More evidence of belt-tightening with Treasury spending $824,637 on travel in the 2024-25 financial year and $884,566 the year prior, as reported by The New Zealand Herald this morning. And that's just with one travel agency.
Today's New Zealand Herald highlights two mothers living in Waipukurau with children in dental pain who cite the increased cost of petrol preventing a trip from Waipukurau to Hastings to see a dentist. The children are:
One of the mothers explains she needs to travel 50 kilometres each way to reach the nearest open clinic in Hastings. Today that trip would cost between $30 and $40 in petrol versus $20 to $30 a few years ago.
The mothers are calling on the government to reopen the local Waipukurau children's dental clinic, which remains closed because of ongoing staffing shortages.
I recently saw a family member who has schizophrenia. Not been well for several years. They have been trialling and changing medication many times during this period. A new psychiatrist, actually from the United States, prescribed a medication called clozapine. It's like a cure. It's like they brought my family member back. I just wonder why has it taken so long....
I am currently renting an apartment from a very large commercial property developer in Wellington and I am struggling to get any maintenance completed.
The developer outsources maintenance requests to a third-party firm, which then subcontracts the actual work. My experience with this firm has been frustrating.
You log requests on their web form. They sometimes respond. They send contractors around to merely inspect without actually performing a repair. In some instances, the contractors seem to show up do nothing fix the issue then disappear. You then told to log another issue.
Has anyone else dealt with this management tactic in Wellington?
I have spent many years working in a large New Zealand public sector department. I was reflecting on my experience. Not once has any manager ever asked me for a view on their management.
I have fill out the usual so called anonymous engagement surveys. But no manager has ever directly asked how they are doing or what they could improve. Does this seem odd to anyone else?
I live near an 18-level former office building that is been converted into apartments. It appears the developments have installed internal heat pumps the units.
Instead of connecting to drainage lines to a drain, they have hoses that poke straight out of the exterior walls. This causes water to drip directly down the building onto a road.
Has anyone encountered this before?Is this what building standards in New Zealand have come to?
My son wants orthodontic treatment. We have been quoted in Wellington -
Treatment could range from 12 to 16 months.
How do parents afford this? Are these prices typical? It's not a severe case. His teeth are pretty straight but just wants to improve them.
A loved one died unexpectedly, and we had a viewing at a funeral home. I pressed on one's stomach, and the funeral director said: "Please don't do that, there's a plastic bag inside there". Does anyone know what was meant?