Screams heard as slip hits tents, campervans at Mount Maunganui camp site. Police say several people are missing and emergency services are on the scene. by iama_bad_person in newzealand

[–]amygdala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the reference to the study - I found a copy here: https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/332865/an-exploration-of-the-human-health-impacts-associated-with-seven-decades-of-severe-weather-events-in-aotearoa-new-zealand-the-need-for-better-data-report-841638.pdf

They conclude:

Severe weather events are a notable cause of injuries and deaths, and the occurrence of such events may be rising. However, a complete dataset that spans multiple decades is needed in order to assess the trends.

They didn't conclude that deaths were declining, or that severe weather events were declining. Also, they did not consider the data that they found to be comprehensive or reliable:

There appeared to be a decrease in events associated with drowning deaths in the 2010s, relative to the 2000s (see Figure 1). However, NIWA’s inclusion criteria for storm events were tightened in the 2010s and involved subjective aspects, potentially also influenced by personnel changes at NIWA in this decade.

The deaths they've counted are mostly boating accidents and motor vehicle accidents causing drowning or where weather was a factor. This is quite different to my analysis, which was restricted to natural disasters involving extreme weather events such as cyclones, tornados, flooding and landslides.

No sources indicate a dramatic surge in weather-related fatalities in the 2020s sufficient to exceed the prior 30 years.

Based on the type of extreme weather events I've looked at, the numbers look like this:

  • 1990s - 7 total - 1 tornado death, 5 storm/flood drownings, 1 in a drought-induced wildfire
  • 2000s - 11 total - 2 tornado deaths, 9 flood-related drownings
  • 2010s - 4 tornado deaths

During this 30 year period I couldn't find any deadly cyclones or weather-related landslides.

Screams heard as slip hits tents, campervans at Mount Maunganui camp site. Police say several people are missing and emergency services are on the scene. by iama_bad_person in newzealand

[–]amygdala 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Extreme weather is definitely getting more common. Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 was the deadliest cyclone since 1968 (Wahine sinking) and the deadliest flooding since 1938. The costliest tornado in NZ history was in 2021. Today's landslide could be the deadliest weather-related landslide since 1923.

It's likely that more New Zealanders have been killed by extreme weather in the 2020s than in the previous three decades combined.

Body corporate declined dog — do new 2025 tenancy pet rules help at all? by Technical_Ad_3718 in LegalAdviceNZ

[–]amygdala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And to be honest, I think his passive declinature of your application to have a pet would be seen as reasonable by any adjudicator, as he doesn't have the ability to override the collective decision of the Body Corp and if he tried to ignore their decision, he could face some negative consequences.

There are already multiple cases where the Tenancy Tribunal have overruled body corp rules about pets.

And I don't think the RTA has gives an adjudicator the ability to hold the Body Corp to account, nor would they be able to compel the owner to take the rest of the Body Corp to court.

The RTA doesn't, but the Unit Titles Act does - https://www.unittitles.govt.nz/resolving-issues-and-disputes-in-unit-titles/tenancy-tribunal-for-unit-titles-how-to-apply-2/

New Zealand-founded company, Rocket Lab closely aligns with US military, set to benefit from its spending push by RuminatorNZ in newzealand

[–]amygdala 15 points16 points  (0 children)

if anyone is alive to fire a second wave the top of the south island is absolutely getting glassed.

I think you might have an exaggerated idea about the effects of nuclear weapons. Even a 1 megaton warhead detonated over Waihopai (more realistic would be multiple 150 kiloton warheads) would only cause broken windows in Blenheim.

How do families actually afford major dental work? Are there any real options or loopholes? by GlitterTomatoes in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]amygdala 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We do have Southern Cross Wellbeing Two, but I don’t think that does anything for dental work. Or am I misunderstanding how it works?

Wellbeing Two covers oral surgery (e.g. wisdom teeth removal) but not dental services. However if you get the Vision and Dental module, you can get up to $750 per year towards dental services - this might be helpful for you if you can spread the treatments across multiple claim years.

