www.rnz.co.nz Businessman and politician Sir Bob Jones dead at 85
Jones, 85, imposed himself on the New Zealand consciousness like few other businesspeople of his time.
Businessman and politician Sir Bob Jones has died at the age of 85.
"I can confirm on behalf of the family that Sir Robert Jones died peacefully at home surrounded by family after a brief illness," The NZ general manager of Robert Jones Holdings confirmed on Friday.
Jones imposed himself on the New Zealand consciousness like few other businesspeople of his time.
He amassed a multi-billion portfolio of commercial buildings in Auckland, Wellington, and Glasgow, Scotland, as well as forming a political party to challenge Robert Muldoon's National Party.
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Aotearoa Weekly Kōrero 2/5/2025
Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!
This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.
It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:
- Something interesting that happened to you
- Something humourous that happened to you
- Something frustrating that happened to you
- A quick question
- A request for recommendations
- Pictures of your pet
- A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
- Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)
So how’s it going?
It's as real as bigfoot until someone gets a clear photo.
The guy mentioned in the article has spent 30 years looking for signs of a moose. The closest was some hair in 2002 (confirmed to be moose hair, but that moose hair found it's way to NZ is not evidence enough for me - plus if there was a moose it probably died of old age by now).
Given antlers were found 50 years+ ago and not a single further antler has been found - despite moose generally shedding antlers annually, well I guess I just find it hard to believe.
The fact that two separate groups of tourists said they saw a moose in the last month or so, and neither took a photo (or even tried to take a photo), that doesn't give me any confidence. If I saw a hippo in the Waikato I'd take a photo.
Call me a sceptic but after the extent of the searching that has been done to date, I'm going to need a picture.
Must not have bribed enough, government turned them down, now they are trying to get public support.
But is that a fair comparison? Merchants aren't picking between Visa and cash, they are comparing Visa and EFTPOS.
It used to be that most places had EFTPOS and a smaller number had credit. Now it seems everyone has credit, but with a surcharge. I suspect if Visa gets their way they will be available at fewer places again.
The paywave one is an odd one. The technology is there, and they clearly already have agreements with banks. Is the only reason for not having EFTPOS paywave that the banks turn them down, whether due to user confusion (can paywave different cards at different places - seems not too different to using credit cards at some places and not others), or is it because they can't get the big banks on-board due to their contracts with Visa, etc?
And if so, how come they managed to get online EFTPOS?
Yeah that's what I'm afraid of.
Online EFTPOS is now a thing. A small number of places but it's pretty new.
Is paywave the only thing they don't have feature parity on? Other than overseas stuff, which will be a lot trickier to do.
Maybe they could try a pricing model that competes with EFTPOS then? Especially if they are getting valuable data points.
EFTPOS is free to merchants and customers
Not quite, but the EFTPOS pricing model is different. No interchange fees. It used to be there were no transaction fees at all, you paid per terminal (and it wasn't much, like $20 a month) so long as you had internet access, but with more options like mobile phone connected stuff or wireless terminals it seems the pricing is a little more complicated. Still clearly a tiny fraction of the 2% or more of the price that you might see on Visa charges.
Here's the EFTPOS NZ pricing: https://eftpos.co.nz/online-payments/pricing
But the rest, yeah pretty much.
Yes my understanding is that you can use Mastodon to post to a community (by tagging it) or to respond to a post or comment. You can follow a Lemmy community as if it were a user.
However, to use a Lemmy account to interact with Mastodon, you are limited to replying to Mastodon users who have posted in a Lemmy community or commented on a Lemmy post.
Alternate title: "Visa, who has control over the contracts they have with banks to the point that our biggest bank ANZ doesn't offer Mastercard as an option, complains that their gouging of consumers for using paywave has led to merchants passing on the cost if customers want to use that method, which is encouraging people to use EFTPOS which doesn't charge for transactions. Visa proposes to go back to the gouging thing."
Interestingly with the popularity of surcharges, I notice way more places accepting credit cards (if you're willing to pay the fee).
www.rnz.co.nz Visa calls for ban on surcharges
The average merchant card service fee for small businesses is about 1.2 percent to 1.5 percent.
Credit card company Visa is calling for a ban on the surcharge fee some merchants charge card-paying consumers at the point of sale.
The Commerce Commission was undertaking a review of card charges, and considering cutting the regulated interchange fee card companies can charge banks by as much as 75 percent, for example.
Card interchange fees were in turn passed on by banks to merchants at whatever rate the merchant can negotiate, meaning that some pay much more than others.
My understanding of the current state is that with your Lemmy account, you can only interact with Lemmy-compatible activitypub services (Lemmy, Mbin, PieFed, Sublinks). Other services may be able to interact with Lemmy (I believe Mastodon and Friendica can, and Misskey may be able to as well).
