I was interviewed by Debi Evans, UK Column News

This was a broad ranging conversation about life in NZ from my personal perspective, reflecting on the covid era.

Here’s the link to the interview on the UK Column News (1 hr):

https://www.ukcolumn.org/video/brave-new-zealand-with-dr-ursula-edgington

and Spotify:

Any edited, relatively short interview about massively complex matters, is bound to have things missing and potential misinterpretations. So I want to add some context here. These are my own opinions, based on my own perspective as a Brit. I have some diverse experiences of living in NZ over the past >10 years, and compare these to living in the UK and my extensive travel internationally.

So some points to clarify that were either edited-out or I forgot to respond to Debi (it was very early in the morning)!

• Importantly, there IS a legal requirement to have a driving licence. Most people do have one. However, because of the archaic police and other authority systems here (eg no Auto Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR) here) it’s impossible to quantify those who are ‘under the radar’. In the UK, there’s no way a driver could get away with driving from A to B at night with a light out, or without insurance. Those kinds of roadside checks are extremely rare here. There is no comprehensive insurance database because vehicle insurance is not mandatory. There are exceptions - eg if you have a loan secured on a vehicle, you must have 3rd party insurance. But generally, there are unknown numbers of people who drive when their licence has been revoked (drink/drug driving offences) or should have been revoked (eg for medical reasons) or other reasons. It’s a highly complex matter, but the lack of mandatory insurance (and escalating costs making it a ‘luxury’ product) means there is no coherent connection between a ‘safe’ vehicle and its driver. 

• It was the Border workers who were the first to be impacted by the Vaccination Order (July 2021) in NZ. That was expanded to healthcare workers and then teachers in Oct 2021. I didn’t mean to not mention the border workers, it’s just that I’m not involved with helping any of those staff at all. For me, it was clear when they started sacking nurses, drs and teachers that this was never about public health! The impact of technology on our education system undoubtedly played a part in that compliance, and I talk a bit about that topic in another interview I did with Dr Michael Johnston from the think tank the NZ Initiative, here (30 mins):

Some people claim New Zealanders ARE materialistic. This topic is very subjective, obviously. Having spent a lot of time in Europe and the USA, Kiwis generally are NOT as materialistic by comparison. Yes, some people own multiple houses but this is misleading - the properties are often viewed as [land] ‘investments’ without adequate improvements being made over time (much of the housing stock is uninhabitable by UK standards). Landlords do not benefit from tax-breaks for improvements like UK landlords, so there are little incentives for engaging with a property. And many people have multiple mortgages - exacerbating nationally the high levels of personal debt. Salaries are comparably low. Cost of living is high. The average age of vehicles here is much higher than the UK - about 13 years+. It is the minority of wealthy NZers (maybe some who have moved here from those culturally more materialistic countries) who display their assets. And that comes with its own ‘Tall Poppy’ stigma, as I’ve written about extensively in academic papers and summarised in a previous post here:

I also mentioned Tall Poppy Syndrome in a podcast with

Actionable Truths & Actions

here:

• At one point in my conversation with Debi, I said ‘in the Auckland area’ that means the ‘golden triangle’ i.e. the area between the cities of Hamilton, Tauranga and Auckland, where yes, within that relatively small area, 60% of the entire population of NZ live. That’s why Immigration NZ offer ‘incentives’ for people to live elsewhere (where there’s less jobs)! This exacerbates the rural/urban social divide, which our education system does little to address.

• The public healthcare service was poor before covid, depending on where and when you were patient, generally it was viewed as good/adequate. Certainly my own (limited) experience of hospital care was positive. My emphasis in this interview was the change since Covid - and there is plenty of evidence of the total collapse of the A&E unit near me here. Everyday. 

• ACC is a scam and tries to eliminate claims whenever it can . It was set up originally when NZ was half the population it has now and has avoided change. It is a ‘type’ of insurance scheme because it has an underwriting/investment fund. There hasn’t been much analysis of ACC (and its failure) over the decades, but I’m happy to share some resources if anyone is interested in going down that rabbit hole!

I appreciate the opportunity for feedback. 

Thanks so much to Debi and Stephanie for arranging this conversation and highlighting some important parallels between the countries. We are unravelling more about the devious doings of our various Governments everyday.

NZ has been described as a ‘phantom’ of the Five Eyes, and there’s a good reason for that! 

Published UK Column articles by me can be found here. My environmental advocacy work is at peoplesinquiry2020.nz.

Links to groups I mentioned to Debi:

Health Forum New Zealand — Citizens' support relevant to the vaccine-injured and bereavement.

Nurses' Professional Association of New Zealand Nurses for Freedom NZ.

NZ Teachers Speaking out with Science (NZTSOS) — fighting a legal battle for acknowledgement of and compensation for the illegality of ‘vaccine’ mandates — currently crowdfunding for the costs of a Supreme Court case

NZ Doctors Speaking out with Science (NZDSOS) 

Realitycheck.radio — New Zealand's online independent radio station, giving a voice to the silenced.

Reachingpeople.net — an excellent resource to help with difficult conversations