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Meet your Candidates
That’s a wrap on nominations! 🗳️ Head over to our page to see the list of candidates
Candidate profiles will be available from 1 September so you can learn more about who’s standing and what they stand for — before voting opens on 9 September. ✅
AMI MotorHub Onehunga launch offers on now!
Hi neighbours, AMI MotorHub Onehunga is your new one-stop shop for all things automotive, and offers a full range of car servicing and WoFs. To celebrate, we've got special launch pricing!
You can grab $30 off a Standard service with code STD30, or $50 off a Premium service with code … View moreHi neighbours, AMI MotorHub Onehunga is your new one-stop shop for all things automotive, and offers a full range of car servicing and WoFs. To celebrate, we've got special launch pricing!
You can grab $30 off a Standard service with code STD30, or $50 off a Premium service with code PRE50. You can also add a WoF to any service for just $65.
Don't miss out - this offer is available for bookings between 5 August and 30 September 2025. Book online today!
AMI MotorHub Onehunga
314 Neilson Street, Onehunga
Ryman Village Open Days
Friday 15 & Saturday 16 August, 10am - 2pm.
Experience the award-winning lifestyle at a Ryman village.
Join us at our open days and explore our lifestyle and care options, tour our show homes and see the premium amenities on offer.
We look forward to seeing you.
Choice News Tuesday: Dog adoption numbers rise
Have you seen James Gunn's 'Superman' yet?
The new movie stars Krypto, Superman's capable and floofy sidekick. Following the movie release, online searches for dog adoption surged globally! Krypto is based on Gunn's own rescue dog, Ozu. The Neighbourly team is sure that … View moreHave you seen James Gunn's 'Superman' yet?
The new movie stars Krypto, Superman's capable and floofy sidekick. Following the movie release, online searches for dog adoption surged globally! Krypto is based on Gunn's own rescue dog, Ozu. The Neighbourly team is sure that Gunn is pleased that his own rescue pup may lead to more fluffy adoptions!
Looking to match with your own super pet? The SPCA is spotlighting animals waiting for their new and committed families.
We hope this news brings a smile!
Hey Neighbours – 12 Years of Sweet Dreams and Big Celebrations!
For the past 12 years, we’ve been helping you find the perfect bed and enjoy the restful sleep you deserve. Now it’s our turn to celebrate this milestone with you. We’re marking the occasion with unbeatable birthday deals, exciting bed giveaways, and a few special surprises along the way.
… View moreFor the past 12 years, we’ve been helping you find the perfect bed and enjoy the restful sleep you deserve. Now it’s our turn to celebrate this milestone with you. We’re marking the occasion with unbeatable birthday deals, exciting bed giveaways, and a few special surprises along the way.
Visit your local Beds4U or shop online and be part of the celebration – here’s to many more years of great sleep together.
Five former supermarket workers have accused Foodstuffs of ageism
Five former New World staff members have accused supermarket giant Foodstuffs of ageism as they wait for new jobs following a catastrophic fire that levelled their central Auckland workplace. New World Victoria Park employed 189 staff before it was badly damaged in the blaze on June 17, resulting … View moreFive former New World staff members have accused supermarket giant Foodstuffs of ageism as they wait for new jobs following a catastrophic fire that levelled their central Auckland workplace. New World Victoria Park employed 189 staff before it was badly damaged in the blaze on June 17, resulting in all the workers being made redundant. While 80 roles were reserved for workers at a new supermarket in Pt Chevalier and others have been employed elsewhere, more than 70 are yet to find jobs. The five workers claim Foodstuffs North Island has given positions in other supermarkets to younger, less experienced members of staff while they're still out of work.
The response: Foodstuffs has pushed back strongly on the workers' claims, arguing age, gender and ethnicity are never factors in its recruitment. A company spokesman said 106 former Victoria Park team members had secured roles with other Foodstuffs stores and another nine had found other employment. "We’re continuing to connect remaining team members with roles that match their availability, travel preferences and experience," the spokesman said.
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Poll: What do you do with your stuff when you get the urge to declutter?
Life gets busy—really busy. Between work, family, appointments, and a never-ending to-do list, it’s easy for things to pile up. Add fast fashion, online sales, and homewares aisles that whisper “just one more basket won’t hurt”, and suddenly we’re swimming in stuff and tat.
