We had a number of apologies at our last meeting owing to people away, illness and accident, and family commitments but it did not detract from a really enjoyable and informative evening.
Jon Duffy CEO of Consumer NZ was a very entertaining and informative speaker, he has more than 20 years experience working in the consumer field. This includes roles at the Commerce Commission, heading the Trust and Safety Team at Trade Me, and more recently Assistant Privacy Commissioner. He is Deputy Chair of Netsafe,and has been on the Board of Consumer NZ since 2014.
He has an affinity with Rotary, his father was a Rotarian in the Johnsonville Club and Jon was an exchange student to Germany.
Consumer NZ has been around for 60+ years and until the 90’s was partially Government funded, they now rely on subscriptions and various other avenues for funding including contracted investigative work. From my perspective this is not a bad thing as there can be no political or corporate bias in the findings and advice supplied by Consumer NZ to the public. They are an investigative organisation and base their findings on data driven evidence. A current focus for them is the Cost of Living , a very topical subject right now.
We are all very aware of some of the big issues Consumer NZ has been and continues to be involved in and Jon touched on some of those.
* Supermarkets. He noted that some of the policies currently in place particularly around advertising are at times suspect, particularly in areas of Multi Buys and Specials. Often the advertising is misleading and buyers are not really getting a bargain at all . We can help curtail this practice by sending any evidence of false advertising or overcharged items straight to Consumer NZ.
* Retirement Villages. These are currently under review around the contractual arrangements most operate. While they may be one of the most efficient house builders in NZ, the terms of their contract are unfair particularly around the inference of life time care and the withholding of exit payments.
* Climate Greenwashing is another area worthy of scrutiny. This is where products are marketed as being linked to sustainability . People are more award now of the environment and frequently research products to check sustainability and often the claims are extremely vague and lack any valid research detail.
* Data and Privacy. There are 29 Supermarkets in the North Island that are currently using facial recognition in their stores. This is cutting edge technology not yet being used by law enforcement because it is seen to be too unprecise, and Consumer NZ believes the public should be aware of the usage as does the Privacy Commission.
* Health and Safety. While Todd Muller’s Bill to Parliament has made it regulatory to disclose, it is still under the realm of cosmetics so real rigour is lacking. But positive steps have been made.
Jon took questions throughout so there was good discussion and we were certainly left with much food for thought.
Carole Ansley called again for volunteers for the garden working bee at HHV on Wednesday 12th The team ( Carole, Glenice, Steve, Geoff and myself) went ahead and completely cleared both front and back gardens of our Cottage. I have to confess the male muscle made a huge and positive difference to our efforts. Next step some planting. There is still work to do and of course it will need maintaining so anyone interested in lending a hand please get in touch with Carole.
Jim Duckworth updated us on the Easter Weekend Day at the Village and from all accounts vast quantities of delicious bread, bread sticks and even Hot Cross Buns were enjoyed by very large crowds.
Poppy Day is 21st April and we now have 12 volunteers selling on the day. Our support is greatly appreciated by the RSA.
ANZAC Day is Tuesday 25th April and Malcolm will lay a wreath on our behalf at the Civic Ceremony on Stockade Hill.
Members are reminded that because ANZAC day is a public holiday there will be no meeting on 25th April.
Our next meeting is TUESDAY 9th MAY. The speaker is Professor Paul Moon who has some thoughts about the Treaty of Waitangi that are seen by some as quite controversial. It could be very interesting and partners may be interested and like to join us.
Kia Tupato,Kia noho haumaru
Take care, stay safe
Madeleine East MNZM
President
Club Visit to Nautech Electronics