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Image: Archi Banal
Image: Archi Banal

SocietyJanuary 26, 2023

A short list of all New Zealand’s shortages

Image: Archi Banal
Image: Archi Banal

From eggs to houses and (almost) everything in between.

If there’s one thing New Zealand doesn’t currently have a shortage of, it’s shortages. It’s a word so commonly seen at the supermarket or in the news at the moment that it’s stopped looking like a real word. 

For a while, New Zealand’s stock struggles were linked to Covid-19, with global supply chains disrupted as the world shut down. Think back to 2020, when toilet paper and flour became our most precious commodities. Since then, however, a number of other items have gone on the endangered species list as we’ve experienced limits triggered by other global struggles like the Ukraine war, along with pressures closer to home. As one hospitality worker put it in a recent interview with Stuff: “You name it and there’s a shortage.”

Turns out it’s not just hospitality feeling the pinch, though it’s certainly an industry being unfairly hit by global disruption. So what’s currently on short supply? Here is The Spinoff’s non-exhaustive list of everything that’s currently hard-to-find in New Zealand.

Eggs

You’ve been reading about it everywhere for the past few weeks: eggs are proving incredibly elusive these days, in cartons bigger than six anyway. Supermarkets have brought in limits, shelves have been barren, and the BBC went as far as to declare that the future of the pavlova is at risk. It’s even been prompting a surge in chicken owners, or at least interest in becoming one.

So what exactly is going on? Writing for The Spinoff earlier this month, Olivia Sisson explained that it was linked to the introduction of legislation first enacted a decade earlier that would outlaw battery caged eggs. “To meet demand, New Zealand needs 2.8-2.9 million laying hens. There are now only 2.5 million,” she explained. On a side note: finding tasty, non-woody chicken breasts has also become a challenge.

eggs
A squeeze on eggs is being felt across the industry. (Image: Getty Images / Design: Archi Banal)

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Craft brewers Garage Project revealed last week that thousands of litres of otherwise finished beer cannot be sold due to a shortage of CO2. The company warned that unless a new supply was obtained within the next week or two, it risked running out completely – truly awful news for the hot summer months. 

As Stuff explained, the shortage – which is also impacting some meat processing – has been caused by the closure of the Marsden Point refinery in 2022 along with an outage at the country’s only remaining commercial carbon dioxide producer, the Todd Energy plant.

Skills

There are always areas that struggle to find skilled workers, but Covid-19 exacerbated this dramatically. A recent survey found permanent job offerings dropped by about 23% in the September quarter, with flexible work offers down by 18.4%. “There remains a significant national skills shortage and finding skilled labour is still a huge challenge,” said RCSA’s council chair Jon Ives.

Workers

Inherently linked to the shortage of skills is the shortage of workers in general. While we may not quite be at the “brain drain” level of discussion over immigration, the number of people leaving New Zealand shot up during the pandemic. In November 2021, Stats NZ reported migration showed a net loss of 12,700. In the same time last year, the figures had flicked back to a net gain – but only of 5,700. That contributed to the country’s low unemployment rate of just 3.3%.

The government moved to tackle this shortage in December last year when it introduced changes to the immigration fast list, encouraging the likes of nurses, midwives and certain labourers to come live in New Zealand.

A clear day, the Skytower silhouetted, huge cranes rising up all around it, construction in the foreground
Construction is one industry that’s been calling out for help (Photo: Fiona Goodall, Getty Images News)

Bus drivers

Noticed your bus to work being cancelled more lately? That’s because New Zealand is facing a shortage of bus drivers, triggering widespread cancellations in our main centres. It was reported last week that about the country’s largest bus operator had filled 100 positions from overseas workers in an effort to curb the number of services being cancelled. In Wellington, for example, the Herald reported that services had been running on a Saturday timetable throughout January – a 20% reduction in scheduled trips.

Orange juice

At least at McDonald’s, reported Stuff at the end of last year. The fast food chain said it had rationed supplies of OJ in its stores because of international shortages triggered by Covid-19. Meanwhile, KFC briefly cut back on its coleslaw sales due to a lack of dressing. 

Bread

In news triggering to those of us who lived through the great flour shortage of 2020, an Auckland supermarket enforced a strict one-bread limit earlier this year in response to supply disruptions. As the Herald reported, shoppers at the Glen Eden Fresh Choice were forced to make the devastating choice: do you want to buy a pack of rolls or a loaf of bread? Thankfully this does not appear to be a nationwide dilemma, though it’s not the only time bread has been a valuable commodity in recent times.

Ibuprofen

In its liquid form only, reported Stuff last week. Pharmac warned consumers that there was a supply issue for the Ethics branded ibuprofen liquid, prompting stock issues in some pharmacies. The good news, though: this is likely to be resolved in the next couple of weeks.

Housing

What shortage list would be complete without referencing New Zealand’s most perennial shortage of them all: housing. While housing prices may have eased in 2022, there is still a massive shortage of mid-priced housing, especially with interest rates on the rise. That being said, KiwiBank reported last year that the housing shortage had shrunk down to about 23,000 homes, compared with almost 60,000 the year prior. “From Covid, despite the lack of materials, and despite the difficulty finding staff, StatsNZ estimates a total of over 41,000 homes were built in the year to June 2022,” senior economist Jeremy Couchman said in August.

A sub-shortage within the housing shortage is gib, which prompted the creation of the plasterboard task force last year.