… View moreLife gets busy—really busy. Between work, family, appointments, and a never-ending to-do list, it’s easy for things to pile up. Add fast fashion, online sales, and homewares aisles that whisper “just one more basket won’t hurt”, and suddenly we’re swimming in stuff and tat.
Sometimes, that stuff is cozy and familiar. But other times, after a long day, you walk through the door, look around, and think: “Okay. Something’s got to go.”
And when that urge to declutter hits, the question is—where does it all go? We're not talking about broken bits and pieces, but those perfectly good things that simply no longer fit your life or your space.
In her piece When decluttering can’t be avoided much longer, Joanna Davis shares the everyday items she's finally ready to part with—and it might just inspire your own clear-out mission.
We want to know:
🧹 How often do you get the urge to declutter?
🎯 Are there certain things you’ve got your eye on to donate or rehome?
💛 Do you have any favourite charities, op-shops, or community organisations you support with your preloved items?
Let’s swap stories, share ideas, and help great stuff find a second life—outside our closets and shelves.
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74.1% Op-shops!
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10.3% I pop items on the local online Market.
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4.9% Friends and family - I buy with care, and so I give with care.
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4.4% The tip - if I don't want it, others won't either.
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2.3% I love an old fashioned Garage Sale or a local car-boot market.
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2.3% I repurpose - I craft, rework, and give things new life.
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1.6% Other - share your secrets below.
Keep yourself protected against Covid
It might not be making quite so many headlines these days, but unfortunately, Covid is still here. If you’re 65 or over, taking care of yourself is just as important as ever.
The good news is, the Covid vaccine can help protect you from serious illness. It’s free, and recommended for you … View moreIt might not be making quite so many headlines these days, but unfortunately, Covid is still here. If you’re 65 or over, taking care of yourself is just as important as ever.
The good news is, the Covid vaccine can help protect you from serious illness. It’s free, and recommended for you and many others as long as you haven’t had the vaccine, or Covid, in the last 6 months.
To book your vaccination, or talk to your healthcare provider.
Mobility parking permit holder Derek Cossey was incorrectly issued fines, revealing a bigger issue
Derek Cossey has “old rugby player knees”, which significantly limit his mobility.
A small relief for the 67-year-old Onehunga man is his parking permit which, when displayed in his vehicle, allows him to park in dedicated mobility spaces, or for double the time shown on time-restricted car … View moreDerek Cossey has “old rugby player knees”, which significantly limit his mobility.
A small relief for the 67-year-old Onehunga man is his parking permit which, when displayed in his vehicle, allows him to park in dedicated mobility spaces, or for double the time shown on time-restricted car parks in Auckland’s on-street parking areas.
But recently, he has received two infringement notices from Auckland Transport (AT) because its new automatic number plate recognition technology, used for parking enforcement, does not recognise mobility permits.
And he is not alone.
It is a “big issue” and one that “greatly concerns” CCS Disability Action, the primary provider of about 180,000 permits.
BJ Clark, of CCS Disability Action, said other councils were also using the technology, and he had been contacted by up to 30 permit holders nationwide who had been incorrectly fined.
Clark said CCS was not consulted before AT launched the technology, and the service was “desperately” trying to find a solution for its permit holders.
AT has recognised it is an issue and says it is also trying to find a solution.
‘A law unto themselves’
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For Cossey, the situation has been extremely frustrating.
Last year, he received a fine by post for exceeding the displayed time restriction in an on-street car park.
However, his permit allowed him double the displayed time, and he had moved on before that time was up.
He managed to have the fine overturned, but said it was not easy.
“It must have taken me four or six emails backwards and forwards to get them to quash the ticket.
“On top of that, it was like they were reprimanding me and saying ‘We’ll do that in this instance...’”
Then he got another ticket in the same circumstances more recently.
He has yet to have it overturned.
Emails, seen by NZME, to Auckland Transport about the ticket have gone unanswered, and the matter has been referred to debt collection agency Baycorp.
Cossey has had to explain the situation to Baycorp and hopes to get that issue resolved.
“I’ve had to go through the wringer.”
