Our troll zoo is open! Prize specimens are on display at trollsnzandkoolaid.wordpress.com
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E2NZ.org is a collective and welcomes comments and information about life in New Zealand from migrants, visitors, students and people who are interested in the country.
We aim to provide a site tailored to supporting the specific interests of our loyal readership and we welcome their feedback. Please read the Welcome page to find out what we’re about.
If you’ve got something to say please make sure it’s on topic and within the guidelines, otherwise it may not get published.
The most frequent reason why comments don’t get published is because they contain “don’t like it then leave” remarks and or ad hominem attacks. If you do this your whole comment will be deleted, which is a shame because you put such effort into writing it, and you risk being banned. (see our trolling zero tolerance policy down the page).
If you’re you’re just dropping by for a chat please visit The Agora, an open discussion place to talk about whatever interests you, or contact us on Twitter at @E2NZ or @AltNewZealand. NB. We don’t use email to talk to people so please don’t be offended if we don’t reply to you using this method.
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Think of this as a safe place. We like to provide an empowering place where people can express themselves without censorship, fear of ridicule or personal attack for having an opinion. This concept is not alien to New Zealanders who sometimes call it Tūrangawaewae (‘A place to stand’). However, it is a concept that is rarely practiced in New Zealand, we’re delighted to be able to offer it here.
Don’t
Ad hom attacks not welcome here
Troll. No don’t, really. Its that simple.
We have a zero tolerance trolling policy. To keep E2NZ.org as ‘a place to stand,’ threats, harassment (including of the site’s admin), multiple IDs, using fake IP addresses and other forms of trolling will earn offenders an immediate lifetime ban with no exceptions. Persistent offenders on a mission may be named, shamed, and have knobbly sticks poked at them in our troll zoo trollsnzandkoolaid.wordpress.com.
Our troll zoo has some prize specimens, famed for their bad hair and slack jaws … visit at trollsnzandkoolaid.wordpress.com
Make threats against the site, the people who comment here or the admin. Where applicable, harassment and abuse will be reported to the offender’s IP company and Netsafe NZ.
Make ad hom attacks. Address the issue, do not attack the person. Please do not make ‘don’t like it then leave‘ types of comments, they will be deleted and earn you a ban. Some people would dearly love to leave New Zealand, others still want to stay and help make the country better. With a million Kiwis already living overseas, New Zealand needs all the help it can get. Respect the people who want to stay to make it work.
Make Straw Men; or rant on about other countries’ issues and use them as a justification for poor standards in New Zealand. Being told ‘it’s so much worse in xyz’ doesn’t make it any easier to accept the same type of crap in NZ, just on a smaller scale. Remember, NZ is often falsely marketed to migrants on the basis that it doesn’t suffer from those problems. Very often those issues are worse in New Zealand than elsewhere in the world because of its poverty gap, social disconnectedness and isolation.
Try to serve up Kool-Aid on a site whose objective is to take a long hard look at New Zealand. Don’t suggest that those who don’t like the taste of Kool-Aid are defective and you’re ok. Before you begin to recite the gospel of New Zealand ask yourself “who am I really trying to convince?”
Like what we have to say? Our stock response to you is “either learn to live with it or don’t read it. Close the page or move away from the screen. It’s your problem if you can’t deal with what people think.”
Spam filter
Occasionally genuine comments get caught in the spam filter and are deleted without being read. If you think this may’ve happened to you please accept our apologies, try again or contact us on Twitter.
We also use the filter to ban trolls and proxy/VPN IP addresses, if you’re not getting published its more likely to be because you’re being naughty. Your earnest missives are ending up with Nigerian love potions and Vitamin C serums, and meeting the same fate. They don’t get read.
Can’t handle that? Maybe it’s time for you to ease off on the Kool-Aid.
E2NZ.org 
Admin, you are totally right, you made a comment that the only kiwis that talk highly about NZ and how great it is are the ones that do not live in NZ! lol…they are the ones that live a good lifestyle with high pay in countries like Aus or UK but have the nerve to say NZ is a great country…great in what? scenery? and thats about it…
The place is very remote, cold and empty apart from towns scattered across it.
I actually met a guy many years ago who is a kiwi but lives overseas but in my e-mails after he left NZ, I voiced out the realities of NZ, he could not handle and went ape shit trying to write a 2 page article explaining to me how NZ was better than other places..lol
Hi E2NZ and fellow readers,
I have last year posted a story about my migrant experiences in NZ, it is called Amir’s Story, you may have read it. Well as you may or may not know, I have been in NZ since the 80’s and have traveled overseas many times.
Now recently I took a month off work and traveled to Australia, I visited the state of Victoria and stayed in Melbourne and traveled through the state of Victoria and got a good feel of Australia in city and small towns.
