The Apartheid state of Israel is the largest right wing hate movement… it kills on a war crime scale.. and it's reaching out
the fact that far-right European governments and parties today are growing ever closer to Israel shows a “convergence of fascist and neo-Nazi groups with hardliner Zionists.”
As a worrying UK example of this, anti-Muslim fascist leader Tommy Robinson’s recent trip to Israel and funding by anti-Palestinian groups.
I'm linking to a 5 minute doco that tells us information NZ should know about the sub humane christchurh shooter … as the title shows his name … I have spaced gap ( h ttp ), undo that if / when you copy and paste it.
The information is important as it raises things we should be guarding against …. and are perhaps blind to.
We should at least look at things like ' the shooter claims that ethno nationalists like himself are concentrated in the European armed forces and national police forces' … may be relevant to why his filthy great big red flags were ignored in our preventable terrorist tragedy.
And it identifies … The phrases and words …. 'Invaders' language …. … tRump or our National Party .. that grows and feeds …. this hate mindset for votes .
we need to see the scale of what has been growing on around us .. and we have been blind to.it
I hope the moderators here amend my back-space link block …and allow the title to be seen. I know the shooters name just like I know Martyn Bryants name … both of which I associate with men who would chase little children .. to shoot them.
We are adults, I think we could be helping to forget … before we have even learned.
@reason, too right, and of course what do the guard dog defenders of liberal status quo like the Guardian and NYTimes do in the face of this out right racist war..double down on their relentless smearing and disinformation on the two politicians (Corbyn, Sanders) who have had decades fighting racism..most so called MSM ‘liberal’ media is public enemy number one, you want some real fake or misconstrued and misleading news..look no further than your daily MSM liberal news sources…that is news in fact.
There are degrees of cruelty. Imprisoning families for a few days (capture and release) is one thing – seperating children from their families without the ability to reunite them, putting large groups of children in wire netting cells without the means to keep them sanitary is quite another.
" U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee had found that migrants in Rio Grande Valley facilities were hungry, with some eating only “sandwiches of two pieces of dry bread and one slice of ham.” They were thirsty, with up to 20 migrants sharing the same cup to drink from the water cooler. They were embarrassed to use a toilet in front of 50 other people and they couldn’t take a shower or brush their teeth or even wash their hands with soap and dry them with a towel, the judge found. At night, they couldn’t sleep. The lights were left on, as they shivered beneath an aluminum blanket on the concrete floor, the judge found. "
Yep – it's deliberate use of cruelty as a deterrent. Something the Ockers have been doing for a while now. It's likely to become the 'go to' strategy in the face of CC-driven food shortages increasing refugee flows – and it will fuel the rise of the far right everywhere. As the resource (food, water) competition tightens, a similar strategy of containment will be deployed against unwanted internal populations as well.
It's uncomfortable to contemplate to say the least. AB I see you as being correct.
And if anyone doubts the depths we could descend to, and our neighbours across the ditch, just note that we have the example of extermination of Jews, gypsies, imperfect people (not shining Aryan types), and the dehumanising of many in WW2. This by a nation that had been the basis of Protestant Christianity, had highly educated and sophisticated people, and was far from being a simple society that was locked into eternal wars and vendettas tribe to tribe.
Educated, sophisticated people, who have abandoned standards of behaviour such as respect for all humans, for kindness and status to animals, and support for human community and sharing, are rife.
What devil's brew will they come up with, in their welter of power. The maxim of Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely' is daily proven.
Jump from one Big Power to another – can any be seen to be aiming at good standards in all their dealings. China and Falun Gong? USA we know about. UK conducting public dismemberment of their long-held welfare policies and government responsibility.
How we may have to cope with it – I thought of A Smugglers Song a poem by Rudyard Kipling, he wasn't just a poohbah Brit.
IF you wake at midnight, and hear a horse's feet,
Don't go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street,
Them that ask no questions isn't told a lie.
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by. …
'If You do as you've been told, 'likely there's a chance,
You'll be give a dainty doll, all the way from France,
With a cap of Valenciennes, and a velvet hood –
A present from the Gentlemen, along 'o being good !
Five and twenty ponies,
Trotting through the dark –
Brandy for the Parson, 'Baccy for the Clerk.
Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie –
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by !
Eugenie Sage needs to pull her head in over comments that Westland Council didn't have a fund set aside for historic landfill risks.
DOC has something like 90% of the land on the coast, and the use of that land results in massive (like the majority) use of Council resource and infrastructure such as road, water systems, and yes rubbish dumps…
.. and get this. DOC pays no rates.
Pull your head in Sage – pay up or shut up. DOC bludger, bludging off the ratepayers of Westland.
Before getting angry at Eugenie, maybe ANOTHER audit of the Westland Council is required. They haven't been the best financial managers or carers for their environment in the past.
Care to apply for the job? Applications close on Monday..
21 May 2019 – Westland District Council has paid nearly $30,000 in reparation following discharges, which were in breach of the resource consent conditions and the Resource Management Act, from the Franz Josef sewerage system to the Waiho riverbed last year.
In its March 5 report, the Auditor-General found a number of unacceptable practices when it investigated the construction of a new stopbank to protect Franz Josef's wastewater treatment plant from flooding, including whether the work had been approved at all. It concluded that the council couldn't show whether the decision was well made or the money well spent.
But hes right, DOC doesnt pay a cent in rates and Sage wants 'ratepayers' to pay for and manage the risks.
The shoddy decision making by the council is a separate issue, maybe they could do a tourist tax like Queenstown wants , but is facing stiff resistance from the business owners.
DOC doesn't pay a cent in rates – yeah I wonder why? jeeze wtf. DOC isn't just a loss on the balance sheet it has inputs as well.
These dumps are everywhere – 18 in Tasman alone that could be breached in storms. Every council will have to get off their arse and use all resources to mitigate the potential disaster of these blowouts. Trying to say dunno, not us is not any answer imo
Dukeofurl, DOC charge each and every concession holder on the Westland DOC estate 7% of their turnover each and every year…
… get that everybody? 7% of turnover… (of course then there is GST too at 15% = 22% in total). How much would just one of those scenic heli concessions turnover in one year??
Perhaps an application under the OIA to ascertain how much DOC and the government make out of Westland each and every year would help shed some light on their place within the Westland community…
… as earners but not payers.
as bludgers, as would a corporate be so described, in this context
do you even know what 'concession' means in the context of our National Parks and protected places – the people getting concessions do so so that they can potentially make PERSONAL profit from the collective (the conservation estate or the bit they take people into) – oh the poor fucking dears. As usual you have it all arse about face.
Ha – so the old asking for a friend is out then – that is good because I know that you own concessions and I know it is all about the $$$. Or maybe I have it all wrong like you said lol
Can I ask @vto? I know it's not that kosha to ask, but am I correct in assuming you're a child (and then rationally thunking adult) of the neo-lib era?
The one where minimal gummint, operationalising everything on the basis of fishincy and fektivniss, externalising costs and incentivising all for the sake of a market ruling supreme.
"So"………"Ultimately", if you are of that era and experience, I'd recommend getting together some sort of PPP that (who) could bid for the cost of cleanups going forwid. They could work (constructively) with DOC, and local bodies after consultation with all the stakeholders, and after various conversations have been had, and I believe we'd be able to come up with a viable solution.
I mean, I get that the ratepayer base is insuffishint and has unreasnibble expectations of it – speshilly when the number of interlopers masquerading as tourists are inflicting their shit on you, but I just wonder about the intricacies of it all if we're to adhere to neo-liberal religion.
Absolutely. I don't think the neolib approach works too well though – that much has been proved in various parts of society (except the purchase of plastic buckets from the warehouse where neolib doctrine works fine…).
As for cleaning up these dumps all around the country? What popped into mind some while ago is that these things can be attended to over a longer period. For example, buy a digger and a truck and start removing the shit. Don't PPP it. Just buy and employ and get started. It may take some time, but no matter that.
Like the cathedral in Chch – doesn't matter how lng it takes, just make a start and keep going.
Get a digger and start moving the shit. It aint hard.
One digger and truck, $30,000 per annum. One employee, $60,000 per annum. Overhead $20,000 per annum.
Couple of problems Actually several) though as far as your criticisms of Eugenie.
Munsters and their enterage can't comment of "operational matters" going forward (That is of course, unless their future careers depend on it)
And secondly, it'll have to be subjected to the risk managers and liability analysts.
(Coukd take some time, and as you may or may not know, both Jacinda and Andrew Little have recently alerted us to the fact that things always take longer than they expected)
Why would DOC pay rates? Do the police pay rates for their Westland area? Why should payment for the clean up of the council's dump come out of the DOC budget? DOC was gutted several times over in the last 20 years so if you want the general NZ taxpayer to contribute extra funding for a council's fuck up and the local's rubbish, you will be opening the door for more industries and councils to pass the buck.