He is concerned about AT’s lack of communication in his case, saying he has asked what it is doing to resolve the parking permit issue, but has not received a response.
“They never come back and say, ‘Look, we’re really sorry that this has happened. We didn’t think about it in the first place, but we’re trying to find a way around it.’ None of that.”
“It’s just ignorance. They’re a law unto themselves. It’s so frustrating to deal with them.”
‘It is a big issue’
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Clark said AT had launched the technology without consultation with CCS Disability Action.
“The first thing we knew about it was when this problem started.
“It is a big issue and one that concerns us greatly.
“I’m intrigued by how the council gets away with issuing a ticket to a person who is legitimately parked. It seems to me a little bit strange.”
The service has since met AT, but Clark said an agreeable solution had not yet been found.
AT’s solution of registering number plates against a permit was less than ideal, he said.
“That sounds like a good way to solve the issue but, from our point of view, it’s not.
“We issue a permit to a person, not a vehicle number plate, and we don’t want people to be able to have more than one vehicle being permitted to use that one permit.
“It opens up the system to abuse.”
Clark said registering vehicles could also pose a problem for older permit holders who might not remember to use the right vehicles if they had multiple registered vehicles.
And permit holders visiting Auckland might not be recognised.
“It restricts the ability for people to use the permit in the way that we give it out,” Clark said.
“That is, it shouldn’t be controlled to one vehicle. It should be controlled to wherever that person is.”
The service has made other suggestions to AT, such as rolling out permits that a mounted device on the council’s vehicles could scan.
But Clark said that method would need to be developed, and there were questions about who would bear the costs.
“We are desperately trying to find a solution.”
We know this isn’t a great experience’
==============================
AT, which launched the technology in 2019, has recognised it is a “complicated situation”.
John Strawbridge, its group manager of parking services, said: “Our preference is to manage mobility spaces by a parking officer, on foot, so that they can sight whether a vehicle has a current mobility permit displayed. Sometimes the permits are hard to spot.
“However, our camera cars also issue fines to vehicles parked in a mobility spot, with or without a permit, as we do not have access to digital data on active permits.”
The issue was that the permit was for a person, not a vehicle, and the person could ride in multiple vehicles.
“We know this isn’t a great experience for mobility permit holders, and we encourage anyone who has received a fine in error to contact us to see if it warrants being waived.”
Strawbridge said AT was working on a solution that would allow Auckland permit holders to apply for a digital permit through AT’s Park app.
The e-permit would enable people to add all vehicles they intended to use to the AT Park app and switch between them.
AT has also sought access to the CCS database to confirm active permits.
“Our proposed solution will address many of the challenges experienced by permit holders and, when it’s ready to be rolled out, we will be reaching out to them to provide more information. There may be some more improvements needed, and we are committed to making continuous improvements.”
AT confirmed the first of Cossey’s fines was waived, but maintained it had not received any correspondence from him on the second.
However, after “a bit more digging”, it found his emails. It said it would review the matter and respond directly to Cossey.
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Air NZ's CEO appointment stirs racist backlash
The appointment of Nikhil Ravishankar as Air New Zealand's incoming chief executive caused a stir Thursday after major news outlets were forced to disable comments on their social media platforms due to receiving a barrage of racist remarks.
Ravishankar, chief digital officer of Air New … View moreThe appointment of Nikhil Ravishankar as Air New Zealand's incoming chief executive caused a stir Thursday after major news outlets were forced to disable comments on their social media platforms due to receiving a barrage of racist remarks.
Ravishankar, chief digital officer of Air New Zealand, was tapped to lead the national carrier - one of the country's most respected corporate brands - after Greg Foran steps down in October.
However, the appointment of the Indian-origin insider to the airline's top job attracted a torrent of abuse online, with many zeroing in on Ravishankar's ethnicity.
The abuse forced the country's leading media organisations to restrict or disable the ability to comment on the social media posts announcing the news.
New Zealand Herald disabled comments on the Facebook post announcing the appointment "due to racist comments".
"We appreciate the high level of interest in this story but cannot safely moderate it at this time," the news outlet said in a post in the comment thread.
A spokesperson at New Zealand Herald later pointed RNZ towards the company's policy on social media comments.
