u/OddityModdity

Le Quesnoy was liberated by New Zealand soldiers on November 4, 1918 after four years of occupation by Germany. No civilians were killed, and the town wasn't destroyed.

This sparked a deep gratitude from locals, which has remained to this day.

More than 100 Kiwi soldiers were killed in the wider Le Quesnoy area.

There are street signs with references to New Zealand, ferns grow next to the city's namesake oaks, New Zealand flags hang next to French flags over the Anzac period and every year locals remember what was done to help free them.

With inflation spiking once again, new figures from an Inland Revenue report estimate inflation has driven billions in additional taxes paid by Kiwis over the past 16 years.

In a briefing to Finance Minister Nicola Willis, obtained by Newsroom under the Official Information Act, officials estimated middle-income Kiwis were paying $2 billion more a year in taxes because of the slow creep of inflation, compared with tax paid when brackets were last significantly adjusted in 2010.

The good news is that competition for the jobs is falling as more jobs doesn't always mean more in work sadly.

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The number of job advertisments continued to grow in March, although at a slower pace than in previous months.

The latest SEEK NZ Employment Report showed job ads rose 0.8 percent in March compared with February, but were still 13 percent higher than a year earlier.

At the same time, competition for jobs continued to ease, with applications per job ad falling 2.8 percent from the previous month - the sixth consecutive monthly decline.

At a regional level, the South Island remained the standout.