I think West Coast council management is pretty stop-gap and No.8 fencing wire thinking. They are probably on a par with the management of sports codes, people who have some experience 'in the field' and are focussed on their own ideas and approaches. Not conducive to outside queries of their decisions or concerned about professional analysis except just enough to get people off their backs. This is BAU for a number of councils, so can't just point the finger at SI West Coast.
Grey, Westland Council surely does have a record of poor skills in certain areas, however those have absolutely nothing to do with the point made, which concerns Sage's political point-scoring against Smith in the context outlined.
DOC earns massive amounts every year from the use of Council infrastructure, yet pays NOTHING towards their cost. NOTHING. ZIP. ZERO
If this was a corporate, or if Nick Smith or Maggie boorish Barry were still the Ministers and Key in charge, then my points made would be agreed with here.
Until DOC pays its way here the Minister needs to stfu.
Are people around here allowed to tell Sage to stfu in the same way people around here used to tell Barry and Smith to stfu? Or is it too hard for partisans to pull their ideology blinkers aside?
DOC don't own the land so don't pay rates although I would guess that they do pay rates for their buildings in town. Rubbish is a council responsibility and rubbish is created by the residents, visitors and tourists – not by DOC who would be taking care of this patch of New Zealand regardless of existing infrastructure. Also does not the government pay for the roads outside of the towns? So roads etc are paid for out of the same purse that pays for DOC.
How much of that is earned in Westland? Westland holds four of the thirteen National Parks.
Guestimate 25% of the DOC estate sits in Westland . Equals $15,000,000 from Westland.
Like so very many other ratepayers in Westland, in this matter I give DOC the one-finger salute. They fall short in taking their place in the community.
And Sage just makes it worse with her comments – shame on her
The tourists who use the council infrastructure also buy food, fuel, equipment, and accommodation. All those local businesses pay that on in their rates.
I think I've got the answer @vto. It'd be a win win for everyone.
First of all we'll need to cover off those skill shortages in the Westland Council and ensure consultation with the community.
Who better than Laidlaw, who'll be looking for a gig after the local body elections? A perfect fit! and with a proven record of consultation and problem solving.
Then we could shunt Lou Sanson off to Treasury after the good work he's done resolving DOC's 'toxic culture', and he's got the smarts and verbals necessary to handle criticism over targeting employees and trying to shut the scientific community up. Better still he believes in "emphasising community involvement and greater engagement with the nation’s Indigenous peoples" in keeping with transformational government. (It's a given because …. well because he says so).After the Treasury hacking debacle, we need someone with Lou's smarts to help settle things down.
We immediately put Public Service CEO on the Immigration NZ skills shortage list with an English language requirement of IELTS 7.0 or higher with a salary range reflecting the global market place. With a bit of luck, we might get someone of the calibre of one of Sir John's former banking mates from offshore – there are one or two looking for a bolt hole, or even someone from the US EPA.
What could be a better fit for all stakeholders going forward!
Was the ex dump on DOC land or as a result of DOC? Nope.
Has the Westland Council managed themselves well, especially in the last decade? Nope.
Neither of these things are the fault of the minister.
DOC have helped, massively and so have the defence force. Apparently it's still not good enough for some, maybe the fear of a rate rise is more of a concern?
vto, if you really want to do something and pay rates there, I strongly suggest you join the volunteer clean up. Because your rates may end up increasing as a result of the Westland Councils bad management, not the first time that's happened I hear. Election coming up…. maybe you will stand?
I hope you focus on RACE RELATIONS like your job title implies and not drift into other areas and dissipate the energy. Good luck.
In an interview with RNZ on Thursday, Foon said he hoped to "showcase New Zealand as a great country to live".
"I want to continue the good work of the past commissioners … and continue to enhance harmonious relations right throughout New Zealand."
He said there were a wide range of multifaceted issues and solutions that needed to be implemented.
Raising the average salaries of those in need, enhancing education levels, providing affordable housing and matters regarding state care were particular issues that required attention, Foon said.
Daft government with tepid strategic planning for the country, no foresight, just open the doors and let the corporate hordes swan in and take our bits.
Better to deal with NZ reliables, try and win over the gangs that are aspirational good communities – but when it comes to licensing Marijuana it may be another CPPPTTAA? walkover.
Seems Labour are taking the potential of having medicinal cannabis in the hands of the people (which would lower the cost) and are setting it up for the corporates to produce and supply.
However, this could all come undone if personal use and production (backyard) is legalised via the up and coming referendum.
Unless of course some kind of excise tax or licence to grow system is introduced, thereby turning growers without the correct licences (available for only $5000) into criminals. Much potential for disaster here.
As Labour has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again.
"At this stage [~14 months out from the referendum], we just don't know."
"but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again."
And that'sThe "relentlessly soggy" "lefty" "more left than most" "transparent as a transparent thing" Chairman at play once again.
Interesting that there's not a single mention of NZ's two most recent Government referendums (binding referendums at that) in the article linked to by The Chairman – not one. A curious omission, don't you think?
The shortlist for the first flag referendum was made public about three months before voting, and the results of that vote were released about three months before the second flag referendum.
Three months vs 14 months, and poor Chair is panicking
This issue appears to be of importance to you. It might actually get you to vote for one of the parties who have said they will honour the wishes of the people, then. For realsies.
As the Government has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Government at play once again.
FIFY
Note that in your link there was not a single mention of Labour, not one. Are you really that blind to your own anti-Labour bias?
Medicine is a far cry from weed for the masses. I don't imagine the 23K applies to recreational pot but we'll see. There are many variables to be considered:
Some weed can make you paranoid
Some is anxiolytic
Those are complete opposites. Medicinal weed should be handled by people who have a vested interest to get it right for a medical market. The regulatory bodies should be busy, and that is expensive.
Recreational weed, like booze, might push a brand and the public buy it or they don't. There will be varied types and effects and strengths. The best boutique brands will emerge. NZ weed will be exported if it's good enough. The money should come back to NZ.
The medicine would be for local and then global markets. Made in NZ, paying tax in NZ and employing in NZ…
The person needing medicine needs someone who knows biology, medicine, cannabinoid & other metabolite profiles, dosage, frequency, how those apply to various delivery methods, how these vary with culture methods… We're not bloody paupers making herb tea in a tin hut.
It might sound expensive, till you look at what it’s worth.
You overlooked the fact that many are growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
All the Government is going to do for them is keep that activity illegal and force them to pay top dollar for it.
So while it may be grown here, profits are bound to head offshore as locals are priced out or sell out as is usually the case with NZ businesses. And as for paying local tax, surely you must know how offshore owned companies minimize that?
The home-grower will find their medicine improved a great deal via the research of professionals. While you make stuff up and bang out about something you obviously know nothing about, there are many people who are not getting the efficacy from their medicine that they could be getting.
How many cancer patients have you worked with? PTSD? Autism?
What metabolite profiles are desirable for the above groups.
While I'm not claiming to be a doctor or health specialist, I'm not making stuff up. There are many growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
They just want the Government to stop criminalizing them.
Sure, further research may further benefit them but they should have that choice between being able to home grow or opt for a commercial product.
Why do you and the Government want to prevent that and rob them of that choice?
No respect – a metaphor for our society imo – sometime is going so thrash it to death so we can say 'look at me'.
In 2017 it was announced that from October 26th, 2019, tourists will no longer be able to climb Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), out of respect for local indigenous tribes.
In the lead up to its closure, tourists have begun to swarm the UNESCO World Heritage Site, with hopes of hiking to the top of the 348m high arkose monolith.
… On Tuesday, photos of hundreds of tourists lining up to hike Uluru begun circulating online, angering locals, the traditional landowners, Australians and officials alike.
… Apparently tourists have been leaving human waste and nappies behind, despite there being a dedicated area to dump waste.
Chief executive of Tourism Central Australia, Stephen Schwer, told the ABC, "(Tourists) think they're doing a good thing by free camping along the way; what they are actually doing is trespassing on pastoralist and joint-managed and protected land.
Maybe tourism in its current form is just mass narcissism, i.e.it's all about the self rather than the place visited. So many tourists here seem to need to race across the landscape, climb it, jump off bits of it etc. It’s possible to do that and leave a place still knowing nothing about it.
yeah – I have been a guide in a National Park and a Nature Reserve before – I had to actively get people to slow down and actually look around and see it all. Quite often there was resistance even though they had paid to be there. Bit like when they'd ask – what's that?, what's this? I so wanted to say "why do you care – let it all go and just be here without excessive knowledge gathering' Just be here now. But of course I didn't, I played the game.