"We want to foster a safe online community by reducing instances of hate, racism, abuse and misinformation," the media organisation's policy said.
"We welcome your feedback on articles but there has to be some parameters, and these are explained in our community house rules," it said.
"These clearly explain that we will not publish comments that are insulting, inflammatory or derogatory or those that spread misinformation or include personal attacks," it said.
"We cannot tolerate hate. We cannot tolerate abuse towards individuals in our stories or other commenters."
Radio New Zealand was also forced to disable comments on the social media post on Ravishankar's appointment.
"Under RNZ's comments policy, we will proactively disable comments on posts which may attract abusive or harmful comments or when resources are required elsewhere," a spokesperson for RNZ said.
"In this instance, the comments were disabled after our monitoring found racist comments," the spokesperson said.
"We want people to feel safe and respected on our community forums and will continue to proactively disable comments where necessary. We will not tolerate harmful communications."
TVNZ's 1News digital service took similar action in terms of restricting comments on the post.
"We received a large number of comments on this post," a spokesperson for 1News said.
"The vast majority were appropriate, however some were not," the spokesperson said.
"With our news team diverted to cover the tsunami event yesterday afternoon and evening we opted to turn comments off given sufficient monitoring wasn't possible."
Ravishankar holds bachelor's degrees in science and commerce from the University of Auckland after attending Mount Albert Grammar School in the country's largest city.
He sits on the board of New Zealand Asian Leaders and is an advisory committee member of The Auckland Blues Foundation.
Ravishankar has been with Air New Zealand for nearly five years and has been involved in strengthening its technology, loyalty and customer services.
Before joining the airline, Ravishankar was chief digital officer at Vector New Zealand, leading the company's digital and information technology function and its transformation programme from 2017.
He was previously managing director at Accenture in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, and held technology strategy and transformation leadership roles at Spark New Zealand.
Ravishankar highlighted the deep legacy of the company he would soon lead in his first public comments after his appointment was announced.
"This airline is an institution with a deep legacy but also a fantastic future," Ravishankar said.
"It's a privilege to step into the CEO role and take on that responsibility for our people, our customers and our country.
"At the end of the day, we are a people business - purposeful, ambitious and deeply rooted in Aotearoa New Zealand, and I'm excited to help shape what this next stage of Air New Zealand looks like."
RNZ has approached Air NZ for comment.
Latest Census data in 2023 showed that the Indian population had leapfrogged the Chinese community to become the third-largest ethnic group in New Zealand.
A total of 292,092 people in the country identified as a member of the Indian community in the 2023 Census, an increase of 22 percent since 2018.
The New Zealand European ethnic group remained the largest, with a population of 3,099,858, followed by Māori with 887,493.
Auckland's Indian population grew by 13 percent between 2018 and 2023, rising from 154,824 in 2018 to 175,794 five years later.
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Savour the moments that matter with Ryman
Some of the best moments are shared over food. That’s why we’re giving you 10,000 New World Dollars when you sign up to an independent apartment or townhouse by 30 September 2025.*
We’ll cover the grocery bills, so you can spend less time worrying about what’s in the trolley and more … View moreSome of the best moments are shared over food. That’s why we’re giving you 10,000 New World Dollars when you sign up to an independent apartment or townhouse by 30 September 2025.*
We’ll cover the grocery bills, so you can spend less time worrying about what’s in the trolley and more time enjoying who’s around the table.
And because life at Ryman means less home maintenance, you’ll have even more time for the things you love.
*Participating villages only, promotion terms and Clubcard terms and conditions apply.
Term 3 LEGO® Fun
🧱 Term 3 LEGO® Fun Starts Now!
Build, learn, and create with Bricks4Kidz Mount Eden! 🚀
Limited spots – book today!
Brighten Your Backyard: Create a Colourful Outdoor Oasis with a DIY Mural
Create your own oasis by colouring up an outdoor area with a punchy mural using Resene Lustacryl or Resene testpots. Find out how to add a bright spot to your backyard with these easy step by step instructions.
Handmade Pink Flower Necklace $5.00
Handmade Pink Flower Necklace $5.00 each.
Pick up location Westmere, Auckland. Shipping & delivery available.
Message or comment on this post if you are interested in buying this necklace. First Come First Serve.
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