There is no reason that Lemmy couldn't interact with other content, but it gets a little confusing when you are talking about following users and not communities, Lemmy doesn't work that way. You can't even follow another Lemmy user. So no one has implemented this in Lemmy yet.
Long store short, no you can't access in that direction yet, but there's no real reason why that couldn't come in the future. You could check out Mbin, which I believe supports more services. You can interact with Lemmy from other services (such as from Mastodon), but it gets a bit weird sometimes as they are different kinds of services.
A bit off topic but I can't believe I forgot to mention a Canadian billionaire is trying to take over our largest media company, including trying to overthrow the board, place himself on the board, and control the editorial content: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/556734/nzme-directors-have-concerns-about-businessman-jim-grenon-taking-editorial-control
Just curious, anyone using the lemmy.nz website, have you noticed less errors or freezing recently? I added an extra load balanced frontend container a few weeks back, I'm wondering if others have noticed an improvement (I have).
I suppose I’m really interested in locally-owned media outlets that receive their funding from the readers/grants thus avoiding the ownership of oligarchs/conglomerates.
Yeah so rnz.co.nz is government funded, so doesn't really meet this definition, which was the source of my question as it's my most trusted but not really "independent", though it's not billionaire owned.
Stuff.co.nz is probably the closest to what you've asked for. It's funded by ads, subscriptions, and user donations, among grants etc. But I wouldn't normally call them high quality, though they do occasionally impress me.
RNZ and Stuff are general news sites. They report on anything and everything and generally do 24 hours a day, with a lot syndicated from Reuters or Associated Press. They report on world news not just NZ.
The spinoff is funded from ads, grants, and donations, and is a lot smaller outfit. They don't do general news, they do more opinion pieces and long form journalism (and various other things). You wouldn't read them for news about the pope, it's more NZ focused and often opinionated or with a clear angle. They talk about important issues but pretty much all of their content should be read as if it were an opinion piece.
We must keep encouraging people to support local cooperatives, democratic participation, transparency and decentralization. We will need to be creative in how we defend democracy around the globe.
Yes for sure. I think NZ's democracy is certainly in a better state than the US and many other countries, I was just pointing out it's not a utopia of democracy. Something to learn from but not without it's own faults to correct for.
I've just straight cross posted from a Lemmy.ca post, resources included, as it seems like important world news.
Several people killed, others injured after vehicle drives into Vancouver street festival crowd
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/42967562
Other threads:
- [email protected]: https://lemmy.ca/post/42965727
- r/Vancouver: https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1k8v49i/
- https://x.com/VancouverPD/status/1916348189449634129
News Articles:
Let me know if any information belongs in this thread and I'll edit it in.
Support Resources:
Vancouver Police Victim Services: As per their website - Victim Services staff members are not police officers; they are civilian employees of the VPD with specialized training in emotional support, crisis intervention, and communication skills, and with education in areas such as psychology, social work or other related disciplines.
*Staff are available to provide free and confidential support to victims, witnesses, and family members affected b
Awesome, thanks!
My log is full of "Failed to fetch endorsements from Fediseer", over and over.
Does this indicate an issue with connecting to Fediseer, or is it something I can solve?
Just reading your comment gave me arthritis.
Personally I don't like that handle either. Needs to be thicker.
It depends on exactly what you mean by independent.
I like https://rnz.co.nz/, but this is a government news source. It has editorial independence and doesn't have adverts so you know they aren't considering advertisors in their angles, but it is government owned, and has been threatened with having funding cut on occasion.
https://stuff.co.nz/ I believe is currently independently owned but it was owned by a big Aussie company until it wasn't doing well and the local CEO bought it for a token $1.
If you want a more Left leaning, non-mainstream source, then thespinoff.co.nz
There aren't many other sources I'd read, but others may chime in with others I've forgotten.
Its nice to think of us as a strong democracy but we have the same influences as the rest of the western world, so even if we have a nice voting system you could argue it's not a good democracy if everyone is manipulated by big tech and billionaires.
Edit: oh, I forgot to mention a lot of syndication happens, so it's common to see articles from one NZ news source on another news site.
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Connections Puzzle #685 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦
Aotearoa Weekly Kōrero 25/4/2025
Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!
This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.
It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:
- Something interesting that happened to you
- Something humourous that happened to you
- Something frustrating that happened to you
- A quick question
- A request for recommendations
- Pictures of your pet
- A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
- Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)
So how’s it going?
www.rnz.co.nz Anzac Day: Big turnout for dawn service at Kaiuku Marae in Māhia
"This is a pretty special place and people like coming out here," the RSA president says.
