Plugging In....to Christchurch Central
In this seven-part election series, journalist Martin van Beynen is testing the mood of voters on the streets of Greater Christchurch-Ōtautahi ahead of the General Election. First up, Christchurch Central, a battleground electorate where Labour’s Duncan Webb battles it out with National’s Dale Stephens.
Murray Simmonds is deadheading his camelia as we steal soundlessly into his suburban Redwood street to check his voting pulse.
It’s a perfect day for plugging into the mood of Christchurch Central as we cruise around this diverse electorate in our 2019 Nissan Leaf with a grunty battery under the bonnet.
Trees are still in friendly blossom, the grass is spring green and it promises to be a warm sunny day for putting our election stethoscope to the multitudinous hearts of the electorate.
Simmonds, 75, a retired psychology lecturer, lives at the top of this strange-shaped electorate, bounded in the north by the Styx River and in the south by the Heathcote.
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.7% Summer
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36.7% Winter
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1.6% Other - I'll share below
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