1959 - Pharmacy apprentice McClatchie’s Pharmacy Gisborne, Not a suitable job, so, within a few months, I started 31 years in public service broadcasting. I went to Auckland with 10 quid in my back pocket. Many fond memories of the work and colleagues!! Great fun! Then enhanced early retirement in late1989. Not a good time to go. Unemployment was almost 12%. I Jumped rather than being pushed. But it meant accepting a large future salary drop when I joined the then State Services Commission in 1990. After almost 20 years of service there, I was made redundant in 2010 on a bit more than my1989 salary! The Public Service career concept had finally died. Neoliberalism for you. Management knew the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Blinkered.

The Job required Secret category NZSIS clearance, so I was vetted. I was later a trusted messenger for the commission and the Minister’s Office, There had been a government budget-compromising leak in one of the central agencies. After that, some sensitive material had to be handled without courier use. In conclusion, the Commission's HR beliefs and practices resulted in 4 bosses in my last 4 months. Clueless. Ugh!

Happy in retirement, but deeply concerned about NZ’s future.

In my opinion, incorporating many aspects of Maori culture and knowledge will probably result in New Zealand going back to a country ruled by an unaccountable Maori tribal elite. Nowadays, power and money drive them. A minority of our population. They do not care for NZ's multicultural society or its democracy. They concentrate instead on its bicultural nature in 1840 and before.