The tourists come to conquer the country? Veni, vidi, vici? Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream. But they never will. A lot are only capable of short, quick, bursts of emotion with no contemplation of the wonder of the world. and no lasting respect for the land and the culture that are revealed to those who desire to see it. ('We've got better at home, is that the best they can do'?) Been there, done that, off to the next thing. The world is to use, discard and then pass on to the next experience.
Christine Aguilera puts the popular zip into Climb every Mountain which was an inspirational song about escape from oppression and tyranny. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_AcWbuxQdo
I was in Hawea recently, and I just drove to a nice scenic spot, and read my book under the mountains for a couple hours. I saw 100s of people, tourists, park, get out, look for a few minutes, take a selfie, back in car and off they went to the next spot. A beautiful area though.
'Epstein pleaded guilty in state court in Florida in 2007 to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, resolving allegations that he had molested numerous girls. He served 13 months in jail, though he was allowed out six days a week to work from his office in Palm Beach.'
Someone has just been jailed for life with a minimum period of 10 years behind bars. I suppose that someone with a corkscrew mind could make sense of bringing that law in.
News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative, and The Standard is mostly an echo chamber of that. It is all too easy to feed into finding something to be upset about each day.
This constant barrage of negative news can be debilitating, and the propensity for many here to repeat their pet peeves over and over is simply tiring. What effect has all the complaining done for any of the 'popular' issues here?
Politics. Neo-liberal loathing. Poverty. Biodiversity Loss. Climate Change. War. Extremism… What has the years of whinging achieved? If you've made an impact by all means we need to hear about that. Not the same shit trotted out each day.
The world has a lot of problems right now. Concentrating on nothing but problems however gives a skewed and unrealistic view. I believe we play straight into the hands of power brokers who would prefer we are fearful and fighting among ourselves, rather than emboldened citizens of an incredible planet, surrounded by incredible people.
'Seek and ye shall find'. The daily ferreting out of things that are wrong is an exercise in propagating futility. Yes there are many issues, moaning about them constantly is a piss-poor effort.
As is moaning about all the moaning.
How to Get There is a step in the right direction.
Here's an old dude opened up his home gym and now has many local children training with him instead of getting up to other forms of 'entertainment' that might set their lives on a destructive path.
My anxiety is through the roof lately, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Today I'll go seek some professional help, because that is how you responsibly deal with a problem – action, not whinging.
Here's the Guardian, which just linking to sets off a bunch of predictable whining about the publication itself. Like hysterical teens on facebook screaming faux outrage.
When I try say – well done this person or that person for something good – y'all take their pedigree and dredge up whatever dirt you can find or imagine about them. No credit where it's due, no bipartisan support for anyone. Sides and stances.
The torrents of negative/bad news (particularly NZ/local bad news) can eventually erode/undermine the 'defences' of all but the most determined optimists.
Some have attempted to introduce 'good news quotas', and the idea seems attractive (I like it; think TV One News' "Good Sorts" on steriods), although quotas do attract detractors.
Good news quotas – lol. But yay for them trying aye.
I'm not expecting persons to live under a rock, but more balance might help.
A few of the authors here post good news as it pops up and this is appreciated – then they're shot down by a wave of negative posters who can't accept anything good from their particular pet political peeve.
'Four Lions' screened at the NZ Film Festival almost ten years ago; still memorable after that one viewing. An extraordinary achievement from start to scarily laughable finish; makes you think – edgy.
off shore oligarchial propaganda, wrapped up in local events.
There is the trade off between not having to do it yourself, & the imposition of non representative political agenda.
Even the political parties don't rate very much, don't like how they are somewhat beholden to and spoken for by other arrangements, it's just anarchical to talent and resources, the combinations you want for real value creation.
If this Government are sincere when they say they will repeal the Part 4A amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act (rushed through under urgency on the back of the 2013 Budget) why can they not do this now?
This would essentially effect a reboot of the Public Health and Disability Act, and the Ministry of Health DSS Funded Family Care policy would wink out of existence.
All that would be needed is for the prohibition for having a resident family member provide the assessed care to be removed from MOH:DSS documents.
MOH DSS clients who have been through the NASC process and undergone the needs assessments and had hours allocated can simply choose to have a family member provide those supports either through Individualised Funding or through a Contracted Provider.
As was the common practice for those family carers who were being paid despite the policy forbidding this. The Ministry of Health DSS has the details of these arrangements. (I have an anonymised list obtained through OIA)
There will be certain eligible DSS clients whose assessments have been too heavily predicated on resident family providing what the Misery calls 'natural supports'.
These will need to be re- assessed on a case by case basis with assistance from ACC who also expect resident family to provide some level of 'natural supports ' but have the real risk that if they don't fund adequate hours of support they (ACC) can be liable if there is further harm to the client.
ACC and the Ministry of Health have worked closely on previous occasions so this is not an outrageous suggestion.
So, why not repeal the Part 4A POS now and allow those who have been denied access to the funding allocated for their care because of a policy determined to be discriminatory by the Courts in decisions all three of the Parties in Government claim they agree with?
Because I am very, very suspicious that resolution of this will be delayed until after the election.
As you say Rosemary, some of the issues could be very quickly remedied – for example, by using urgency to repeal the dreaded Part 4a of the Act etc. But to do so that way would actually just be doing what the last Nat government did in bringing Part 4a and the whole rediculous policy in the first place with all the attendant problems that accompanied that move – lack of consultation with those affected, no public submission process etc, etc.
I fully recognise your reasons for scepticism etc in light of what you and Peter, and many others have gone through for years and I fully support all of you. (I too have some disabilities and know full well how hard the fight is to try to get what you are entitled to.)
Having worked in the State Service sector in Wellington for over four decades and in particular in areas interacting and liaising with, and working on secondment from time to time in, the Parliamentary arena, I am reasonably confident that the intentions are to get these legislative changes etc through and in place well before the election in the second half of next year – but at the same time taking the time to do it properly in full consultation with people like yourselves, and through the proper legislative process of select committee deliberation, public submissions etc.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
The various press releases by Ministers seem to have included mention of the way that Part 4a was brought in under urgency and without consultation etc and the wish not to do the same – eg
“We are committed to getting this change through as swiftly as we can, while also avoiding the process which created the current legislation,” says Julie Anne Genter.
My understanding is that work is well advanced on various possible options to replace the ridiculous employment arrangement brought in in 2013 "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau."
The three Coalition parties all seem to be in agreement on this issue and singing from the same song sheet, and IIRC the intention is to announce these proposals, the proposed changes to legislation etc in the next few months and certainly well before the end of this year.
In other words, what I am trying to say badly is that as someone who has worked in the area of legislative changes etc, they seem to be making sure that they have all their ducks lined up on this issue before they go ahead – as they must do particularly in light of the judicial decisions. So I so hope I am not wrong!
Thank you for responding veutoviper, I was sending you psychic messages hoping for your particular insights.
I do sincerely hope you are right, because another betrayal, a twist of the knife in our backs would be unforgivable.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
Ironically it is exactly this that causes my deep concern that they have not thought it through.
That's $8million dollars per year to pay an extra 640 family carers (like me) up to $25 per hour. Plus increase the pay of the current 400 Funded Family Carers to the same rate per hour. Generously, this works out as an average of about 9 hours per week per carer. For clients with high, very high and complex needs. Many of whom have been assessed as needing at least five times as many hours of support.
It simply does not add up. Even more so if the government continues along the lines suggested by the PSA and makes the rule that these family care arrangements have to go through a contracted provider. To avoid the " "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau." issue.
Veutoviper. This is not an issue to ACC clients who are bulk funded and pay their family. MOH DSS clients are being treated differently. Again. It may be appropriate where there are severe learning disabilities, and if both the client and the parent carer agree then these arrangements could be overseen by a Contracted Provider.
This would of course add extra costs because the provider would expect their cut of the funding.
Having the arrangement go through a provider denies the disabled person the autonomy provided by being able to use Individualised Funding…which I believe is funded at a lower hourly rate that the contracted providers demand.
Reading the Cabinet Papers from back in 2012 when they decided not to take Atkinson to the Supreme Court, very early in the paper based discussion did the term "competing interests" arise. A few paragraphs later the redacted sections began, culminating in the impressively blanked out RIS that Micky Savage (chicken killer) shared in his post the other day.
Now that would be awesome…unblank those sections of that Regulatory Impact Statement so we are fully informed.
Good on Collins. Her practical, down to earth approach will get her a long way. Just what we need in a future PM and what NZ needs to sort this mess out. About bloody time someone said it how it is.
Collins said something that sounded like a human speaking? I caught the whiff of some understanding from her the other day about something. I think it must be a bout of this Type A flu going round. They say it is really strong. Coff, coff.