As you know Australia is New Zealand’s so called bigger brother, the much bigger British colony and the two countries have similar laws and rules.
Now during my stay and because of my NZ accent, nobody could tell I was a foreign tourist so I acted like I lived in Melbourne and worked in Melb to see how people interact to me both in Melbourne and in other small towns.
Firstly I found Melbourne huge and extremely vibrant. So multicultural and the city is well designed, there are trams running inside the CBD free tram zone area and yes, its free as long as its inside the big CBD boundary. The city also has been intricately built and it has huge beautifully designed buildings that resemble Europe in the empire days. Also any cafe or eatery that I went, I found the prices very competitive and decent. Now comparing that back to Auckland where it is simply a small CBD with cafe’s that even once charged me for water, Auckland is a joke.
Also in Melbourne, because it is Multicultural, you never feel you are alone or bored because there is too much to do and see. For example one night I went to Carlton district which is North Melbourne, an Italian restaurant precinct. I found people welcoming and connected with me easily whereas in NZ if I go to a kiwi restaurant I get a feeling of exclusion. And as I said even in Carlton which is an upmarket area the restaurant prices are competitive whereas say in Parnell, they will rip you off in an unseen way because they feel it is Parnell…lol
Than I traveled in my friends car to small Victorian towns on the outskirts of Melbourne. I was astonished to find that in small towns, almost all buildings were in beautiful brick exterior and very detailed and well designed. The houses amazed me, yes I did see wooden exterior homes but not as many as huge brick homes that were intricately designed. Compare to NZ, most homes are over priced wooden shit boxes. Kiwis simply do not have the money nor the taste in design.
Even in the the town centres of small towns there were huge stone built churches and statues, I was astonished. And being a middle eastern I thought they would stare at me or be rude but actually they were very friendly. Whereas in NZ, say if you go to Rotorua as I wasted 2 days there last year, the town has nothing other than the thermal spa in which they overcharge for. And I had people stare at me and try to get in my face as kiwis lack confidence. Also in almost every small town in NZ there always has to be gang presence or morons who are xenophobic.
Whereas I did not felt that in Australia small town.
And the basics of say milk, bread and petrol are cheap in Australia. Petrol ranged from $1.20 to $1.40 max whereas in NZ it is over 2 dollars a litre!
Overall Australia is vast, there is racism there too but because the country is big and prosperous and multicultural, you do not have to tolerate at and can stay in your own circle whereas in NZ you really cannot avoid it, there is always a kiwi this and kiwi that and as a migrant you are outnumbered you often feel trapped.
When you look at NZ on a map compared to Australia, NZ’s size is laughable, it looks like a scenic rock in the middle of the vast Pacific ocean.
Overall NZ is simply too small, its economy is too small and prosperity is limited. I give credit to some kiwis who are decent and not ignorant and are trying hard to move the country forward, but they are outnumbered by the amount if racist and xenophobic imbeciles who roam the country.
you cannot advance the country by ways of agriculture and tourism as your main source of income with a very small population.
If I get lucky I really like to land a job in Australia but it is hard.
I’m so glad you’re doing a piece on the wellington twitterari. For too long they’ve been the scourge of NZ internet, with deep links to those who control r/NZ and other influential social media.
Keep up the good work with #unselfieFriday, I can see that its getting HUGE uptake and I bet you’ve already raised thousands for hungry children or earthquake awareness or hungry children in earthquakes.
Some scandals that you should add to your report:
1) In 2015 “Megapoop” got several people banned after they criticised his sausage photos. Ask around, people will back this up.
2) “Dairyman” isn’t actually a real farmer, it’s all a giant con just to get kudos from the farming community.
3) The “twitterati” meet every month in Levin and plan in advance what is going to be big on Twitter. Again, ask around, people have verified this.
4) What happened to that Rawshark guy? He got scared off. Ask yourself who did that.
It sounds like Megapope thinks positive Twitter chatter will drown out the real unfiltered experiences of newcomers to New Zealand.
Also that “making fun of E2NZ, is going to make people ignore the website”. Just LOL.
Interesting ideas, but just like the Brexit that was unexpected, and the Donald win that I believe is coming … it’s going to be for naught.
Humanities graduates have some interesting views about public relations and controlling the discourse.
A very useful website, much much appreciated, have sent the site to half a dozen kiwi expat friends and we all are in agreement with most of the insights. Im a kiwi living overseas for 20 years (UK, USA, currently Asia last 10 years) and have experienced the deteriation of opportunities, the rapid change in the national psyche to unalterated greed, loss of community, the horredous prices for consumer staples. My only defense is it wasn’t always like this. How about a section specifically for returning or diaspora kiwis that wish to leave or not return, it would add credibility and objectivity to the site.
[Deleted: other places. Don’t troll.]