Hundreds of people gathered at Kaiuku Marae in Māhia where poppies and white crosses were placed in the ground around the local war memorial.
Wairoa RSA president Jeremy Harker said Kaiuku Marae always had a big turnout for the dawn service.
"Obviously there's a lot of understanding about the past, and I think this is a pretty special place and people like coming out here.
"It's quite cool, you know the first place to see the light, so it works really well and it's just a really special occasion."
www.rnz.co.nz Portuguese millipedes infestation growing in Wellington, entomologist says
On community social media pages people are reporting waking to find hundreds in their area.
An entomologist says the spread of Portuguese millipedes across Wellington - and beyond - is almost certain after residents on the south coast sounded the alarm about infestations of the invasive species.
Residents have described waking to find hundreds of scaly black millipedes around their homes, discovering them in shoes, bags and even their beds.
Biosecurity New Zealand said the invertebrate had been identified on the south coast and in Lower Hutt for about 20 years, but not much was known about it.
A local councillor is now calling for an urgent meeting with local authorities to discuss how to tackle the problem.
www.rnz.co.nz Shihad's Killjoy captures the moment a rock band came of age
New Zealand’s hard rock heroes Shihad made ten albums during a 37-year career, but Killjoy stands above the rest.
When Shihad announced they would be calling it quits in 2025, they left not just a legacy of tinnitus-inducing live shows stretching back 37 years, but also one of the richest catalogues of recordings by any New Zealand band.
www.rnz.co.nz New Zealand extending military assistance to Ukraine
"New Zealand is unwavering in its support for Ukraine against Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion," Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said.
New Zealand is extending its military assistance in support of Ukraine's self-defence until December 2026.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made the announcement early this morning (NZT) in London.
"New Zealand is unwavering in its support for Ukraine against Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion," he said.
"That is why we are extending our deployment of up to 100 New Zealand Defence Force personnel to train Ukrainian soldiers in the UK and throughout Europe, and provide intelligence, liaison and logistics support through to December 2026."
www.rnz.co.nz Kiwi firm designs low-cost, fast-build house
RTA Studio says it's found a way to strip hundreds of thousands of dollars from the cost of building a home.
A New Zealand architecture company has designed a three-bedroom house that three people can assemble in six weeks for $335,000.
RTA Studio just constructed its first 'Living House' in Rotorua.
It is 85sqm and designed for quick assembly once the foundations are in place, the cost includes a functional kitchen with appliances as well as flooring, lighting, carpets and heating. It does not include the land value.
www.rnz.co.nz What should you say to your kids about the Easter Bunny?
The Easter Bunny and its mates Santa and the tooth fairy present a dilemma for parents - promoting the value of generosity through a vehicle of lies.
It’s one of those moments in the year when many parents wonder why they lie to their children about a magical rabbit that leaves Easter eggs in the garden.
In our multicultural society, there are various approaches to the concepts of Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the tooth fairy. At a guess, for the majority of New Zealand children, these fictional characters are real — at least in the first few years of their lives. After all, New Zealand Post receives more than 100,000 letters each year addressed to Santa at Christmas.
But there are some, whether it is for religious or ethical reasons, who don’t raise their kids to believe in these fictional characters.
Aotearoa Weekly Kōrero 18/4/2025
Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!
This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.
It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:
- Something interesting that happened to you
- Something humourous that happened to you
- Something frustrating that happened to you
- A quick question
- A request for recommendations
- Pictures of your pet
- A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
- Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)
So how’s it going?
www.rnz.co.nz Why do we love feijoas more than anyone else in the world?
This time each year, Melbourne based Kiwis make a special mission to find their feijoa hit. Aussies don't seem to get what all the fuss is about.
When it cools down and autumn hits in New Zealand, office kitchens and staff rooms are suddenly abundant with the sweet smell of our widely available little fruit – the feijoa.
But spare a thought for Kiwis who have made Australia home – where they don’t seem to understand our feijoa fantasy.
Piera Maclean, who has lived in Melbourne for a decade, longs for the taste.
“Normally at this time of year in New Zealand everyone's having feijoa crumble all the time and making cakes. They've got so many. Whereas here it's like if you find three, you know you're feeling very lucky and it's the best day ever.”
Ex-Cyclone Tam live: Planes, ferries cancelled, thousands lose power as winds hit Auckland, Northland
www.rnz.co.nz Ex-Cyclone Tam live: Extreme weather closes in on Coromandel, thousands without power in Northland
Nearly 8000 homes remain without power as in Northland and Auckland Airport has recorded the strongest northeasterly gust since 2017.
Severe weather is continuing to batter the top of the North Island as Cyclone Tam brings heavy rain and strong winds.
Towards Friday, the storm will begin to arrive in Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and the north of the South Island.