Exactly what the bashers of children say. How is she in any way superior to the parents who "go a bit far" and kill the kids whom she and the Family Fist Fanatics say are fair game for slap-happy parents?
It was the raising the head above a pulpit (has anyone ever lowered a head below one?) that prompted me to question Chris, whose irony I hopefully thought I was enjoying.
You can't help loving words like me. I was thinking of verses repeated from the holy lexicon of PCness.
I do enjoy this sort of finish to the end of the day with a bit more lightness than the days bathos. Choirboys probably like to keep their heads below the pulpit. Especially the ones that Giles sometimes included in his clever cartoons – kids with too much insouciance. (I like using google meanings a lot – so fast.)
Cool. But choirboys should be well away from the pulpit, which is the uplifted tower-like stand where the preacher preaches from, unless I am getting that early onset thing yet again. .
And turret does work – ta Incognito.
'The holy lexicon of PCness.' Sounds much less threatening than the holy dictates/scriptures/commandments which holiness normally delivers.
No, but she and the likes of Bob "Hairbrush" McCoskrie and other ideologically committed kiddywhackers provide the ideological and moral scaffolding for people who hit their children. I'm sure Collins has not hurt her own kids; it's a pity she has not thought a little more about the impact of her words and her policies. Same goes for her slap-happy political cronies.
It's a one size doesn't fit all type of area really.
Having to smack, for those that would feel they need to, too much is not ideal for the parent. The freedom to be a total brat is not ideal for the child.
A settlement mechanism inclusive of both extreme ends to the area, would perhaps provide the maximum utility in enabling the natural fits that will be most suitable to all i would say if people really wanted it.
That is an independent citizen’s aid authority, that can
A) these smackings could be getting out of hand and becoming counter productive to the situation
B) the child does not have the license of freedom is expecting of the parent & does not have the right to complain.
While leaving the exact dynamics to be worked out by the families, perhaps such a service could help in providing equilibriums that some families would otherwise not be able to reach for themselves.
A referendum then, might not have been a bad stepping stone to optimising the situation if wanted.
What good stuff especially unexpected from Basher Collins. Unless she is just dancing clever politics. But wait. Many of her colleagues would disagree with her. So……
She reminds me of Nosher Powell's Prime Minister in Eat The Rich when he knocks the heads of the Palestinian & Israel leaders and tells them to "stop fighting & sort it out".
Collins says whatever she feels like at the time. She doesn't listen and responds on the hoof. This will become immediately obvious if she's ever PM, perhaps just leader of the nats, and would be truly Trumpesque.
I actually think that it's good to hear some people saying they want to take some responsibility. I'll tell you what, just stop beating up kids, and you won't need Oranga Tamariki. [my bold]
Crush their spirit, hit them where it hurts, and when they’re down, tell them to pick themselves up and then kick them down again and rinse and repeat. Tell them that it is all about making the right decisions and personal responsibility and they should stop beating their kids. That’s how they treat the Precariat. They are wilfully blind and tone-deaf to context and circumstances. I detest cynical populist politicians with their personal and selfish agendas and their hypocritical smugness.
Banks sometimes we love them and sometimes…. we ask awkward questions?
When it comes to the risk mitigation costs arising from their own activities, the banks expect their customers to pick up the tab. Or taxpayers, as happened with the BNZ collapse of the late 1980s, and with the post–GFC collapse of non banking lenders like South Canterbury Finance. It was only ten years ago that governments had to bail 0ut a global banking system that (from the US to Scotland to the Netherlands) had been made vulnerable by the banks’ own lobbying for lax regulation and the pursuit of dodgy lending practices. If the banks have already forgotten the GFC, the rest of us haven’t.
There was an option to widen the one-way Awakino tunnel which seems to be one of the biggest problems. There is mention of accidents, and from what I have seen of driving in the rural sector, this is because of excessive speed for the conditions.
It is interesting that if one wants to look at one of the numerous maps of the area that is noted as nzta, it won't come up individually to be expanded but just switches over to the group of area maps. That is unusual as I can normally hone in to get a good view, but not here.
Found this for 13 April 2017, (all MPs in the area are National)
Taranaki's elected MPs say they are confident the region will not become a political backwater now that it is not represented in government.
The three MPs, Jonathan Young (New Plymouth), Barbara Kuriger (Taranaki King Country) and newcomer Hirate Hipango (Whanganui), face the next three years in opposition for the first time since 2008.
Major roading and housing projects earmarked for the region would still go ahead under the three party Labour/New Zealand First/ Green coalition government, they say….
A decision to mine iron sand off the South Taranaki coastline could also be up for change, depending on the new government's position after a High Court appeal is heard.
The trio hoped coalition partner New Zealand First's focus on regional issues would help retain skills and job training for people in Taranaki.
Kuriger said New Zealand First leader Winston Peters campaigned for provincial rural communities during the election.
The National MPs have been in a political hiatus under National apparently but pushed through the expensive roading option to get it on the books before another election, which National lost.
Former Taranaki King Country MP Shane Ardern said the Mt Messenger project could still be overturned….
Ardern famously drove a tractor up the steps of parliament to protest against a methane emissions bill.
He was critical of the MMP voting system. "I don't like MMP, I think it is a rotten system. "What we've got now is a group of losers who have cobbled together to chop off the winners.
Noticeable in what I have skimmed through is no emphasis on saving environment or kokako or kiwi. There is talk of tourism but no feeling that could include special areas for endangered species. Just the usual bull-headed, unchanging obeisance to saving minutes of driving time. WTF. And concern about accidents, well let's face it, a lot of that could be avoided by making people sit regular driving checks on simulators. That would save more lives and injuries, and squillions of dollars on roading and written off vehicles. And having a licence would be a treasure. The emphasis should not be making it so hard to get a licence, but ensure a reasonably competent driver stays proud of their competence.
..and a quick scan of the Comments section gives a good indication of the neanderthal numpties who are demanding the destruction of our ever diminishing and degraded indigenous forests and waterways so they can GO FASTER.
Yes. I'd help dig out another lane in the Tunnel with my bare hands if that would satisfy the drongoes for whom being forced to spend an unnecessary six minutes driving slowly through near virgin forest is torture.
I see it as a National Party MP push – look what we do for Taranaki.
And I don't think they have in Naki got a lot more understanding of other values beside farming and money since Parihaka. I am prepared to be taken to task – but it's a feeling I have from my short experience there and what Ive read.
Totally agree with ya grey on the driving simulators etc Im fairly certain we could all benefit from more and better driver training .Much better direction i think to be going in than one of ever expanding use of barriers etc personally i find some roads to be like driving through a cattle race !plus any scenic value is erased along with technically the risk ! .I shudder to think what might be ahead of us as drivers prob something like a complete shield along the sides of roads along with robotic control .Cars will probably still keep their steering wheels but only so we dont feel like completely useless idiots and can still pretend at least to be driving ! So risk adverse will society have become by then that its likely we'll all have to suck on dummies while we drive in case we bite our tongues if a bug hits the windscreen if theres any bugs left by then of course
Investors in Ross Asset Management – New Zealand's largest ponzi scheme – are taking legal action against ANZ bank over how it managed the accounts for the failed financial advice firm. ….
So far 200 investors have signed up to take the claim which could run into the tens of millions of dollars depending on how many more investors sign up.
What the hell is going on here? Why can't I access Hansard?
I've been trying to get on to the Hansard site in order to track down a horrible speech in favour of child-beating by the Dishonorable Judith Collins. I tried several times but this is all I got…..
I've just clicked on the link you gave and I'm still getting the "Your connection is not private…." nonsense. I can't even ignore it and move on to the site.
2013: Collins,"More than 50 children have died in New Zealand in the last 5 years not because of poverty, actually, but because of extreme abuse. I do not think for a moment that poverty is any excuse for killing one’s child, or the child of somebody else either, or of harming them. etc etc."
She also said she's "proud" to have beaten her own child. Puts her broadside against people who think like her but take it a bit far into some perspective. I'm also troubled by her phrase "not because of poverty, actually"—even when speaking on something like this, she felt entitled to inject her ideologically motivated and cynical repudiation of the very notion of poverty in New Zealand.
very likely your internet connection is down and when you go to any URL you (try to) get the login page of your router , the message is from your browser refusing to connect to a different non https page from the one asked for
Lynda Kamariera had been at the company for almost 23 years and said workers were some of the lowest-paid retail staff in the country.
"They value themselves as being a family story but the families who work inside Farmers are finding they're struggling."
After more than two decades at the company, Lynda's pay had yet to reach the current rate living wage of $20.55 an hour, which was due to go up in September to $21.15.
The situation was just continuing to get more desperate for staff, she said.
"There are workers that have taken out loans to get car repairs so they can come to work."