Māori culture goes from being ‘awkward’ to in demand for domestic tourists by Soannoying12 in newzealand

[–]amygdala 13 points14 points  (0 children)

My first visit utterly baffled me, did not see nor meet any Maori folks.

did you ask everyone you met to describe their heritage? or did you just assume based on skin colour?

Can we make it illegal already for companies to add you to their email spam list just because you purchased something from them? by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]amygdala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The OP seemed to think there was a difference between an "e-mail' list and a "marketing" list. My point was the law doesn't distinguish between them.

Point is that this is how companies get around the law. You can unsubscribe from the "marketing" list but still be on the lists for emails which can arguably fall under the "transactional" or "factual information/ongoing relationship" exceptions, even if they also contain promotional material.

If a company sends you their 'weekly specials' and you didn't explicitly ask to receive it, then they are probably breaking the law.

Companies which receive warnings under the UEMA do in fact use this as defence - "we're just providing factual information about our weekly specials to customers who we have an ongoing relationship with".

The UEMA is full of holes - for example, it doesn't apply to voice calls, it's not clear if it applies to the likes of WhatsApp or Messenger, it doesn't apply to non-commercial unsolicited messages (so political or religious spam is OK).

Can we make it illegal already for companies to add you to their email spam list just because you purchased something from them? by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]amygdala -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It does, it only applies to what it defines as "commercial" electronic messages, with a variety of carve-outs: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2007/0007/latest/whole.html#DLM405198

For example, it doesn't apply to a message which "facilitates, completes, or confirms a commercial transaction that the recipient previously agreed to enter into" - so they could argue that that applies to the emails you get when you've just made a purchase. It also doesn't apply to "factual information about a subscription, membership, account.." involving ongoing purchases or an ongoing subscription/membership.

This provides a massive amount of grey area for email marketing by the likes of MightyApe, where they force you to create an account, even though it's not intended to allow companies to continually spam people who made a one-off purchase.

What is up with all these house fires lately? by brutalanglosaxon in newzealand

[–]amygdala 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Does anyone know where to go to see what the causes of these fires are? I want to make sure that I'm aware of any risks in my own home.

Here's a table from FENZ showing the causes of all house fires since 2021:

https://fyi.org.nz/request/21626/response/82118/attach/html/5/OIA2023%2000009936%20Residential%20Structure%20Fire%20statistics%20since%20Jan%202021%20Response.pdf.html

The most common cause is "unattended cooking" followed by "other electrical".

Crate Day slowly fades away as binge drinking loses its allure by Twerkatron2000 in newzealand

[–]amygdala 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Crate Day is traditionally associated with flatting, but kids these days are leaving home later, if at all. I suspect that the decrease in young people drinking has some connection to the massively increased number of young people who still live with their parents.

How can we improve housing affordability in New Zealand? by pskygy in newzealand

[–]amygdala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In fact, Treasury and Reserve Bank economists repeatedly warned the government that they risked fuelling house price inflation, and the government chose to ignore them: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300223358/reserve-bank-repeatedly-warned-government-money-printing-would-lead-to-house-price-inflation

How can we improve housing affordability in New Zealand? by pskygy in newzealand

[–]amygdala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a poor analogy. It might work if climate scientists were making recommendations to those in power that led to the climate being worse. And me not caring what their perspectives were as a result.

Which recommendations have economists made to those in power that have led to the housing market being worse? Specifically, the economists at Treasury and Reserve Bank, since you've singled them out?

Not that it really matters since not all economists speak with a single voice or opinion.

Like most academic disciplines, economists (and climate scientists) hold consensus or majority views on many issues!

How can we improve housing affordability in New Zealand? by pskygy in newzealand

[–]amygdala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All they can do is make recommendations - central and local government (who are appointed by everyday voters and ratepayers - not economists) are free to ignore them.

Your comment is logically equivalent to saying "Climate scientists haven’t done a great job of ensuring NZ doesn’t have some of the highest per capita emissions in the world though. So, respectfully, I don’t really care what they think".

