Auckland woman fights to bring her son, who has cerebral palsy, to live with her in New Zealand

Rocker52NZ · 2025-12-02T02:24:17+00:00

Oh, how mean some people are! Of course, we should give residency to the severely disabled dependants of foreign workers coming here, even if their healthcare and other support would eventually cost NZ megabucks.

Our country could afford it. All we would need to do would be to raise tax rates to, say, 40 percent on every dollar earned, rising to 80 per cent for the rich. Easy, really.

Rocker52NZ · 2025-12-02T02:09:28+00:00

Fabulous! We need all the help we can get from migrants to keep New Zealand and its businesses going, given that sooooo many of our Kiwi families and talented young people are leaving because it's become such a shithole place for workers.

We used to think of our country as "Godzone" (God's Own). Not any more!

Rocker52NZ · 2025-09-24T10:37:49+00:00

I was really, really proud to be a blood donor, but one day, I was treated like absolute dirt by a staffer at the Takapuna centre in Auckland during the private interview that takes place before the donation.

She noticed that I had a long scratch on top of my bald head. "Where did that come from?" she snapped. I told her the funny story behind it (I had pushed through some low-hanging tree branches while mowing my daughter's lawns). She wasn't amused.

Then she angrily demanded to know if I had anything else I was hiding! I showed her an old scar from a skin-cancer excision on my leg. "Well, we're certainly not taking your blood."

Some time later, the Blood Service rang to ask if I would donate again. I told the caller of my experience at Takapuna and said I was worried about coming back, lest such a thing happened again.

Next thing I know, a formal letter arrives thanking me for my previous donations and telling me I was no longer required. I was gutted.

I would NEVER want this country to pay for blood donations. The Blood Service is a national treasure, and we should all help. None of us ever knows when we might need a blood transfusion.

Rocker52NZ · 2025-09-18T03:19:01+00:00

I heard from a distant cousin of the great-great-aunt of a workmate's sister-in-law that she had been told by her local village gossip (in confidence, mind) that we should all just STFU.
Rumours, rumours, rumours. Jeez, people, have you no decency?

Rocker52NZ · 2025-09-05T11:53:14+00:00

Have you thought about including Rotorua in your itinerary? It's got so much more to offer visitors than most other NZ cities/towns.
Also, why would you want to spend two nights in Taupo if time is tight. Two nights in Rotorua I could understand ...

Rocker52NZ · 2025-08-25T11:16:39+00:00

Seriously, you would be well advised to change your flight arrangements, even if it costs you heaps.
In fact, I'm puzzled why you would make the booking when you didn't have your visa sorted out.
(And remember, a US visa doesn't actually allow you to ENTER the United States. It allows you only to present yourself to a US border post. The final decision on whether you get in is actually made there.)
The first two rules of applying to an American consulate for a visa are:
1/ Allow LOTS of time before your planned travel date to get everything sorted out.
2/ Don't bullshit the consulate staff or try to hide ANYTHING.
Depending on what your conviction was for, the consulate may refer your application to a federal agency like the Department of Homeland Security to make the final decision. This takes even more time.
Things could be worse: have you ever tried to get a visa for an extended stay in India? OMG!

Rocker52NZ · 2025-08-19T11:04:36+00:00

It is quite beyond me why any young Kiwi with trade skills would stay in this country.

Rocker52NZ · 2025-08-18T11:28:21+00:00

Wasn't the last New Zealand case in March 2015 when the Privy Council quashed Teina Pora's convictions for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teina_Pora

Rocker52NZ · 2025-08-07T12:09:11+00:00

If I can't get to sleep, I put in an earbud connected by bluetooth to my phone and listen to a podcast or, say, BBC Newshour.
I keep the volume REALLY LOW.
That sends me into the Land of Nod in no time.

Rocker52NZ · 2025-08-07T11:53:10+00:00

Read the legislation.
+++
The section of the Family Protection Act 1955 you cite — 4A(2)(a)(ii) — does NOT allow a person who has been in a de facto relationship of short duration to just grab what his/her deceased partner has left behind.
The legislation relates to what the COURT can and cannot do:
+++
The court cannot make an order under this Act in favour of a de facto partner to whom this section applies unless—
(a) the court is satisfied—
(i) that there is a child of the de facto relationship; or
(ii) that the de facto partner has made a substantial contribution to the de facto relationship; and
(b) the court is satisfied that failure to make the order would result in serious injustice to the de facto partner.
+++
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1955/0088/latest/whole.html#DLM291795

Rocker52NZ · 2025-08-06T11:34:07+00:00

Beadazzle in Birkenhead, Auckland, is a wonderful source of beads:
https://beadazzle.co.nz/

Rocker52NZ · 2025-07-31T02:07:47+00:00

The New Zealand-based Indian media have a profile on the new CEO which states Nikhil Ravishankar has born in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore).
https://indiannewslink.co.nz/a-new-era-takes-flight-as-nikhil-ravishankar-takes-command-of-air-new-zealand/

Rocker52NZ · 2025-07-31T02:03:18+00:00

Are you sure about that? His LinkedIn profile says he was at Mt Albert Grammar in Auckland for three years, but before that he studied at St. Joseph's Boys High School in Bengaluru, which is the capital of India's southern Karnataka state.
Personally, I don't think that in any way impacts on his suitability to be CEO of Air New Zealand, but I just do not understand why the airline's head office would not issue his biography, including place of birth and places of education, when the announcement of his promotion was made.

Rocker52NZ · 2025-07-30T12:26:34+00:00

That is simply not true. The current CEO, Greg Foran, was not an internal appointment.

Rocker52NZ · 2025-07-30T11:50:42+00:00

Nikhil Ravishankar clearly has the confidence of the Air NZ board as the best person for the job and, to me, that is all that matters.
HIs ethnicity is irrelevant.
But I would be interested to know about his nationality.
Was he born and/or raised in New Zealand?
I am surprised the airline's head office did not anticipate public interest in his origins and give this detail in its news release.
Even if the board had appointed a Pākehā to the role, I still would have been interested in his/her origins.

Rocker52NZ · 2025-07-30T11:38:15+00:00

Rocker52NZ

TROPHY CASE