A group of investors in New Zealand's largest Ponzi scheme has accused the ANZ of negligence in its role as banker of the company, Ross Asset Management.
Former commercial lawyer, John Strahl, who is acting as a spokesman for the group said the action would have started years ago, but ANZ took legal action against the financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority to prevent it sharing the finding of its investigation.
ANZ strongly denies the allegations and will be defending the claim.
From 2004 to 2017, when she was a San Francisco D.A. and then the Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris was a key figure in the institutional oppression of black and Latino citizens. She did not speak out against the wicked and iniquitous "three strikes" travesty of a law, and she contended, to the anger and consternation of black and civil rights groups, that local police should be allowed to investigate themselves after killing people. She supported the outrageous, controversial 2011 California truancy legislation that made criminals of poor and disadvantaged parents throughout the state.
She has also foolishly swallowed—hook, line, and sinker—the Bellingcat/U.K. government's disinformation campaigns about Syria, and has spoken at AIPAC conferences, where she boasted: "The first resolution I co-sponsored as a United States senator was to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations." The AIPAC delegates applauded that little speech almost as loudly as they cheer a nurse being shot and killed by IDF snipers in Gaza.
In the following puff piece from—you guessed it!—CNN, there is an unintentionally amusing, and sadly quite accurate, bit of blithering from an uncritical supporter….
Veronica Thomas, a 38-year-old phlebotomist from outside Columbia, likened Harris to former President Barack Obama.
"It was powerful. It was moving, it stirred emotions. We're due for change. I felt like Obama all over again."
'They claimed that some inmates at Auckland Prison, Paremoremo, which houses New Zealand's only specialist maximum-security prison unit, never got the ice blocks, with officers refusing to give them to "dirty crims".'
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
The Apartheid state of Israel is the largest right wing hate movement… it kills on a war crime scale.. and it's reaching out
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/watch-film-labour-mps-didnt-want-you-see
I'm linking to a 5 minute doco that tells us information NZ should know about the sub humane christchurh shooter … as the title shows his name … I have spaced gap ( h ttp ), undo that if / when you copy and paste it.
The information is important as it raises things we should be guarding against …. and are perhaps blind to.
We should at least look at things like ' the shooter claims that ethno nationalists like himself are concentrated in the European armed forces and national police forces' … may be relevant to why his filthy great big red flags were ignored in our preventable terrorist tragedy.
And it identifies … The phrases and words …. 'Invaders' language …. … tRump or our National Party .. that grows and feeds …. this hate mindset for votes .
we need to see the scale of what has been growing on around us .. and we have been blind to.it
I hope the moderators here amend my back-space link block …and allow the title to be seen. I know the shooters name just like I know Martyn Bryants name … both of which I associate with men who would chase little children .. to shoot them.
We are adults, I think we could be helping to forget … before we have even learned.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_FSZYTGyBE
@reason, too right, and of course what do the guard dog defenders of liberal status quo like the Guardian and NYTimes do in the face of this out right racist war..double down on their relentless smearing and disinformation on the two politicians (Corbyn, Sanders) who have had decades fighting racism..most so called MSM ‘liberal’ media is public enemy number one, you want some real fake or misconstrued and misleading news..look no further than your daily MSM liberal news sources…that is news in fact.
Clinton laid the foundation amd law on immigration policy … and on which tRump is now building ,,,,
This cruelty is not limited to one side or the other ….
Rather it seems to be a disease among the rich and powerful
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-bill-clinton-donald-trump-alan-dershowitz.html
The same horrible actors, appearing in different plays and lots of theatres …
Divide and be cruel … Build Great Racism … human traffick
They have a lot of fans .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rl_EwaDg4A
There are degrees of cruelty. Imprisoning families for a few days (capture and release) is one thing – seperating children from their families without the ability to reunite them, putting large groups of children in wire netting cells without the means to keep them sanitary is quite another.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/06/21/detained-migrant-children-no-toothbrush-soap-sleep/?utm_term=.4e8ca8e36896
" U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee had found that migrants in Rio Grande Valley facilities were hungry, with some eating only “sandwiches of two pieces of dry bread and one slice of ham.” They were thirsty, with up to 20 migrants sharing the same cup to drink from the water cooler. They were embarrassed to use a toilet in front of 50 other people and they couldn’t take a shower or brush their teeth or even wash their hands with soap and dry them with a towel, the judge found. At night, they couldn’t sleep. The lights were left on, as they shivered beneath an aluminum blanket on the concrete floor, the judge found. "
Yep – it's deliberate use of cruelty as a deterrent. Something the Ockers have been doing for a while now. It's likely to become the 'go to' strategy in the face of CC-driven food shortages increasing refugee flows – and it will fuel the rise of the far right everywhere. As the resource (food, water) competition tightens, a similar strategy of containment will be deployed against unwanted internal populations as well.
It's uncomfortable to contemplate to say the least. AB I see you as being correct.
And if anyone doubts the depths we could descend to, and our neighbours across the ditch, just note that we have the example of extermination of Jews, gypsies, imperfect people (not shining Aryan types), and the dehumanising of many in WW2. This by a nation that had been the basis of Protestant Christianity, had highly educated and sophisticated people, and was far from being a simple society that was locked into eternal wars and vendettas tribe to tribe.
Educated, sophisticated people, who have abandoned standards of behaviour such as respect for all humans, for kindness and status to animals, and support for human community and sharing, are rife.
What devil's brew will they come up with, in their welter of power. The maxim of Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely' is daily proven.
Jump from one Big Power to another – can any be seen to be aiming at good standards in all their dealings. China and Falun Gong? USA we know about. UK conducting public dismemberment of their long-held welfare policies and government responsibility.
How we may have to cope with it – I thought of A Smugglers Song a poem by Rudyard Kipling, he wasn't just a poohbah Brit.
Rudyard Kipling also wrote 'If'. Here it is read well by Michael Caine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFMVIfl2UY
Heresy @reason!!!! Shadrach will be along shortly to chastise you
Eugenie Sage needs to pull her head in over comments that Westland Council didn't have a fund set aside for historic landfill risks.
DOC has something like 90% of the land on the coast, and the use of that land results in massive (like the majority) use of Council resource and infrastructure such as road, water systems, and yes rubbish dumps…
.. and get this. DOC pays no rates.
Pull your head in Sage – pay up or shut up. DOC bludger, bludging off the ratepayers of Westland.
Before getting angry at Eugenie, maybe ANOTHER audit of the Westland Council is required. They haven't been the best financial managers or carers for their environment in the past.
Care to apply for the job? Applications close on Monday..
https://www.trademe.co.nz/jobs/accounting/finance-managers-controllers/listing-2193442685.htm
https://www.wcrc.govt.nz/council/news-and-annoucements?item=id:2626k2tms17q9s864i8w
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1904/S00179/mahuta-wants-assurances-over-westland-council-procurement.htm
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/89772992/council-assets-manager-vivek-goel-under-investigation?rm=m
Am happy to find many more links about more situations relating to their bad financial management…. just saying….
Or, how about asking maureen pugh about it, she was one of the worst mayors of Westland Council.
+ 1 yep Cinny.
Blaming DOC is poor thinking and calling them bludgers is just stupid.
But hes right, DOC doesnt pay a cent in rates and Sage wants 'ratepayers' to pay for and manage the risks.
The shoddy decision making by the council is a separate issue, maybe they could do a tourist tax like Queenstown wants , but is facing stiff resistance from the business owners.
DOC doesn't pay a cent in rates – yeah I wonder why? jeeze wtf. DOC isn't just a loss on the balance sheet it has inputs as well.
These dumps are everywhere – 18 in Tasman alone that could be breached in storms. Every council will have to get off their arse and use all resources to mitigate the potential disaster of these blowouts. Trying to say dunno, not us is not any answer imo
Dukeofurl, DOC charge each and every concession holder on the Westland DOC estate 7% of their turnover each and every year…
… get that everybody? 7% of turnover… (of course then there is GST too at 15% = 22% in total). How much would just one of those scenic heli concessions turnover in one year??
Perhaps an application under the OIA to ascertain how much DOC and the government make out of Westland each and every year would help shed some light on their place within the Westland community…
… as earners but not payers.
as bludgers, as would a corporate be so described, in this context
edit: oh, forgot about income tax as well….
do you even know what 'concession' means in the context of our National Parks and protected places – the people getting concessions do so so that they can potentially make PERSONAL profit from the collective (the conservation estate or the bit they take people into) – oh the poor fucking dears. As usual you have it all arse about face.
I hold two concessions in Westland, plus I’m a ratepayer. The points made are facts.
But as usual, you can't see past the personal and consequently miss the point.
