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Our national women’s rugby team took out the Rugby World Cup on Saturday in a tense finale at Eden Park. The Black Ferns won the match by just three points taking home their sixth world title.
With public celebrations taking place following the All Blacks (men's) Rugby World Cup wins … View moreOur national women’s rugby team took out the Rugby World Cup on Saturday in a tense finale at Eden Park. The Black Ferns won the match by just three points taking home their sixth world title.
With public celebrations taking place following the All Blacks (men's) Rugby World Cup wins (2011 & 2015) as well as parades for the America's cup team, do you think similar celebration plans are needed for our winning Black Ferns women?
Hey does anyone out there have any ideas on how to contact IRD. I have called their 0800 number and i just get a message saying they are too busy and to call back later or go online. Then it just hangs up on me, there’s no option to leave a message and no option to remain on hold.
I have been… View moreHey does anyone out there have any ideas on how to contact IRD. I have called their 0800 number and i just get a message saying they are too busy and to call back later or go online. Then it just hangs up on me, there’s no option to leave a message and no option to remain on hold.
I have been online and requested they call me via myIRD as I need some assistance in filling out a return and correcting some gst returns someone else did for me and did wrong. However, 5 months after asking them to phone me and making it clear I could not do the return without someone calling me, still no one has called.
Now i cant even log in to ask them to call me, again. After I log in with ‘realme’ it asks me for a second secure authentication. I have no idea what the username/password for that is supposed to be as I have never set anything up for that and never been asked for it before. My existing realme login does not work for this, and there are no links on the page so that I can set one up (normally on a login oage you have links saying stuff like “forgot your password” or “reset your username/password”. There is nothing on this screen). The only options are to enter a user name and password and as I have no idea what they should be I cant. The only other option on the screen is to click cancel, which must logs me out of the whole thing and returns me to the main IRD login screen
So….
I cannot fill out my returns as the forms I was seeing on myIR, dont contain the fields I need, to put the figures into.
I cannot call them as their message just says they are too busy then hangs up on me.
I cannot get them to call me.
Now I cant even access myIR.
And I am getting letters with threatening subject lines (I cant actually read their contents as I cant log into myIR to read them)
Ive even tried emailing their general customer feedback email address and a survey email address I found (the only ird email addresses I can find which are not no-reply bounces) and no one has replied to those emails.
How can it be legal, for IRD to just threaten people and take their money? But not have a working phone number or any email addresses for anyone to contact them on. And not call people 5 months after the have asked them to (because they cannot do the returns till someone calls them to explain where to enter the return info into a form with only two vaguely/nonsensically, named fields), and then on top of all that, decide to just out of the blue, add in a second layer of authentication on their website, but have no information on how to set up a username and password to use for that second authentication, thereby making it impossible for anyone to login to myIR and even read their threatening emails, let alone do anything to resolve them?
I have a lot of business expenses I am unable to declare and very worried they will just take money out of my account based on my turnover and not my actual (significantly less) taxable income. Im just a sole charge contractor, and don't have the funds to pay thousands to an accountant just to get someone from ird to pick up the phone and call me.
Does anyone out there have any ideas on how to contact them?
Or maybe someone has been given a direct dial number for a real person at ird that they might be willing to share with me? (Your name will never be mentioned! Lol). I did have a number like that myself on my old phone but it died suddenly and the contact list couldn’t be retrieved from the dead ph the attempts to do so are a saga of their own).
So im really hoping someone out there might of an alternative contact method which is NOT any of the following methods I have tried which have failed:
The 0800 775 247 number (which is apparently always too short staffed for anyone to ever pick up the phone)
MyIR
The two emails address i could find which did not begin with “noreply@…”
Honestly do business not realise how bloody frustrating it is to receive an email that “requires your action” in some way, from an email address you cannot respond to!
Alternatively if you work at ird. Please call me on Monday 020 406 41485, and if i don’t answer because I am in a work meeting, please leave me a message with an actual number that is not 0800 775 247 that I can call you back on!
Ok rant over, but if anyone has an actual working number that i can call to speak to an actual real human being at ird, could you please share it with me? I don’t care what department, at least if a real person answers I can beg them to let me speak to a real person in the gst returns dept (or record the call as yet more evidence of the ridiculous impossibility of getting to speak to a real person at ird, if they wont put me thru).
