November 2025 | Grey Power Rotorua

C Bavister

Secretary

November Ramblings

I know that the end of the year is fast approaching. If not, the Christmas “stuff” appearing in the shops will give you a BIG hint. Better go and buy a 2026 diary. Where did the year go?

An interesting article in the paper caught my eye. Many of the leaders of African countries are in their eighties and nineties. Maybe we should all consider a career change. I am also thinking about the people in Jamaica, after the hurricane came through with crocodiles swimming and roaming in the roads. Not for me, I struggle to cope with a cockroach.

The Grey Power Federation have been working closely with the Ministry of Health and Pharmac to have the shingle vaccination available free for over 65’s. We are hopeful. More on activities that the Federation does for us further down.

The Local elections have come and gone and we have a new council. Experienced councillors and new representatives. Do you have any local issues that you would like us to bring to the attention of council? Let us know.

While we ponder what gifts to buy for the family, remember the most important gift that you can give is your time. Never underestimate the power of a packet of chocolate biscuits, for a child, all to themselves.

Our office volunteers need a break as well as usual. The last day the office will be open is 11 December and opens again on 10 February. We will email you about it later and remind you strongly to pay your electricity account to Grey Power Electricity.

Octopus Energy NZ

Gayle Chambers, GP President

Planning for Electricity Outages

It’s been a wild few weeks around the country, with storms causing power outages in many regions. It’s a good reminder to check your emergency kit and make sure you’re prepared in case the lights go out.

Before it happens

Charge all devices
Fill containers with water
Check torch/candle locations
Keep battery radio handy

During an outage

Check your local lines company website for outage updates
Keep fridge/freezer doors closed
Unplug electronics to avoid power surge damage

Never

Use BBQ/camp stove indoors
Leave candles unattended
Touch fallen power lines - treat ALL downed lines as LIVE
Go near low-hanging lines

Medical needs

If you rely on electricity for medical equipment, ensure your backup plan is ready
If you are a medically dependent household you should notify your electricity provider

Grey Power Advocacy - Gayle Chambers, National President

Since the May 2026 visits to Parliament, we have not had the
opportunity to return.

However, in September, we put out requests to see Ministers and representatives from other parties after our quarterly face-to-face board meeting in November. We were very surprised, and delighted, to be given a thirty-minute slot with Tama Potaka, Associate Minister for Housing, where we will raise the subjects of a review of the accommodation subsidy, for those who qualify, living in rental accommodation, those who still have a mortgage and housing for seniors.

We have also been given a thirty-minute slot with Chris Bishop, Minister for Housing and Transport. This will give us another opportunity to discuss our Housing concerns, but more importantly the current, non-standardised method of older drivers going to re-sit their licence.

We will also be seeing Simon Watts, Minister for Energy, who is also very difficult to get a meeting with, and we have many hard-hitting questions to put to him.

In my time on the board, we have never had the opportunity to meet with any of these Ministers. We will also have return visits to Casey Costello, Minister for Seniors (who will be with Tama Potaka), Simeon Brown, Health Minister, David Seymour, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for PHARMAC, and Tangi Utikere, who holds the Transport portfolio for the Labour Party, Makiri Lee, ACC representative and Matthew Kenning NZ Post.

These visits will be held over a three-day period with myself, David Marshall, Graeme Peters and Margaret Sole (note taker).

Editor

LFHW

Neighbourly

Consumer NZ

Waiting Time for Surgery Survey Results

We'd like to thank all who participated in the survey. We have passed on your results to the Federation for their visit to the Government this month. You can download the Rotorua survey results by clicking HERE.

Love Food Hate Waste

There is a high amount of food waste happening during the festive and holiday season. Let's consider to prepare only the food we actually need and not cook for the whole extended whanau on every occasion we go to the kitchen.

Every year Kiwis' waste $3 billion dollars worth of food. That's $1,364 per household, per year. Not only is this a huge waste of money but it is an environmental disaster with 4% of our total greenhouse gasses coming from food waste in New Zealand.

There a number of things we can do and help is not far away either. Love Food Hate Waste NZ exists to empower New Zealanders to take action on household food waste. Go to their website and learn how to reduce your food waste.

Be Smart, Be Alert, Stay Safe

Is your car number plate secured with anti-theft screws?
Stay one step ahead of car thieves — check out the latest tips from the New Zealand Police on keeping your vehicle safe.
Spot suspicious activity or safety issues? Report them to your neighbourhood group and/or police right away.
Keep up with officially reported scams so you, family and friends stay one step ahead.
Report suspicious online behaviour to the institution affected, Netsafe NZ and/or police right away.
Ask for advice, offer help or post your best safety tips to keep everyone informed.
Don’t miss a recall! Get the latest product safety alerts.

eSIM for your Overseas Holidays

Sick of daily roaming charges while you’re overseas? An eSIM can keep you connected for a fraction of the price. But there are a few things you should know before you buy one.

A SIM (subscriber identity module) is a microchip that authenticates a phone number. When you slot a SIM card into your smartphone or tablet, it lets you make calls, send texts and use data over a 4G or 5G network. 

Savvy globetrotters avoid roaming costs on their phones by buying a local SIM card in each country they visit. But that requires hunting out a local store and buying the right little square of plastic to replace your New Zealand SIM. 

These days, you can usually save even more while travelling by buying embedded SIMs (eSIMs) instead.

Not every device has an eSIM chip, so you’ll need to make sure your device is compatible before you buy an eSIM. 

To check your device’s compatibility, dial *#06# on the device. This will bring up the device’s identification codes. Your phone is eSIM compatible if the codes include a number labelled ‘EID’ (not to be confused with ‘MEID’, which is an unrelated ID number). 

Every iPhone since the 2018 XS/XR series has eSIM capability. Android phones vary by brand and model. 

You’ll also need to make sure your phone isn’t locked to a particular network, which is sometimes the case for very cheap phones or ones bought on contract. You can almost always contact your provider to get a phone unlocked, but it might cost you. 

Perhaps the biggest practical barrier to using an eSIM overseas is two-factor authentication over SMS. If your bank sends you text messages to verify large purchases, for example, those texts will go to your regular SIM, and if you’ve switched it off to save money, you won’t receive the text.  Plan how you will get around this before you leave – you can often set up alternative two-factor authentication methods. 

You also won’t receive other calls or texts to your New Zealand number. You can always turn on roaming occasionally to catch up on anything you might have missed or if you’re expecting an important call at a certain time. Otherwise, you can ask people to contact you using a web-based service.

Consumer NZ assessed three eSIM providers:
Airalo: Best coverage and most versatile
Saily: Easiest to use
Instabridge: Cheapest for a single-destination trip