Ha – so the old asking for a friend is out then – that is good because I know that you own concessions and I know it is all about the $$$. Or maybe I have it all wrong like you said lol
none of your posts make any sense
Can I ask @vto? I know it's not that kosha to ask, but am I correct in assuming you're a child (and then rationally thunking adult) of the neo-lib era?
The one where minimal gummint, operationalising everything on the basis of fishincy and fektivniss, externalising costs and incentivising all for the sake of a market ruling supreme.
"So"………"Ultimately", if you are of that era and experience, I'd recommend getting together some sort of PPP that (who) could bid for the cost of cleanups going forwid. They could work (constructively) with DOC, and local bodies after consultation with all the stakeholders, and after various conversations have been had, and I believe we'd be able to come up with a viable solution.
I mean, I get that the ratepayer base is insuffishint and has unreasnibble expectations of it – speshilly when the number of interlopers masquerading as tourists are inflicting their shit on you, but I just wonder about the intricacies of it all if we're to adhere to neo-liberal religion.
Is it possible we could have a conversation?
Absolutely. I don't think the neolib approach works too well though – that much has been proved in various parts of society (except the purchase of plastic buckets from the warehouse where neolib doctrine works fine…).
As for cleaning up these dumps all around the country? What popped into mind some while ago is that these things can be attended to over a longer period. For example, buy a digger and a truck and start removing the shit. Don't PPP it. Just buy and employ and get started. It may take some time, but no matter that.
Like the cathedral in Chch – doesn't matter how lng it takes, just make a start and keep going.
Get a digger and start moving the shit. It aint hard.
One digger and truck, $30,000 per annum. One employee, $60,000 per annum. Overhead $20,000 per annum.
Well yea! Of course! Fully!
Couple of problems Actually several) though as far as your criticisms of Eugenie.
Munsters and their enterage can't comment of "operational matters" going forward (That is of course, unless their future careers depend on it)
And secondly, it'll have to be subjected to the risk managers and liability analysts.
(Coukd take some time, and as you may or may not know, both Jacinda and Andrew Little have recently alerted us to the fact that things always take longer than they expected)
The argument seems to be over who the employer is.
You could get half a PR consultant for that. Get a grip on yourself.
Why would DOC pay rates? Do the police pay rates for their Westland area? Why should payment for the clean up of the council's dump come out of the DOC budget? DOC was gutted several times over in the last 20 years so if you want the general NZ taxpayer to contribute extra funding for a council's fuck up and the local's rubbish, you will be opening the door for more industries and councils to pass the buck.
Nothing to do with the point made Cinny
Point stands
I think West Coast council management is pretty stop-gap and No.8 fencing wire thinking. They are probably on a par with the management of sports codes, people who have some experience 'in the field' and are focussed on their own ideas and approaches. Not conducive to outside queries of their decisions or concerned about professional analysis except just enough to get people off their backs. This is BAU for a number of councils, so can't just point the finger at SI West Coast.
Grey, Westland Council surely does have a record of poor skills in certain areas, however those have absolutely nothing to do with the point made, which concerns Sage's political point-scoring against Smith in the context outlined.
DOC earns massive amounts every year from the use of Council infrastructure, yet pays NOTHING towards their cost. NOTHING. ZIP. ZERO
If this was a corporate, or if Nick Smith or Maggie boorish Barry were still the Ministers and Key in charge, then my points made would be agreed with here.
Until DOC pays its way here the Minister needs to stfu.
Are people around here allowed to tell Sage to stfu in the same way people around here used to tell Barry and Smith to stfu? Or is it too hard for partisans to pull their ideology blinkers aside?
DOC don't own the land so don't pay rates although I would guess that they do pay rates for their buildings in town. Rubbish is a council responsibility and rubbish is created by the residents, visitors and tourists – not by DOC who would be taking care of this patch of New Zealand regardless of existing infrastructure. Also does not the government pay for the roads outside of the towns? So roads etc are paid for out of the same purse that pays for DOC.
"DOC don't own the land ". Are you referring to the registered proprietor, and picking at the technicalities?
The Westland Council has 6,000 ratepayers who pay a total of approx $6,000,000 per annum.
That's it.
There is no more.
There is little to no money there. Many many people live on the smell of an oily rag.
You can't magic money up out of nowhere.
Yet approx 1,000,000 tourists pass through every year – for the DOC estate.
The total land area is approx 1,200,000 hectares, while only 120,000 hectares only is rateable. Guess who has the other 1,080,000 hectares?
DOC earns from the use of Council assets yet pays nothing towards those assets.
Regarding government-paid roads, that is only SH6, the main road. All other roads are ratepayer-paid. The 6,000 of them.
Do some sums.
Think of this issue as if Key and his slimeballs still held the reins – it will enable clearer thinking. Nick Smith is still Minister.
Just a bit more from the DOC Annual Report…
DOC earn approx $60,000,000 per annum.
How much of that is earned in Westland? Westland holds four of the thirteen National Parks.
Guestimate 25% of the DOC estate sits in Westland . Equals $15,000,000 from Westland.
Like so very many other ratepayers in Westland, in this matter I give DOC the one-finger salute. They fall short in taking their place in the community.
And Sage just makes it worse with her comments – shame on her
The tourists who use the council infrastructure also buy food, fuel, equipment, and accommodation. All those local businesses pay that on in their rates.
I will be a nit picking legalistic bore, but DOC do not own the "Conservation/DOC estate".
DOC administer the Conservation Estate on behalf of the "Crown" – ie the Government as a whole – and on behalf of the people of NZ.
So if anyone should be contributing more it is central government, not DOC per se.
I think I've got the answer @vto. It'd be a win win for everyone.
First of all we'll need to cover off those skill shortages in the Westland Council and ensure consultation with the community.
Who better than Laidlaw, who'll be looking for a gig after the local body elections? A perfect fit! and with a proven record of consultation and problem solving.
Then we could shunt Lou Sanson off to Treasury after the good work he's done resolving DOC's 'toxic culture', and he's got the smarts and verbals necessary to handle criticism over targeting employees and trying to shut the scientific community up. Better still he believes in "emphasising community involvement and greater engagement with the nation’s Indigenous peoples" in keeping with transformational government. (It's a given because …. well because he says so).After the Treasury hacking debacle, we need someone with Lou's smarts to help settle things down.
We immediately put Public Service CEO on the Immigration NZ skills shortage list with an English language requirement of IELTS 7.0 or higher with a salary range reflecting the global market place. With a bit of luck, we might get someone of the calibre of one of Sir John's former banking mates from offshore – there are one or two looking for a bolt hole, or even someone from the US EPA.
What could be a better fit for all stakeholders going forward!
Was the ex dump on DOC land or as a result of DOC? Nope.
Has the Westland Council managed themselves well, especially in the last decade? Nope.
Neither of these things are the fault of the minister.
DOC have helped, massively and so have the defence force. Apparently it's still not good enough for some, maybe the fear of a rate rise is more of a concern?
vto, if you really want to do something and pay rates there, I strongly suggest you join the volunteer clean up. Because your rates may end up increasing as a result of the Westland Councils bad management, not the first time that's happened I hear. Election coming up…. maybe you will stand?
I hope you focus on RACE RELATIONS like your job title implies and not drift into other areas and dissipate the energy. Good luck.
So Aussie banks get the 'message' in Australia too.
Not seen the same response from them ,that they offered here in NZ.
https://www.interest.co.nz/banking/100657/apra-will-make-each-anz-national-australia-bank-and-westpac-hold-extra-a500-mln
Daft government with tepid strategic planning for the country, no foresight, just open the doors and let the corporate hordes swan in and take our bits.
Better to deal with NZ reliables, try and win over the gangs that are aspirational good communities – but when it comes to licensing Marijuana it may be another CPPPTTAA? walkover.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/394195/medicinal-cannabis-licence-fees-of-up-to-23k-could-limit-growth-of-local-businesses
Seems Labour are taking the potential of having medicinal cannabis in the hands of the people (which would lower the cost) and are setting it up for the corporates to produce and supply.
However, this could all come undone if personal use and production (backyard) is legalised via the up and coming referendum.
Unless of course some kind of excise tax or licence to grow system is introduced, thereby turning growers without the correct licences (available for only $5000) into criminals. Much potential for disaster here.
As Labour has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/08-05-2019/what-we-know-about-the-cannabis-referendum-in-10-easy-questions/
"At this stage [~14 months out from the referendum], we just don't know."
"but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again."
And that's The "relentlessly soggy" "lefty" "more left than most" "transparent as a transparent thing" Chairman at play once again.
Interesting that there's not a single mention of NZ's two most recent Government referendums (binding referendums at that) in the article linked to by The Chairman – not one. A curious omission, don't you think?
The shortlist for the first flag referendum was made public about three months before voting, and the results of that vote were released about three months before the second flag referendum.
Three months vs 14 months, and poor Chair is panicking
Should we be concerned?