At this rate maybe i could make up a youtube or other social media audio and video series entitled… ‘the long hunt for a real person at ird’, or something equally sarcastic…
At least till I cant afford internet after they withdraw all my savings to pay my horrifically inflated tax “assessment” that their combination of unusable systems and uncontactable departments has made impossible for me to file an actual return and expenses against!
Actually maybe thats what I could do next. Record every failed call to their 0800 number, till I have many hours worth, then post them on youtube or similar….till I set a Guinness record for the person who went to the most hours of effort to try and do her gst return, but still got penalised by ird because that was easier than actually calling her!
Despite how boring being on hold with IRD would be to listen to, I sort of feel at this stage, that getting my first million views on a long boring video of IRD hold music, and ‘sorry we are too busy, please call another day’ hangups, might happen faster than anyone real at IRD actually ever phoning me!
Seriously though
Does anyone know how i can actually get to speak to someone there? Or is the idea of real people at ird just a myth? How ridiculous is it that i have to take to social media because after 5 months of trying I don't have a way to communicate with a real person at IRD to find out how to fill in the gst return form !
Someone did call me about 5.5-6 months ago and told me now to fill out the gst return adjustment forms. Problem is the form and form fields they described to me and told me to enter the numbers into, do not actually exist on the gst return forms that were available to me when I was able to access myIR. They seemed to be describing an entirely different form that is not available to my myIR account.
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Shockingly, 93% of Variety families live with food insecurity every day. Let’s make Christmas day different for them.
Mia and Jade love Christmas, but their parents are struggling financially. “Christmas time brings a lot of stress. I want to put a good meal on the table and give my kids a … View moreShockingly, 93% of Variety families live with food insecurity every day. Let’s make Christmas day different for them.
Mia and Jade love Christmas, but their parents are struggling financially. “Christmas time brings a lot of stress. I want to put a good meal on the table and give my kids a good and exciting Christmas but with bills and rent, our credit card is already maxed out,” Jenna says.
Please donate today to provide grocery support for struggling families this Christmas.
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown says proposed changes to the Three Waters Reform haven't gone far enough ahead of the bill’s second reading in parliament.
There were 80,000 submissions on the Water Services Entities Bill, the first of three … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown says proposed changes to the Three Waters Reform haven't gone far enough ahead of the bill’s second reading in parliament.
There were 80,000 submissions on the Water Services Entities Bill, the first of three bills aimed at reforming New Zealand’s water infrastructure and services, including one from the Ashburton District Council.
Parliament’s cross-party Finance and Expenditure Select Committee has considered those submissions and proposed some recommendations to improve the workability of water reform legislation.
Brown said the changes were fairly minor.
“Not a lot of changes that the councils in opposition to Three Waters would like to have seen.
“Having a better representation of rural mayors is a slight plus but it wasn’t the guts of the submissions.”
Ashburton, and the rest of the member councils in the Communities for Local Democracy collective, “will not be backing off” Brown said, especially when an alternative model proposed by mayor Wayne Brown of Auckland has garnered more widespread support.
But the Government is surging ahead with its model, with some new recommended changes likely to be adopted.
One of those is that the Bill requires a mix of rural, provincial, and metropolitan councils on the regional representative group (RRG).
Another recommendation is to remove the limit of members on the RRG, which may make things quite complicated, Neil Brown said.
There will be at least six representatives from the 22 councils in the zone 4 entity, which now needs an even spread of rural, provincial, and metropolitan representatives, and any increase in representatives will also increase the mana whenua representatives under co-governance.
*Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
What better way to while away a Friday afternoon and get your weekend DIY inspiration than drooling over the most beautiful house and garden content of the week?
|Homed newsletter| takes you inside gorgeous New Zealand homes, showcases the latest interior trends, provides project ideas, and … View moreWhat better way to while away a Friday afternoon and get your weekend DIY inspiration than drooling over the most beautiful house and garden content of the week?
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From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
New traffic lights at Ashburton's Walnut Ave intersections will go live this week.