What you need to know:
- A large weather system is delivering heavy rain and strong winds to the upper North Island.
- Here's what you need to know as the bad weather hits.
- Around 25,000 properties had no power overnight in Northland and there are many outages in Auckland too.
- Cellphone towers have been damaged in Northland, landlines are still working. ONE NZ is working on opening up Satellite Text as an option for those with 4G.
- Air New Zealand has cancelled some flights, some ferry services in Auckland are either cancelled or suspended. See here for the ferry specifics.
- Up to 180mm of rain could strike Northland with possible thunderstorms, and strong wind warnings also in place.
- Auckland is experiencing high winds and ra
How to troubleshoot communities not federating to my instance
Hey how can we troubleshoot when communities are not being federated?
For example, this community shows that there was an error federating to Lemmy.nz (but not what the error was). Previously it was showing as not allowed.
Here are my settings:
There are other communities listed in this post, though really I'd like the tools to troubleshoot myself: https://lemmy.nz/post/21531352
Any help appreciated 🙂
Featured
Donations
Hi all!
TL;DR You can donate to Lemmy.nz's server costs here: https://ko-fi.com/nzfedi
As you may or may not know, Lemmy.nz is jointly hosted with some other NZ fediverse services. Due to lower fees, donations to support the hosting of Lemmy.nz can now be made here: https://ko-fi.com/nzfedi
- You can do one off donations, but regular donations are best even if smaller, as it helps for longer term planning.
- If you're currently donating to the Open Collective page, please cancel that and use the ko-fi link if you can, as the fees are lower.
- Please mention in the "Your message" box that you're from Lemmy.nz (or if you use both Mastodon.nz and Lemmy.nz or Pixelfed.nz, say so), that helps with seeing where donations are coming from.
- If making the donation will materially affect you, PLEASE DON'T DONATE! Lemmy.nz is not going to die if you don't donate. Please only donate if you have plenty of money, but if you can donate on a regular basis without it materially affecting you
Lemmyvision 2 - The Results Are In!!
cross-posted from: https://jlai.lu/post/17769069
The results are in!🎶
Hey everyone, I'm glad to announce that after fighting my lazyness, I have gathered the votes submitted until now, and am able to announce the results of the second edition of Lemmyvision! Thank you so much for participating, by sending a song together with your community, leaving feedback, or voting!!
This first ranking is based on the average position out of every vote:
- Flomb!, Pe Krieger - #unplugtrump (avg. rank: 3.6)
- Lambrini Girls - God's Country (4.7)
- Alien Weaponry - Mau Moko (4.9)
- Rezz, Virtual Riot, One True God - Give In To You (4.9)
- Bibiza - Aufnimmawiederschaun (5.2)
- Ultra Vomit - Dead Robot Zombie Cop From Outer Space 2 (5.3)
- Billie du Page - Fake Friends (5.3)
- Elisapie (ᐃᓕᓴᐱ) - Quviasukkuvit (If It Makes You Happy) (5.7)
- Gurridyula - From The River To The Sea (5.8)
- Cie Les Petites Mains - L’Anamour (6.2)
- Lina Mayer - Raj (6.2)
Aotearoa Weekly Kōrero 11/4/2025
Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!
This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.
It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:
- Something interesting that happened to you
- Something humourous that happened to you
- Something frustrating that happened to you
- A quick question
- A request for recommendations
- Pictures of your pet
- A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
- Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)
So how’s it going?
www.rnz.co.nz Meerkat pups Auckland Zoo's first litter in more than a decade
The four pups, born last month, are healthy, strong and curious.
Auckland Zoo has welcomed its first meerkat litter in more than a decade.
Four pups were born in-habitat last month, bringing the zoo's meerkat collection to seven.
Their mother is Adia, who arrived at the zoo in November.
www.rnz.co.nz Rare native plant thriving after Tāngarākau Gorge road works discovery
The Brachyglottis turneri, or Manawa Kawa can only be found in 11 locations in Taranaki and a handful of places in Whanganui.
When an extremely rare native plant was discovered during road works on the iconic Forgotten World Highway, SH43, local iwi leapt into action.
The nationally endangered plant Brachyglottis turneri, or Manawa Kawa, as it has been named by iwi, is similar to an orchid with a heart-shaped leaf and small yellow flower that blooms from November to December.
It can only be found in 11 locations in Taranaki and a handful of places in Whanganui.
In December 2023, to ensure the plant population wasn't impacted by the sealing project, Ngāti Maru representatives took cuttings from the plants under the guidance of horticulturist Phillip Smith, from Totora Glen Nurseries in Palmerston North.
Smith propagated the cuttings and cared for them until they were ready for replanting in the gorge.