If you are happy to vote blindly, then nah.
Personally, I prefer to know what I'm voting for. And without a binding referendum there will be no pending law in place.
Which seems to be something Drowsy M. Kram doesn't understand.
This issue appears to be of importance to you. It might actually get you to vote for one of the parties who have said they will honour the wishes of the people, then. For realsies.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/388537/little-guarantees-binding-cannabis-referendum-but-yet-to-define-binding
What The Chairman fails to understand is that the article they linked to is over two months old.
This is basic stuff – The Chairman is slightly worse than the opposition National party (if that's possible) – a bad joke.
Indeed, there's barely a gNats whisker between The self-professed "lefty" "more left than most" Chairman's position and National’s – funny that!
What an extraordinarily poor performance. Do any readers here still believe that The Chairman is a genuine friend of the left?
The Chairman's contributions on this blog epitomise the self-serving deceit of the National party machine – keep 'em coming.
Doesn't alter the point made, but your post shows you still don't have a clue. It's not binding.
It's not binding yet, because 14 months out the supporting legislation and referendum questions haven’t been drafted – don’t panic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxseHuUSYI
Chair is creaking under the pressure and he might soon need a recliner.
Witness a very persistent Chair from early 2015: https://thestandard.org.nz/how-do-the-greens-grow-their-base/#comment-962178
If he reclines any further he might meet the Greens on the 'other side'
FIFY
Note that in your link there was not a single mention of Labour, not one. Are you really that blind to your own anti-Labour bias?
Thanks, but that is not fully correct.
It's a Labour led fall short Government.
FIFY
And you asked if I’m blind, ha.
Uh-huh. Your LDS is making you hallucinate.
Medicine is a far cry from weed for the masses. I don't imagine the 23K applies to recreational pot but we'll see. There are many variables to be considered:
Some weed can make you paranoid
Some is anxiolytic
Those are complete opposites. Medicinal weed should be handled by people who have a vested interest to get it right for a medical market. The regulatory bodies should be busy, and that is expensive.
Recreational weed, like booze, might push a brand and the public buy it or they don't. There will be varied types and effects and strengths. The best boutique brands will emerge. NZ weed will be exported if it's good enough. The money should come back to NZ.
The medicine would be for local and then global markets. Made in NZ, paying tax in NZ and employing in NZ…
The person needing medicine needs someone who knows biology, medicine, cannabinoid & other metabolite profiles, dosage, frequency, how those apply to various delivery methods, how these vary with culture methods… We're not bloody paupers making herb tea in a tin hut.
It might sound expensive, till you look at what it’s worth.
You overlooked the fact that many are growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
All the Government is going to do for them is keep that activity illegal and force them to pay top dollar for it.
So while it may be grown here, profits are bound to head offshore as locals are priced out or sell out as is usually the case with NZ businesses. And as for paying local tax, surely you must know how offshore owned companies minimize that?
The home-grower will find their medicine improved a great deal via the research of professionals. While you make stuff up and bang out about something you obviously know nothing about, there are many people who are not getting the efficacy from their medicine that they could be getting.
How many cancer patients have you worked with? PTSD? Autism?
What metabolite profiles are desirable for the above groups.
You clown.
While I'm not claiming to be a doctor or health specialist, I'm not making stuff up. There are many growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
They just want the Government to stop criminalizing them.
Sure, further research may further benefit them but they should have that choice between being able to home grow or opt for a commercial product.
Why do you and the Government want to prevent that and rob them of that choice?
In 1953 the United Kingdom and the U.S. conspired to crush democracy in Iran. They're still causing trouble 66 years later.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/11/is-the-us-nudging-britain-into-dangerous-waters-with-iran
No respect – a metaphor for our society imo – sometime is going so thrash it to death so we can say 'look at me'.
Maybe tourism in its current form is just mass narcissism, i.e.it's all about the self rather than the place visited. So many tourists here seem to need to race across the landscape, climb it, jump off bits of it etc. It’s possible to do that and leave a place still knowing nothing about it.
yeah – I have been a guide in a National Park and a Nature Reserve before – I had to actively get people to slow down and actually look around and see it all. Quite often there was resistance even though they had paid to be there. Bit like when they'd ask – what's that?, what's this? I so wanted to say "why do you care – let it all go and just be here without excessive knowledge gathering' Just be here now. But of course I didn't, I played the game.
The tourists come to conquer the country? Veni, vidi, vici? Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream. But they never will. A lot are only capable of short, quick, bursts of emotion with no contemplation of the wonder of the world. and no lasting respect for the land and the culture that are revealed to those who desire to see it. ('We've got better at home, is that the best they can do'?) Been there, done that, off to the next thing. The world is to use, discard and then pass on to the next experience.
Christine Aguilera puts the popular zip into Climb every Mountain which was an inspirational song about escape from oppression and tyranny. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_AcWbuxQdo
Here's a profound one for..you.
https://youtu.be/XcMM5-zBCEc
I was in Hawea recently, and I just drove to a nice scenic spot, and read my book under the mountains for a couple hours. I saw 100s of people, tourists, park, get out, look for a few minutes, take a selfie, back in car and off they went to the next spot. A beautiful area though.
Away from the 'maddening' throng. A book, view, peace, and something to nibble and drink. All requirements satisfied. Hope you liked the book.
It always has been the ultimate in conspicuous consumption.
All done in the best possible taste..
'Epstein pleaded guilty in state court in Florida in 2007 to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, resolving allegations that he had molested numerous girls. He served 13 months in jail, though he was allowed out six days a week to work from his office in Palm Beach.'
read:https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jeffrey-epstein-accused-of-sexually-abusing-teenage-girls-surrounded-himself-with-influential-network-of-defenders/2019/07/09/67069e12-a259-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?utm_term=.02401d1231e1
Someone has just been jailed for life with a minimum period of 10 years behind bars. I suppose that someone with a corkscrew mind could make sense of bringing that law in.
News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative, and The Standard is mostly an echo chamber of that. It is all too easy to feed into finding something to be upset about each day.
This constant barrage of negative news can be debilitating, and the propensity for many here to repeat their pet peeves over and over is simply tiring. What effect has all the complaining done for any of the 'popular' issues here?
Politics. Neo-liberal loathing. Poverty. Biodiversity Loss. Climate Change. War. Extremism… What has the years of whinging achieved? If you've made an impact by all means we need to hear about that. Not the same shit trotted out each day.
The world has a lot of problems right now. Concentrating on nothing but problems however gives a skewed and unrealistic view. I believe we play straight into the hands of power brokers who would prefer we are fearful and fighting among ourselves, rather than emboldened citizens of an incredible planet, surrounded by incredible people.
'Seek and ye shall find'. The daily ferreting out of things that are wrong is an exercise in propagating futility. Yes there are many issues, moaning about them constantly is a piss-poor effort.
As is moaning about all the moaning.
How to Get There is a step in the right direction.
Here's an old dude opened up his home gym and now has many local children training with him instead of getting up to other forms of 'entertainment' that might set their lives on a destructive path.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/78-year-old-bodybuilder-opens-his-home-gym-to-youngsters-for-free-so-they-wont-get-into-trouble/
My anxiety is through the roof lately, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Today I'll go seek some professional help, because that is how you responsibly deal with a problem – action, not whinging.
Here's the Guardian, which just linking to sets off a bunch of predictable whining about the publication itself. Like hysterical teens on facebook screaming faux outrage.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/01/and-now-for-something-completely-different-some-positive-news
When I try say – well done this person or that person for something good – y'all take their pedigree and dredge up whatever dirt you can find or imagine about them. No credit where it's due, no bipartisan support for anyone. Sides and stances.
Here's an app that lends eyes to the blind
https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2018/5454219/aira/
Use it.
The torrents of negative/bad news (particularly NZ/local bad news) can eventually erode/undermine the 'defences' of all but the most determined optimists.
Some have attempted to introduce 'good news quotas', and the idea seems attractive (I like it; think TV One News' "Good Sorts" on steriods), although quotas do attract detractors.
https://practicalreason.blog/2017/08/21/the-folly-of-good-news-quotas/
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/good-sorts-nomination-form-q01380
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/01/and-now-for-good-news-why-media-taking-positive-outlook
https://www.positive.news/
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
https://medium.com/future-crunch/99-good-news-stories-you-probably-didnt-hear-about-in-2018-cc3c65f8ebd0
Good news quotas – lol. But yay for them trying aye.
I'm not expecting persons to live under a rock, but more balance might help.
A few of the authors here post good news as it pops up and this is appreciated – then they're shot down by a wave of negative posters who can't accept anything good from their particular pet political peeve.
Then we all have a shit-fight.
Here's a laugh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD6Mj_gDzH0
I'm waiting for that movie. The original was pretty funny. Both crowdfunded.