The upgrade will officially open on Friday - ahead of schedule according to the big transport organisations but not before time say some locals.
Work began … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
New traffic lights at Ashburton's Walnut Ave intersections will go live this week.
The upgrade will officially open on Friday - ahead of schedule according to the big transport organisations but not before time say some locals.
Work began on the $15 million project in August 2021 and had an 18-month timeline.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency had completed the intersection upgrades and lights installation, both at Walnut Ave and State Highway 1, and Walnut Ave and West St, back in May.
Then KiwiRail had to upgrade the rail crossing between the two intersections which is almost completed.
As there was a gap between the two Government organisations being on site the project has been maligned in the community for the perceived prolonged timeframe.
The Ashburton District Council aired those frustration but both Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail maintained it was always scheduled for completion by the end of 2022.
They have now delivered the project on time and the temporary road cone roundabouts are soon to become just a memory.
Hi neighbours, Quinn and the team here from Delivereasy. We're stoked to finally arrive in Ashburton and deliver your favourite flavours from the neighbourhood! The best part? We're not just delivering to Ashburton Central - Allenton, Dromore, Elgin, Fairton, Hampstead, Huntingdon, … View moreHi neighbours, Quinn and the team here from Delivereasy. We're stoked to finally arrive in Ashburton and deliver your favourite flavours from the neighbourhood! The best part? We're not just delivering to Ashburton Central - Allenton, Dromore, Elgin, Fairton, Hampstead, Huntingdon, Netherby, Newland, Tinwald and Willowby are all included in our delivery area. Yahoo!
Download the Delivereasy app on apple or android to find your favourite local Ashburton restaurants, choose your items and use the code ASHVEGAS to get free delivery on your first two orders over $30. Then sit back, track your order (and driver) and get ready to tuck in. The discount finishes soon so give us a try now while it's still going. Skip the dishes and the discussion around who's going to collect the takeaways today because spoiler alert: it's us.
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Stuart Wilson has a little red book detailing his council tenure, every meeting over the 12 years.
He used it like a diary to document the details and his thoughts on every big decision and who voted on what over his 12 years at the council … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Stuart Wilson has a little red book detailing his council tenure, every meeting over the 12 years.
He used it like a diary to document the details and his thoughts on every big decision and who voted on what over his 12 years at the council table.
“It is just my own record of what we did.
“There’s nothing personnel in there or any names of staff, just council business.”
Wilson’s book has now had its last entry and he is settling into life after the council.
It could be quite easy to picture him, the avid roading campaigner, wandering the district with a wheelbarrow of hot mix in tow fixing potholes.
He is a man of his word though and is leaving council business behind him, but will be keeping an eye on the progress of a few unfinished projects.
Wilson attended the opening meeting of the new term, where for the first time in 12 years he wasn’t at the table but was in the public gallery to watch another Wilson, his son Richard, being sworn in as a new councillor.
“I miss it. I miss the council for sure.
“You miss the relationships with the fellow councillors and the staff.
“It becomes a big part of your life.”
Stepping down from council at the ripe age of 81 means he can now enjoy his retirement.
After three weeks off the job, his lawn couldn’t be in better shape and there isn’t a weed to be seen in the gardens.
He has run out of things to do around the house but he’s keeping himself busy enough not to drive his wife Betty too crazy, and she is adjusting to having him at home more.
“It would be very easy to sit around and do nothing,” he said.
But Wilson isn’t the type to sit still for too long.
“I’ve got the two boys with farms at Hinds, I won’t be milking cows or anything like that but I can go out and give them a hand.”
He has no plans to take on any major project but has been invited to join the Mid Canterbury Historical Society.
World travel isn’t high on his priority list but “going around the North Island” is and clocking up some kilometres in his Morris Eight Sport.
Wilson was born in Kirwee where his parents farmed before they shifted to Hinds in 1945.
He went to Linford School for three years before it closed in 1949, as he was one of only six pupils, and went to Hinds School.
He then attended Timaru Boys’ High School and after getting school cert returned to the farm to help his father.
He then married Betty in 1964.
“My father bought one of the railway houses at Windermere, picked it up on the truck and put it on the farm.
