Welcome to Beds4U's New Year Giveaway! ๐
Hello Neighbours!
We hope this post finds you well and full of New Year cheer! We've got some fantastic news to kickstart 2024 โ Beds4U is thrilled to announce our New Year Giveaway - A brand new Sealy Mattress!
Imagine bringing home the comfort and luxury of a Sealy mattress โ it could be yours! ๐ As your local sleep experts, we believe in starting the year with a good night's sleep, and what better way than with a top-notch mattress?
Enter Here: snooze.beds4u.co.nz...
Don't forget to share this post with your friends and family and leave a comment so they can join the excitement too! ๐
๐ What's at Stake? ๐
The chance to win an NZ-made Sealy mattress and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the day! ๐
Let's make 2024 the year of restful nights and energized mornings! Don't miss out โ enter now for a chance to upgrade your sleep experience. Sweet dreams await!
Terms and conditions apply.
Poll: Have you ever been bullied?
People associate bullying with children in schools, but it can actually stretch beyond childhood to workplaces or neighbourhoods.
This Friday is Pink Shirt Day, which began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying after a new student was harassed for wearing pink. People across the globe are now encouraged to wear pink on this day to take a stand against bullying and promote inclusivity.
Have you or your whฤnau ever experienced bullying? Share your thoughts on Pink Shirt Day below.
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column of your local paper.
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80% Yes
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19.6% No
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0.4% Other - I'll share below
Record numbers are leaving NZ โ who could blame them?
Migration figures show a record number of New Zealanders are choosing not to stick around โ and you donโt have to look hard to figure out why, writes Q+A presenter Jack Tame.
No data point says more about the current state of our country than the fact that record numbers of New Zealanders donโt want to be here.
Over the last two years, the quarterly release of migration statistics has steadily plotted a massive exodus of New Zealand citizens.
Once all citizen returns and departures were accounted for in the year to March 31, provisional net numbers indicated New Zealand lost more than a thousand Kiwis every week.
But why?
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The pandemic restrictions are over and the borders have been open for New Zealanders for more than two years.
Pent-up demand for overseas adventure could explain the initial post-Covid surge in departures, and some New Zealanders who returned during the worst of Covid-19 have left again. But the more recent departures are better attributed to other factors.
As Iโve noted before, whatโs perhaps most extraordinary about the huge outward migration of New Zealand citizens is it has coincided with near-record inbound migration of non-citizens.
Facing pressure from business groups amidst a global labour shortage, the previous government responded by massively relaxing immigration settings.
In the year to March 31, New Zealand recorded a net migration gain of 163,000 non-citizens.
Accounting for both the provisional citizen and non-citizen migration flows, there are 111,000 extra people in New Zealand than the year before. Add to that the births and deaths for the same period, and our overall population has increased by approximately 130,000 people in the last year.
During the same period, however, the number of consents issued for new houses dropped 25% on the previous 12 months.
As our population surges and construction slows, the average rent paid by the generation of New Zealanders most likely not to own their own homes has increased. TradeMe Property recorded a median rent increase of 8.3% in the year to March 2024 โ more than double the corresponding annual increase in wages.
This renting generation, coincidentally, is the same generation most likely to have left New Zealand.
Of all migrant departures of New Zealand citizens, people between the ages of 18 and 30 made up almost 40%.
But even older New Zealanders โ who are more likely to have established careers, families, and assets โ are leaving in huge numbers. Accounting for all arrivals and departures, a net total of more than 7500 New Zealand citizens between the ages of 31-40 left our shores.
So, what will stem the bleed?
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In the short term, at least, there is perhaps little economic reason to stay.
The new Government has moved swiftly to tighten immigration settings but, as the full impact of higher interest rates seeps through the economy, unemployment is steadily increasing.
The national unemployment rate currently sits at 4.3% and most economists expect it to climb above 5% in the coming months. The Mฤori unemployment rate is already at its highest point in four years at 8.2%.
Young Zealanders now find themselves competing with more people for relatively fewer houses and relatively fewer jobs.
And, as we enter a winter of economic discontent, who could blame them for leaving?
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www.1news.co.nz...
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Aucklandโs Long-term Plan strikes a balance on 10-year investment
Yesterday, we approved our proposed Long-term Plan 2024-2034 โ including prioritised investment in transport and water, fairer funding for communities and an Auckland Future Fund.
Find out more details on what this plan includes by clicking on 'Read More'.