Pharmac (go look it up) here in NZ has a big part to play in our overall lower health costs for medicines.

It's a crown owned entity that works out what drug is the best for a particular purpose and then says, "hey big pharma wanna have all the NZ'ers get cured of shitty disease x with your magic pill number 4? Well then gives us the generic brand and here's what we will pay." And then drives a sweet deal for all us kiwis.

It's that big of a thing that it's upset all the corporate fuckers that are driving the whole Trans Pacific fuck the little guy Partnership.

Then there is the ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) - It's not perfect by any means. But say for example you are playing football on the weekend and your blow your hamstring, well you rock on up to the local A&E, afterhours or medical centre etc, pay a fee of around $30-50nz, get checked over, if you need xrays/scans these maybe fully subsidised or again you may have to pay up to $50-80, get cheapo drugs from the pharmacy (thanks Pharmac) and go home and put your feet up. You're in the system now buddy!

Now have to put your foot up at home for the next 4 weeks, - what about work? I gotta get paid dog!! Don't worry homie ACC has got your back.

If your claim is approved (they pay first and ask questions later, after all you need to get better) you'll be paid 80% of your income while your at home working on your TV tan! ACC was created for workplace injuries, but falling of the ladder home still gets covered.

ACC works by all employers paying into the scheme via levies based on your wage/salary, also the higher risk of injury the workplace is the higher the levy the employer has to pay.

The pay off for ACC is that no-one is allowed to be sued. The govt will drop the hammer on the company, you get looked after by ACC. This has caused the odd issue here and there but overall. Sweet!

Disclaimer - This may all be a complete bunch of ass, but it's pretty close to the way it is.

if you listen you can here them calling "man overboard!" (two guys went over), but then the good old kiwi attitude prevails... "nah nah... keep going!". Awesome!

btw...these guys are getting up to 45-50 knots, or close to 60mph, that's 92kmh. I don't think sailboat or yacht applies anymore.

Heaps of good kiwi music in all kinds of genres.

There's drum and bass,
*related=http://videosift.com/video/Shapeshifter-Twin-Galaxies-Official-Music-Video

metal
*related=http://videosift.com/video/Beast-Wars-Tower-of-Skulls

folk/country
*related=http://videosift.com/video/The-Eastern-Oh-Mystery

and whatever the hell Kora are doing this week
*related=http://videosift.com/video/Kora-Skankenstein-offical-music-video

that's not a fail, that's a win, so many kiwi's moved across the Tasman to get the dole that this orange land is now the WEST island of NZ. muhahaah

In NZ, there is a mentality among small business owners referred to as "Boat, bach and BMW". Essentially it states that once kiwi business people make enough money to have a boat, a bach (kiwi slang) and a BMW, they lose interest in expanding their business any further.

The government, lobby groups, economic "think tanks" and so on are always complaining about this.

My response has always been "why?". If I had enough money to live comfortably and buy the little luxuries I want, why on earth would I keep working myself to the bone?

I know some people work because they love what they do and that's cool, but working just so you can have another million or billion or whatever? What's the point?

I have now lived in either Australia or New Zealand for the past decade. Cricket is very popular in both countries. Apparently at the moment, the australians are good at it and the kiwis suck at it (kinda like rugby but in reverse).

Either way, I attempted to watch a match once, and I don't have a goddamned clue what the hell the idea of the game is. Best I can tell, it's like an even more boring version of baseball, which frankly, I didn't think was possible. Basically, it's an excuse for a bunch of people to sit in the sun drinking beer while watching some middle aged guys do some mild exercise.

Example of a Kiwi accent. I believe you are correct in your assumption. Cheers mate.

The guy with the camera sounds like a Kiwi, but the rest all sounded like locals (it's a Melbourne train, I didn't pick which station though, it's not one I frequent).

It's a great shame that most Australians either don't object or actively support the right for gays and lesbians to marry, but both major parties block it.

The Labor gov. (ostensibly socialist) has enough support in the balance of power cross benchers to get this through, but members of the party, including the Prime Minister, are opposed to it...

The Kiwis, who we often make fun of as backwards sheep shaggers, are once again proving to be far more advanced in the realm of human rights than we are.

Ngā mihi nui me te aroha nui (congratulations and best wishes!)

How about we make spiked gun factories that make fruit instead of guns. And then we'd simply need to defend ourselves from bananas and kiwis and other semi-dangerous fruit types. That way we don't kill enemy combatants, we capture them; and when our own soldiers find these fruit in their own armories, they can consume them as nourishment.

Come on! It's brilliant, AND I know of the perfect training instructor for the job. Though he may actually kill you upon defending your fruit attack. Due to this risk, it's probably best to simply let enemy combatants find and distribute these arms without training in the operation of them.

Oh haha! I arrived at your page just to say the same thing, however late!
Happy New Year Kiwi!

Happy New Year Kiwi!

When did kiwis start driving? Show me please.

Sometimes, I am just so proud to live in NZ. I look forward to the day when my dog can drive me home from the pub.

Frankly, they couldn't be much worse than the average kiwi driver.

>> ^brycewi19:

Because of Kiwi Peter Jackson and how much the films are associated with the area, I think this justifies a downunder channel.


Absolutely, can't believe I didn't tag that!