“We were only there for a year and in 1965 we shifted up to Hinds Arundel Road and were there until seven years ago so we didn’t quite make 50 years on the farm.”
Wilson was always interested in politics and it was after he joined the Hinds Lions in 1984 that was the start of his political journey.
“I was encouraged to go a little bit further in Lions and I wasn’t sure but a friend of mine was an office holder in Federated Farmers and asked me to come along and become junior vice president.
He worked his way up to president and then past president which exposed him to the workings of the district council.
“You submitted to the council on annual plans and long-term plans and you thought it ‘blight it, they wouldn’t listen'.”
He recalls attending a public meeting in Hinds where then councillor Ken Lowe, “an ardent Methven Councillor”, was speaking about spending money on something in Methven when Wilson decided to pipe up.
“I said ‘Methven, they’re a pack of parasites up there on the district’ and boy did that get a reaction.”
It’s a comment that may not have helped when he then stood for election in 2007 as the old ward system had him at the mercy of the Methven voters and he was unsuccessful.
Under the new ward system in the 2010 elections, the current eastern and western ward split, he was elected to the council.
Four terms later he decided it was time to step aside while he was still at the top of his game.
“It wasn’t because I wasn’t enjoying it or I wasn’t keeping up.
“It was just time.”
As a councillor, Wilson was a straight-shooter, often firing a sharp-ended question, strongly worded statement, or infamously calling for a point of order.
He was unapologetically honest in his opinions, direct in his approach, and almost unwavering in his convictions.
Wilson could be persuaded by a strong argument but he was never afraid to call a spade a spade and question “why on earth” someone would say it’s a shovel.
“People can be swayed by an argument of course.
“Sometimes you think that for the betterment of the district my opinion might be better this way or that way.”
But that’s the kind of person needed at the council table, he said.
“Not someone who shares an opinion in the tearoom and is then a yes man at the meeting that doesn’t stick to their guns.
“Even if it’s [a vote] 8 to 1, you may as well lose saying what you think and that’s what makes democracy work.”
He said he learnt early on that a councillor should avoid at all costs to abstain from a decision.
“If you sit on the fence, what’s the point of you being there?”
He wasn’t afraid to ask the question or say what he thought – even if got him in hot water occasionally because that’s the role of an elected councillor he said.
When Wilson flicked his microphone on, staff would bristle in their seat in case they were in his sights.
It could be a short, sharp serve, a pointed question, or seeking clarity.
Earlier this year a KiwiRail manager was left startled after he bore the brunt of one such tirade, with Wilson telling him of his incompetence over the prolonged timeframes completing the Walnut Ave upgrade.
He said councillors need to ask questions to know how the cogs move to ensure they have things moving in the right direction, that’s why there are no stupid questions but there can be stupid answers.
Wilson would speak his mind, straight to the point and then sit back in his chair to hear an answer, but never one to let an unacceptable excuse slide by, and then listen to the other councillor’s views.
He said he was always conscious of only speaking when it was necessary.
“Experienced councillors can have too much to say.
“When I first got on, there was a group of very experienced councillors and they always had an opinion on every single thing.
“It took a brave new councillor to contradict them at times.
“In the last term, I had to be conscious I didn’t use my opinion to influence everybody else.”
He was at his best when it came to roading.
Wilson was driven to improve the district's roads, continually campaigning for better outcomes, more funding and answers from contractors.
“I tried really hard on our roading network. I really did.”
He fought Waka Kotahi for more funding at every opportunity often focusing on the “bane of his existence” Arundel Rakaia Gorge Rd, almost considered a swear word in his house, that gobbles up far too much ratepayer funding.
Wilson, try as he might, battled through the pronunciation of Waka Kotahi, a phrase he uttered countless times but seemingly never the same way.
“I look at Liz [McMillan] every time I say it and she’d say I got it wrong.”
His pronunciation may have been off, often because he was too caught up in railing against the Government agency, but he was trying as he adapted to the increasing use of te reo.
In his valedictory speech, he admitted the only blight on his council tenure was the condition of the roads.
But it’s safe to say they would be in a worse state without Wilson's dogged determination for better outcomes. Determination and dedication were keys to Wilson's 12-year stint but that's how he reckons it should be anyway. He is a firm believer that being a councillor is about dedicating yourself to serving the community.