The perennial New Zealand shortage – houses (Photo: Getty Images)

Road seal

One of the more recent shortages to emerge is a lack of road seal, prompting delays to road recovery work. The Herald this week reported that scheduled work on State Highway 2 was bumped “as a result of a resourcing shortage”.

PVC pipe

This one is weird, but shows the power of social media. Thanks to TikTok, sales of certain piping have sold out after it was revealed they can be inserted into a car’s drinks holder in order for it to fit large drink bottles, specifically the Frank Green range. Confused? Watch this video – and then try to resist the urge to head straight to Bunnings in search of a bit of pipe.

This list will continue to be updated, pending supply of available writers.

Keep going!
A bike helmet.
Image: Archi Banal

OPINIONSocietyJanuary 26, 2023

Should you wear a bike helmet?

A bike helmet.
Image: Archi Banal

Are helmets a necessary safety measure, a cause of health issues, a government cop out – or something more complex?

I usually wear a helmet on my bike commute to work. Recently, however, I’ve discovered a new, safer route that mostly keeps me away from rush hour car traffic. My new, safer route has inspired me to ride without a helmet. That either makes me a reckless criminal or some sort of liberated free spirit – the concerned expressions I’ve received from pedestrians, drivers and other cyclists since I ditched my helmet make me think it’s the former.

But expert evidence on whether or not you should wear a bike helmet has been inconclusive at best and contradictory at worst.

In 2012, a New Zealand Medical Journal report correlated our compulsory helmet laws with bike use halving. Since helmets contributed to less cycling, the study blamed health issues on compulsory helmet laws, even claiming the rule caused 53 annual deaths from lack of exercise.

The University of British Columbia’s cycling cities research programme found that Canadian helmet laws did not equate to reduced bike-related hospitalisations. Their study argued that helmets, which only protected cyclists during a crash, had become a diversion from crash prevention measures, like dedicated space for bikes separate from cars. 

A 2018 US study, on the other hand, puts forward a strong safety case for helmets.

That study compiled data from 55 studies between 1989 and 2017. It found that helmets reduced “head injury by 48%, serious head injury by 60%, traumatic brain injury by 53%, face injury by 23%, and the total number of killed or seriously injured cyclists by 34%.” 

A graphic outlining the safety stats for bike helmets.
The safety stats for bike helmets (Graphic: Accident Analysis & Prevention)

So it seems that the experts can’t agree on whether bike helmets are good or bad – on one hand they decrease the number of cyclists and stop us from taking better preventative safety measures, but on the other they also protect cyclists from injury.

Since the expert evidence is so inconclusive, I decided to talk to my cycling colleague Shanti about why she wears a helmet. Much like the experts, Shanti’s answer was complex. 

Although she wears one, Shanti questioned why helmet use is compulsory in New Zealand. She wears a helmet to respect the law, worrying about being ticketed by police when she doesn’t. Her whānau also has a history of bike accidents, a particularly nasty one happening to her dad. Even Shanti hasn’t been left unscathed, having been hit by a car at a roundabout and spraining her thumb. But she said whenever she forgets her helmet she enjoys feeling the breeze in her hair. 

Interestingly, Shanti noted that helmet use is also a cultural habit. Wearing a helmet has been a deeply ingrained part of bike culture in the English-speaking world since the late 20th century. Australia was the first to legally require helmet use in 1990, with New Zealand following closely after in 1994. Another deeply ingrained part of bike culture in English-speaking nations is that bikes with cars sharing the road is not only acceptable, it’s the preferred practice.

Kids illegally riding bikes on the footpath
A scene from a Kellog’s advert that was removed for showing kids illegally riding on the footpath. (Screenshot: Kellog’s)

New Zealand’s Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 legally mandates helmet use and requires bicycles to ride on the road with cars. It is illegal to ride a bike on a footpath – even for many children. Only those delivering mail/newspapers or kids bikes with a wheel diameter width of 35.5cm or less are exempt. 

But riding alongside cars makes biking much more dangerous. In the US, 96% of bike fatalities involve a car. 

In places that focus on preventing accidents with cars, bike fatalities are rare. Denmark and the Netherlands, world leaders in bike safety, have comprehensive networks of bike infrastructure that are safely separated from cars. Yet, in both places, barely anyone wears a helmet. The safer infrastructure reduces the risk of injury and crashes ninefold. Helmets, on the other hand, only reduce injuries twofold and do nothing to prevent crashes.

Dutch cyclists with few helmets to be seen.
Dutch cyclists, only a few wearing helmets. (Photo: FietsBeraad)

As it turns out, cars drive less carefully around cyclists with helmets compared to those without, according to research by Dr Ian Walker from the University of Bath.

Since I stopped wearing a helmet, I have technically become a criminal. But since cars cause so many bike fatalities, is the government not criminally complicit by forcing cyclists onto the road? No matter the answer, the reality in New Zealand is that we don’t have a comprehensive separated bike network like the Netherlands.

Legalities aside, whether or not you should wear a helmet ultimately comes down to personal preference. If wearing a helmet makes you feel safe enough to ride a bike, then do it. If a helmet inhibits you from cycling, choose a less car-infested route. Whatever gets you onto a bike is good for your health and the planet.

Either way, if you want to stay genuinely safe, think carefully about where you are cycling and what transport modes you’re sharing space with.

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