New Zealand one of the best places to live for life balance

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15 June 2025

New Zealand one of the best places to live for life balance

The word is starting to get out – New Zealand is a great place to live. Filled to the brim with incredible work opportunities and beautiful places to live, the country provides an almost unparalleled quality of life. New Zealand is a dream destination for many expats and has an impressive job market for those born in the country. In previous years it’s ranked highly as one of the best countries to live in when it comes to quality of life. So what is it that makes New Zealand so wonderful when it comes to work/life balance?

One of the main reasons New Zealanders experience such a great work/life balance is because the country promotes great work culture. People in New Zealand are relaxed and friendly and good relationships between managers and employees are encouraged.

There are also great flexible working conditions available to many Kiwi’s. A stats NZ survey found that over half of the workers surveyed had flexible start and finish times. A much higher ratio of Kiwi jobs are also home based compared to other countries.

Some New Zealand companies like Perpetual Guardians are also trialling four day work weeks to help improve work/life balance.

Additionall, many Kiwi’s have great access to parental leave, with up to 22 weeks of paid leave and 12 months of parental leave available with plans to extend paid leave to 26 weeks. New Zealand has some of the best parental leave entitlements, annual leave arrangements and flexible work options in the world making it the perfect place for people looking for a better quality of life and more time at home to settle. New Zealander’s enjoy a great work environment and it’s set to only get better in the future.

Graeme Hart, New Zealand’s richest man is a high school dropout and former truck driver

By

Sophie Henley

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15 June 2025

Graeme Hart, New Zealand’s richest man is a high school dropout and former truck driver

New Zealand’s richest man, Graeme Hart, dropped out of high school in his mid-teens to work as a mechanic then truck driver. Today he holds the title of richest person in NZ and is a part of the world’s billionaire list.

Hart made his fortune in private equity and now controls the majority stake in Reynolds through the Rank Group, which is his private equity firm. The consumer goods business is Hart’s biggest asset to date as well.

While Hart does like to stay out of the media, he is not shy about his spending habits and likes to live a life of luxury. He is a serial buyer of yachts including the Ulysses which is 116 metres in length and valued at $200 million USD. The superyacht is big enough to house a helipad and a smaller yacht that sits on the front deck.

A fan of the name, Hart’s previous yacht was also called the Ulysses and housed a Batman pinball machine and a now decommissioned US navy submarine that was able to be used as a getaway for up to 6 people.

As mentioned earlier, Hart dropped out of school to become a mechanic and later a truck driver. He graduated from the University of Otago with a MBA where he created the basis of a leveraged-buyout strategy. Hart made a speech to the graduating class of 2018 at his alma mater about his strategy his he said be bold.

He also said that being bold means buying as big as you can, borrowing as much as you can and then working hard to pay the asset off. If it worked for one person who knows how many more it could work for – we could be seeing a lot more New Zealand billionaires very soon.

Strokes will cost Kiwi’s $1.1 billion this year

By

Robert Barlow

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15 June 2025

Strokes have a significant impact on the life expectancy and quality of life of many New Zealanders and they cost the country approximately $1.1 billion each year, according to the Stroke Foundation. It’s expected that the economic impacts of strokes will continue to rise over the next few decades as well as the population ages.

Research has forecasted a 40 percent rise in the number of strokes each year in New Zealand over the course of the next decade, in fact in recent years there has already been a substantial rise in the number of strokes. Thousands of New Zealander’s experience the condition each year and right now there is not much being done to help prevent strokes from happening. Strokes can be a preventable condition, if the right steps are taken and research in New Zealand has suggest that around 75 percent of the cases of stroke could be prevented and yet very little is being done about education and prevention. Each year the New Zealand government spends under three percent of its healh budget on stroke-related prevention measures and services. The country’s Stroke Foundation focuses considerably more of their budget on prevention servives and hopes to see the government up its budget to reflect the social and economic toll that strokes are having on the country.

People who experience high blood pressure are considered high risk for experiencing a stroke and there are preventative steps that can be taken to help prevent high blood pressure sufferers from experience a stroke. The Stroke Foundation conducted 24,000 free blood pressure checks on Kiwi’s to help to and prevent stroke. Of the people who were checked, about one percent received an immediate referral for follow up due to their risk of stroke. This preventative step is estimated to have saved around $2.25 million in health costs.

The Stroke Foundation, which receives no government funding, estimates they could save New Zealand $10 million a year in health costs if they had enough funding to perfrom 50,000 free blood pressure tests a year.

Are we already doomed when it comes to climate change?

By

Edward Welch

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14 June 2025

Are we already doomed when it comes to climate change

There has been a lot said about what the ‘tipping point’ is for climate change, with most scientists generally agreeing will need to stay under a 2℃ increase by 2030 to avoid basically triggering the apocalypse. So is humanity doomed? Are we going to drive ourselves into early extinction because we just can’t get it together to implement proper climate change policy?