That’s why you can count the number of meetings he missed in 12 years on one hand.
“I might have missed one as I had a funeral to go to.”
He was there to do the job to the best of his ability.
“I wasn’t there to personally achieve anything, just do the job as best I could.
“The opportunities in a democracy are so great, making decisions on behalf of everybody.”
He did all the reading and attended every meeting and committee he could so that when it came time to make a decision he had all the information.
“If you are going to go on council you have to be prepared to give it your best.”
It’s a big commitment and no one could question Wilson's commitment to the role. The straight shooter with his community always on his mind.
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
A storm has proved the catalyst for an extension of the Methven cemetery and an upgrade to the walkway.
It is just over a year since strong winds decimated the treeline at the cemetery and the area has been reestablished including the section of … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
A storm has proved the catalyst for an extension of the Methven cemetery and an upgrade to the walkway.
It is just over a year since strong winds decimated the treeline at the cemetery and the area has been reestablished including the section of the town’s popular walkway.
Methven Lions spokesman Mac McElwain said they had just completed a reseal of the shingle walkway along the cemetery edge only for it to be “completely wrecked”.
“All the trees came down and the roots ripped up so what we had laid 10 days earlier just disappeared,” he said.
The council cleared away the debris and the roots, a repair job estimated to cost about $70,000, enabling it to extend the cemetery area, future-proofing the site.
The Lions had to reinstate a new walkway path along the eastern edge of the cemetery which forms part of a loop track around the town that the Lions spent the last year reshingling.
What remained of the tree line has been transformed into a bund and the Lions also chipped in with a council-run planting day at the end of October.
“The whole thing has been a collaborative venture between lions and the council,” McElwain said.
About 2500 native species were planted on the newly created bund made from the rubble of the damaged tree extraction, while several Sequoiadendron giganteum (Wellingtonia) have been planted alongside the walkway.
A strip of native planting is planned for the inside of the reinstated track to separate it from the cemetery.
McElwain said the council and Lions plan to install a new track linkage from the bridge to the domain, along the rodeo arena fence line, and plant a new coniferous hedge adjacent to it.
The Lions also launched a special clean-up project for the headstones in the cemetery last year
“Since that storm and the necessary thinning out of all the trees, it's allowed a lot more light and wind through the cemetery itself, and with a bit of spray from us the effect on the headstones has been extraordinary.”
A memorial seat that was recovered from under the fallen trees has been repositioned in a new location and further seating is planned to be added once more planting is completed next winter where the council hopes to work with local schools.
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The Ashburton District Council’s 'Light Up the Night' Christmas event will go ahead as planned on December 2 after the road closure application was granted on Wednesday.
Support for the decision was underpinned by a belief among some … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The Ashburton District Council’s 'Light Up the Night' Christmas event will go ahead as planned on December 2 after the road closure application was granted on Wednesday.
Support for the decision was underpinned by a belief among some councillors that businesses would benefit.
The council’s economic development team applied for a temporary road closure of East St (from Havelock St to Moore St and Burnett St/Tancred St) to hold the Light Up the Night ceremony that includes lighting the Christmas tree on East Street opposite the intersection with Burnett St.
The one objection was placed by Gareth and Jamie Cadogan who operate the Print Room night club and one ninety nine café within the CBD that are affected by the closure.
They said the timing and location of the event “will directly affect our trade” and they have bookings for Christmas functions on the day.
The councillors disagreed believing the event will bring people in to the town centre and boost business.
New councillor Tony Todd supported the closure.
“We need to look at the broader picture that this event is going to bring people into town anyway and those in the hospitality industry are all going to benefit from this event so I think we should be approving it.”
Mayor Neil Brown said the event “is something we should be doing”.
“It’s a great event and will bring people into town and businesses will do well out of it.”
Councillor Lynette Lovett said that after two years of disruption the community is looking for events.
“This is a great example for the town to come out, get together and start the festive season.”
The application was approved by majority.
The Ashburton Santa Parade has applied for a road closure for December 3, the day after Light Up the Night, which is being processed.
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