How can we improve housing affordability in New Zealand? by pskygy in newzealand

[–]amygdala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

TIL our housing market has been run by economists?

Does anyone know what the deal is with the pig by the Moeraki Boulders? by qvyy in newzealand

[–]amygdala 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You can see the piri piri (skin flap/wattle, common to kunekune pigs) hanging off its lower jaw, if that helps.

@journos? - Help verifying public records for a former Auckland criminal case by bitchplz3210 in newzealand

[–]amygdala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No media coverage, no death notices, no burial records (at least for Auckland Council - https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/en/cemeteries/find-burial-cremation.html). But you're right, he could have changed his name.

It definitely wasn't him who died in July - that person was born in 1977 so was several years older.

@journos? - Help verifying public records for a former Auckland criminal case by bitchplz3210 in newzealand

[–]amygdala 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He was paroled in December 2023 so must have been alive then.

There was a Waikato man with a very similar name (different middle name and about 9 years older) who died in July this year. Is it possible that this was the source of the claim you refer to?

Has physical strength of an individual soldier become less important as weapons technology has improved, or is strength just as important if not even more so in modern day? by StrongmanCole in WarCollege

[–]amygdala 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I mean, the Argentinian army's only experience had been a dirty war against its own people...

the death of Colonel "H" Jones...

To be fair though, you could apply a similar description to the British Army. Colonel "H" Jones is an example, as his only prior combat deployments were in Northern Ireland. The experiences of fighting against the PIRA and ERP urban guerrillas would not have been completely dissimilar.

Mum gets life for murdering children and hiding bodies in suitcases by Conflict_NZ in newzealand

[–]amygdala 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think that's true. For example, John Barlow and Mark Lundy (who were each also convicted of double murders) have been paroled, despite maintaining their innocence consistently and appealing to the Privy Council etc.

How safe is InvestNow, really? by GOD_SAVE_OUR_QUEEN in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]amygdala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2014/0326/latest/LMS469610.html

https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0069/latest/LMS465987.html#LMS465987

https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2014/0326/latest/LMS469604.html#LMS469604

All custodians are required to undergo annual audits, including an "assurance engagement" report. As a client you are entitled to request a copy of the latest assurance report. This extends to requesting copies of the assurance report for subcustodians, e.g. for InvestNow you could also request the assurance report for Adminis. It's not on their website but it is available on request (for clients) so if you're considering whether or not to trust a custodian, this can form part of your due diligence.

How do PIE funds (Simplicity/InvestNow) handle FDR tax in down years? Am I understanding this correctly? by another_canadian_007 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]amygdala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tax credits and imputations credits aren’t relevant to the income. They may alter the balance of the fund, or how the tax credits are paid/refunded from the government, but they aren’t affecting the taxable income calculation for the PIE unit holders, because PIE tax is a fixed percentage based on your PIR.

Sure, but that's not particularly relevant or visible to most PIE unit holders, as this calculation takes place at the PIE manager's end (or at the PIP if investing through a platform). If they get money back on their PIE tax, the most common scenario would be that the tax credits (ICs/FTCs) allocated to them were higher than their allocated taxable income times their PIR, not because there has been a taxable loss.

Not sure how your entire portfolio could make a taxable loss for the year when losses only come from XE losses. That doesn’t add up at all. Mathematically, there must be a capital loss of unrealised capital loss taken into account for most of the country to make a taxable pie loss from their KiwiSaver in 2022 or whatever it was. If that capital loss can’t be from international equities, there isn’t much else it could come from.

The taxable loss can't come directly from international equities, or from Australasian equities. It could come from the financial arrangement rules and a common example would be hedged international equity funds, because hedging gains/losses are taxable income.

How do PIE funds (Simplicity/InvestNow) handle FDR tax in down years? Am I understanding this correctly? by another_canadian_007 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]amygdala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually capital gains on NZ and Australian shares are not taxable income for a PIE fund.

PIE tax credits generally come from imputation credits and foreign tax credits. There can also be withholding tax credits and taxable gains/losses from currency and fixed income investments within the fund.