Doomed is probably an overstatement. That’s not to say that global warming isn’t going to have a huge and devastating impact though – we can expect heat waves, droughts, storms, fires and mass extinction events to be on the rise even in the next decade but we shouldn’t give up just yet and accept our defeat at the hands of a quickly warming climate.

Right now the globe is around 1.2℃ warmer than it was during the industrial revolution and we’re already seeing the consequences, with increased extreme weather events around the world and the mass bleaching of coral such as we’re seeing take place on the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists have forecast the consequences of what will happen if we reach 1.5℃ but this requires a reduction of global emissions by 7.6% per year – it’s doable. The world is making moves in the right areas with investment into solar and wind technology and taking the right political steps to reduce emissions.

Ireland, which has similar emissions to New Zealand are aiming for a reduction of half of their emissions by 2030 but there’s a good chance we won’t stay below 1.5℃, so what will the world look like? A 2℃ increase would mean the loss of 90% of coral reefs, mass extinctions and hotter days, rising sea levels and mass migrations but in all likelihood it would not mean an apocalyptic scenario for humans, just a significantly worse off earth – a bad enough outcome and reason enough to prioritise climate change policies and measures.

New Zealand researchers invent a new warning system for active volcanoes

By

Monica Striegel

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14 June 2025

New Zealand researchers invent a new warning system for active volcanoes

Scientists from New Zealand claim they have invented a system that can warn people on potential volcanic eruptions. The system aims to prevent future disasters in the wake of the White Island tragedy that killed 21 people in 2019.

Academics Shane Cronin and David Dempsey from the University of Auckland stated that their research has been able to depict patterns of seismic activity moments before a volcanic eruption occurs. From such their system can effectively predict and warn people of an upcoming eruption.

They also mentioned that if the new system had been implemented on White Island (aka Whakaari) last year, it would have alerted them 16 hours prior to the deadly eruption that had killed 21 people.

Cronin and Dempsey used past seismic and eruption data to develop machine learning algorithms. This allows the machine to look for patterns within all the past data and thus what happens prior to an eruption. They stated that the eruption that occurred last year had a seismic warning 17 hours before the actual eruption.

The warning started as a four hour rapid burst of activity. The researchers believe that this is magmatic fluid rising to add pressure to the liquids and gasses trapped in the rock above it.

Eventually this will lead to a burst such as the lid of a pressure cooker being blasted. The historic data analysed also allowed them to see warnings in the eruptions that occurred several years ago. The eruption in August 2013 had a similar reading 30 hours before it erupted. They were also able to gather some sort of data warning from two more eruptions that happened in 2012.

The promising work of the two has netted them a publication in the Nature Communications Journal.

Why the quality of life in NZ is great

By

Cornelia Smith

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14 June 2025

New Zealand has an excellent work life balance and value all the important things in life, like spending time with family and friends, enjoying leisure time and doing hobbies. The country consistently rates high on quality of life rankings, beating out many other developed nations with much larger economies, so why is that?

Part of the reason is that New Zealand covers a huge land size with only a small fraction of the population of other developed countries such as the UK or Japan which means that everyone isn’t living on top of each other and there is less pollution and congestion. Less people cramped together means a reduction in health issues and less competition for space and natural resources which means costs for housing and utilities are more reasonable.

It’s also got a higher quality of life because companies in New Zealand value good work/life balance with many of them offering staff flexible working arrangements. New Zealand also has excellent leave entitlements available, leaving plenty of time for workers to take time out and enjoy their beautiful country.

There are also many different lifestyle options in New Zealand, whilst there are no endlessly sprawling cities, there are beautiful inner-city urban areas that offer all the comforts of having a city at your doorstep, but only a little way further you’ll find suburbs and semi-rural areas within easy reach of urban spaces. If you prefer your space it’s easy to find acres upon acres of uninterrupted land in New Zealand.

One of the great things about New Zealand and one of the reasons it often ranks so highly for quality of life is because commutes are much shorter. The cities and towns aren’t so crowded which means less time spent in traffic and more time at home.

How would a Universal Basic Income work in New Zealand?

By

Sophie Henley

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14 June 2025

How would a Universal Basic Income work in New Zealand

Many influential people around the world included the pope have called for countries to implement a Universal Basic Income (UBI). Essentially the UBI is an income that is paid to everyone with no tests or questions asked – even millionaires would receive this payment.

As it has been a hot topic around the world for some time, the New Zealand Finance minister Grant Robertson said that it could be a possibility for New Zealand. Universal Basic Income has been talked about for a while but as the need for benefits and food grows across the globe the topic has popped up again. Italy had a version of UBI before COVID-19 had even hit for the most vulnerable members of their society, Spain had a minimum vital income for their poorest citizens and many people are pushing for something similar to be pushed out in France and Germany. While Europe has had a big influence in getting the scheme pushed out will the rest of the world follow suit?

