The Truth Behind the "Happiness Survey"

There's an interesting article in today's Dom Post, written by Kelly Burns and Kiran Chug. We'd like to share some of it with you. Many of the issues presented in it are identical to the problems that some migrants have had with New Zealand, especially with regards to money, housing and discrimination. For background to this see Migrant Tales.

"On the surface, we are a happy bunch, with a snapshot of Kiwis showing 86 per cent of people are satisfied with their lives. Wellingtonians were the most prepared for an emergency and felt the safest walking their city streets alone at night.

But dig a little deeper and there is discontent. Half of those questioned in a recent survey say they have major problems with their housing and one in seven are struggling to come up with enough money for everyday needs.

The New Zealand General Social Survey interviewed 8721 people from April last year to March...."

According to their article the survey ended on the eve of the recession, Kiwis were finding it tough making ends meet before the downturn in the economy.

"Family Budgeting Services chief executive Raewyn Fox said that was no surprise, with people struggling daily. "It's not for luxuries, it's a roof over their head, food and power. They are living on a real fine line."

"Half of people reported having major problems with housing; most of them were concerned over heating, the size of their homes and neighbourhood noise. Housing Minister Phil Heatley said many would also be referring to their inability to afford the house they wanted...Mr Heatley said the Government was investing heavily in upgrading the "slum" standard of its 68,000 Housing New Zealand properties, and changes to the Residential Tenancies Act would help improve the results in the next survey."

Discrimination

"The $3 million survey found one in ten people had been discriminated against in the past year. Most of the cases related to nationality, race, ethnic group or "skin colour" and included 23% of Asian people and 16% of Maori.
Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said the survey was a positive step towards measuring whether discrimination was going up or down."

Safety

Safety is also an issue for many people with almost a third saying that they would feel unsafe walking in their own neighbourhood at night.

Read the full article here: 'Happy' Kiwis worry beneath the surface

Taradale Mill Liquorsave Stabbing In Robbery Gone Wrong

A man was stabbed in the chest during a robbery gone wrong at The Mill Liquorsave in Taradale, Napier at 6.30 last night, police are looking for two offenders who fled from the scene and ran off across Gloucester St, Meeanee Rd and toward Taradale Park through Symons Lane and White St.

View Larger Map of The Mill Liquorsave
The offender with the knife was described as Maori, in his mid-30s, of medium build and about 1.65m tall and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and light-coloured running shoes.
The second man was also Maori, solidly built and about 1.82m tall, wearing a black T-shirt over a green hooded top with dark shoes which had white laces.

The bably injured man, who was working behind the counter at the time of the attack, was saved from more serious injury by a co-worker who came to his aid. He was flown to Wellington Hospital for emergency surgery.

The attack is similar to attacks in other liquor stores and dairies, the most tragic of which was the stabbing murder of Indian father of three Navtej Singh at his family's store in Manurewa.

Armed and violent robberies have been growing at an alarming rate in New Zealand over recent years, hardly a day goes by without a report being made. See Armed Robberies in NZ for a list of attacks on businesses including dairies, clubs, bottle shops, banks and a hairdressers.

Emily May Parker Death, Update

Emily Parker and Matthew Hawkins

Further information has emerged about death of American Emily May Parker who died whilst swimming with dolphins in Marlborough Sound. The tourist died just weeks after a government led review of the adventure tourism industry was launched following the death of British woman Emily Jordan who died whilst river boarding.

According to an article published in the Marlborough Express neither Maritime NZ nor the Department of Labour will be making any investigation into Ms Paker's death. Even though the coroner's investigation has yet to be completed they believe that her death was from "natural causes" and that it was a now a "police matter".

Also, in a worrying development, information has been released suggesting that her boyfriend, Matthew Hawkins (who was on the trip with her and his mother) " waved a multitool (a pocket knife) at paramedics when it became apparent they could not save her." Apparently the tool had been used to cut open her wetsuit. Just why this information has been given to the public is a mystery as it seems to serve no useful purpose, no doubt all will become clear when the results of the police investigation (if any) are revealed.


As previously mentioned, it seems that Ms Parker may have died from a cardiac arrest, as reported by the Denver Post who also said that no criminal investigation was likely to be made.

The Marlborough Express had already reported that the owner of Dolphin Ecowatch Tours, Dan Engelhaupt with whom Ms Parker had been swimming, said "He was now looking to buy a defibrillator for the tour boat, though he did not know if that would have saved the woman." The skipper of a ferry had offered him the use of one but was too far away to be used in time, but he did use oxygen that was rushed over from workers at nearby  New Zealand King Salmon Te Pangu .