fees that were agreed to when the contract was started. ALL subcontractors should be entitled to go and recover their own tools and equipment from the site so they can move on, and hopefully, keep trading. Perhaps the receivers might also like to freeze all the assets of the board of directors and managers responsible for this mess?

+12−0

Hang a couple of hammocks in the tree just above the platform and say the ladder is used to access the hammocks, and the platform is there to catch us just in case a hammock support ropes breaks.Fairly sure theres nothing in the building code stopping you putting a hammock at any height you like in a tree.

+13−2

You do realize that GST is a goods and services tax, so its actually paid by the customer using those services, i.e. its added to the going rate, collected by the provider, and then distributed to the govt. If they run this as a business, through a company, and its annual turnover is less than the threshold $60K (which is likely), they dont actually have to register for, collect, and distribute the GST. They would just have to pay the required tax on the business earnings, but also cant claim GST back on the expenses associated with running the business.

+14−3