Finland had also trialed UBI on a smaller scale. The experiment randomly chose 2,000 unemployed individuals and supplied them with the payment. While many people were able to gain employment with the payments or even start a business – some saw no benefit from the scheme at all.

The Universal Basic Income was raised by Gareth Morgan during his election campaign and has been a strong advocate for the cause in New Zealand. He stated that it could help out a lot of people’s lives especially those that need support.

If the UBI was to roll out in New Zealand it would probably follow the same payments of the super benefit which is $22,000 a year. This would cost the country $90 billion each year which has been a touching point for those against it.

The rise of the side hustle in New Zealand

By

Sophie Henley

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14 June 2025

The rise of the side hustle in New Zealand

Entrepreneurship is on the rise in New Zealand, especially amongst millennials. The side hustle is becoming common amongst young Kiwi’s with many of them starting their own businesses alongside their full time jobs.

For many millennials, the side hustle is about more than just making some extra cash, it’s also about doing meaningful work. It has been found that in New Zealand more than a third of Kiwi’s have a side hustle. Young Kiwi’s enjoy the opportunity that they get from side hustles to pursue their passions without having to risk their financial stability on a full time business.

For some side hustlers, their side businesses can add up to a significant part of their annual salaries and are helping many people to become more financially stable, to save or buy homes in New Zealand where the cost of housing is on the rise.

The growth of side hustles can be attributed to the rise of easy to use and affordable digital technology and platforms which allow people to sell their products and services. There is a dark side to side hustles however, for many people the side hustle has risen from a need to make more income or to find more stable income due to the increasing casualisation of the workforce.

Many side hustlers have to fit their side incomes around full time work and feel the need to do it because their wages are not growing quickly enough or feel that they need a side hustle because they cannot find anything more than casual or part time employment. The rise of the gig economy for many is a sign of a bad change, making it more difficult for people to get permanent roles and earn the money they need to earn to survive.

$30m government announcement for new sports science facility in Upper Hutt

By

Monica Striegel

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13 June 2025

A new sports science facility has been given $30m in government funding to get it off the ground. Grant Robertson, the Minister of Finance, announced that the NZCIS (New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport) would be receiving the government grant.

Robertson stated that the hub is designed to be a world-class contender where it will offer a range of different services for different sports. The facility is not only intended for elite and professional sports but also for academies and local sporting groups.

The New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport is a component of a wider project involving the Central Institute of Technology in Trentham. In addition, the grounds will allows house a high performance sports hub, a training facility for government agencies (in the likes of the Defence Force and Corrections), and an incubator for high tech industries.

The 17 hectare site is planning on including a 1,000 square metre gym, four outdoor sports fields, a 70 by 50 metre indoor sports field, several pools, an altitude studio and cryotherapy facilities. As the hub is also intended to collect data for sports science, there will be 3 on-site analysis rooms where athletes and their teams will be able to gather and evaluate performance data.

It is expected that the NZCIS will create over 240 jobs for the residents of Upper Hutt. In light of the announcement Baseball NZ, Wellington Phoenix and Wellington Rugby have already signed up for the facilities at the soon to be hub.

The funding for the NZCIS is part of a $3 bilion COVID-19 Recovery and Response Fund for the infrastructure sector. Grant Robertson announced this fund on the 1^st of July where recently Hutt Valley received $39m from the fund and Upper Hutt’s Maidstone Sportshub received $12m.

Smart ways to save money

By

Sophie Henley

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13 June 2025

When you are trying to save money every little bit can make a difference. The sooner you start the sooner you will hit your goals. Below are some smart ways in which you can save money in New Zealand.

Set goals

Many people fail at saving because they haven’t set a goal. If you aren’t trying to achieve something why are you doing it? Setting short and long term goals can help make a massive difference and get you motivated.

Short term goals such as a holiday, new car or TV are great ways to get you motivated. Your long term goals should be larger such as an emergency fund or a deposit for a house.

Automate your saving habits

An easy way to get your saving is to automate the whole process. Setting up an automatic payment makes it so easy that you don’t even have to think about it. Line up the auto payment with your pay cheque so that once you have money in your account, a small amount of it will be thrown into your savings fund.

To make things a bit clearer for yourself, consider changing the name of your savings account to your goal. For example if your saving up for that house deposit change it to: New House.

Pay bills on time

A somewhat obvious way to save money but should still be mentioned is paying your bills on time. A lot of companies will charge you extra late fees if you don’t pay on time. Additionally some may also give you a discount if you pay them earlier than the due date.

You will be amazed how much you can save by paying things on time or early. To get on top of your bills you can also set up automatic payments.

Set goals

Automate your saving habits

Pay bills on time

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