Yeah I loved the first one. Stephanie Paul (Madame President) is a kiwi.
Yeah, but they had me at Laibach 😉
I was completely hooked after the 'albinised' black dude is marching with his sign back on Earth:
"The Moon Nazis Are Coming!"
Not subtle, but sublimely ridiculous.
If you appreciate a good laugh, though you’ve likely seen them: Idiocracy, and 4 Lions.
Tears of laughter. So damn good.
Idiocracy was pretty good, but the number of people saying that it was really happening because other people disagreed with them pissed me right off.
4 lions is on the list.
'Four Lions' screened at the NZ Film Festival almost ten years ago; still memorable after that one viewing. An extraordinary achievement from start to scarily laughable finish; makes you think – edgy.
Must mention what I think is an unsung NZ classic:
'The Devil Dared Me To' The legend of Stuntman, Randy Campbell.
Gloriously silly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Dared_Me_To
' News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative '
off shore oligarchial propaganda, wrapped up in local events.
There is the trade off between not having to do it yourself, & the imposition of non representative political agenda.
Even the political parties don't rate very much, don't like how they are somewhat beholden to and spoken for by other arrangements, it's just anarchical to talent and resources, the combinations you want for real value creation.
Serious question.
If this Government are sincere when they say they will repeal the Part 4A amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act (rushed through under urgency on the back of the 2013 Budget) why can they not do this now?
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0022/latest/whole.html
This would essentially effect a reboot of the Public Health and Disability Act, and the Ministry of Health DSS Funded Family Care policy would wink out of existence.
https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/funded-family-care-operational-policy
https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2013-go6248
All that would be needed is for the prohibition for having a resident family member provide the assessed care to be removed from MOH:DSS documents.
MOH DSS clients who have been through the NASC process and undergone the needs assessments and had hours allocated can simply choose to have a family member provide those supports either through Individualised Funding or through a Contracted Provider.
As was the common practice for those family carers who were being paid despite the policy forbidding this. The Ministry of Health DSS has the details of these arrangements. (I have an anonymised list obtained through OIA)
There will be certain eligible DSS clients whose assessments have been too heavily predicated on resident family providing what the Misery calls 'natural supports'.
These will need to be re- assessed on a case by case basis with assistance from ACC who also expect resident family to provide some level of 'natural supports ' but have the real risk that if they don't fund adequate hours of support they (ACC) can be liable if there is further harm to the client.
ACC and the Ministry of Health have worked closely on previous occasions so this is not an outrageous suggestion.
So, why not repeal the Part 4A POS now and allow those who have been denied access to the funding allocated for their care because of a policy determined to be discriminatory by the Courts in decisions all three of the Parties in Government claim they agree with?
Because I am very, very suspicious that resolution of this will be delayed until after the election.
Easy enough to fix right away, as you point out.
As you say Rosemary, some of the issues could be very quickly remedied – for example, by using urgency to repeal the dreaded Part 4a of the Act etc. But to do so that way would actually just be doing what the last Nat government did in bringing Part 4a and the whole rediculous policy in the first place with all the attendant problems that accompanied that move – lack of consultation with those affected, no public submission process etc, etc.
I fully recognise your reasons for scepticism etc in light of what you and Peter, and many others have gone through for years and I fully support all of you. (I too have some disabilities and know full well how hard the fight is to try to get what you are entitled to.)
Having worked in the State Service sector in Wellington for over four decades and in particular in areas interacting and liaising with, and working on secondment from time to time in, the Parliamentary arena, I am reasonably confident that the intentions are to get these legislative changes etc through and in place well before the election in the second half of next year – but at the same time taking the time to do it properly in full consultation with people like yourselves, and through the proper legislative process of select committee deliberation, public submissions etc.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
The various press releases by Ministers seem to have included mention of the way that Part 4a was brought in under urgency and without consultation etc and the wish not to do the same – eg
“We are committed to getting this change through as swiftly as we can, while also avoiding the process which created the current legislation,” says Julie Anne Genter.
http://community.scoop.co.nz/2019/07/government-changes-funded-family-care-policy/
My understanding is that work is well advanced on various possible options to replace the ridiculous employment arrangement brought in in 2013 "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau."
The three Coalition parties all seem to be in agreement on this issue and singing from the same song sheet, and IIRC the intention is to announce these proposals, the proposed changes to legislation etc in the next few months and certainly well before the end of this year.
In other words, what I am trying to say badly is that as someone who has worked in the area of legislative changes etc, they seem to be making sure that they have all their ducks lined up on this issue before they go ahead – as they must do particularly in light of the judicial decisions. So I so hope I am not wrong!
Thank you for responding veutoviper, I was sending you psychic messages hoping for your particular insights.
I do sincerely hope you are right, because another betrayal, a twist of the knife in our backs would be unforgivable.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
Ironically it is exactly this that causes my deep concern that they have not thought it through.
It is the "$32million over four years'…https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/393821/family-carers-to-be-paid-fairer-wage that doesn't quite add up.
That's $8million dollars per year to pay an extra 640 family carers (like me) up to $25 per hour. Plus increase the pay of the current 400 Funded Family Carers to the same rate per hour. Generously, this works out as an average of about 9 hours per week per carer. For clients with high, very high and complex needs. Many of whom have been assessed as needing at least five times as many hours of support.
It simply does not add up. Even more so if the government continues along the lines suggested by the PSA and makes the rule that these family care arrangements have to go through a contracted provider. To avoid the " "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau." issue.
Veutoviper. This is not an issue to ACC clients who are bulk funded and pay their family. MOH DSS clients are being treated differently. Again. It may be appropriate where there are severe learning disabilities, and if both the client and the parent carer agree then these arrangements could be overseen by a Contracted Provider.
This would of course add extra costs because the provider would expect their cut of the funding.
Having the arrangement go through a provider denies the disabled person the autonomy provided by being able to use Individualised Funding…which I believe is funded at a lower hourly rate that the contracted providers demand.
Reading the Cabinet Papers from back in 2012 when they decided not to take Atkinson to the Supreme Court, very early in the paper based discussion did the term "competing interests" arise. A few paragraphs later the redacted sections began, culminating in the impressively blanked out RIS that Micky Savage (chicken killer) shared in his post the other day.
Now that would be awesome…unblank those sections of that Regulatory Impact Statement so we are fully informed.
Honest and transparent government and all that.
Yes please. Saving face for officials who should have known better is not a valid reason to keep it hidden.
Almost incredibly, the godawful American equivalent of the Grauniad just got worse.
Sydney Ember, a finance company shill, a Clintonista, a crony of Matt Drudge, is now employed as a "journalist" by the New York Times….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u26Ff_KTlD4
The floundering British State Broadcaster is now flagrantly pro-Tory
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/panoramas-hatchet-job-labour-antisemitism-bbc-has-become-pro-tory-media
Good on Collins. Her practical, down to earth approach will get her a long way. Just what we need in a future PM and what NZ needs to sort this mess out. About bloody time someone said it how it is.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114181232/judith-collins-just-stop-beating-up-kids
Doesn't she support parents hitting their kids?
Apparently not morpissey.
Collins said something that sounded like a human speaking? I caught the whiff of some understanding from her the other day about something. I think it must be a bout of this Type A flu going round. They say it is really strong. Coff, coff.
So it must have been someone else, disguised as Judith Collins, that boasted in 2007 about beating her own child….
See, reasonable smacking never hurt anyone. Her kids still love her. What's the problem?
Highly likely, as long as the bashing was reasonable.
Exactly what the bashers of children say. How is she in any way superior to the parents who "go a bit far" and kill the kids whom she and the Family Fist Fanatics say are fair game for slap-happy parents?
Because she speaks for the silent majority, for those too scared to raise their head above the pulpit of political correctness.
You need to stop now. Every time you post, it's something even stupider than the last.
Pulpit??
Do you mean pulpit, rampart or bulwark? Or parapet?
Blinkin' heck, yes, parapet. Early onset for sure.
I know the feeling…
Definitely pulpit when it comes to the political correctness verses like a religious fervour.
Sorry to do it again, but verses or versus?
It was the raising the head above a pulpit (has anyone ever lowered a head below one?) that prompted me to question Chris, whose irony I hopefully thought I was enjoying.
Was not meaning to be critical.
Yes, you were, but I don’t think Morrissey did.
I’m sure someone would’ve lowered their head below a pulpit. Perhaps when shoes or other things are being thrown at them.
You can't help loving words like me. I was thinking of verses repeated from the holy lexicon of PCness.
I do enjoy this sort of finish to the end of the day with a bit more lightness than the days bathos. Choirboys probably like to keep their heads below the pulpit. Especially the ones that Giles sometimes included in his clever cartoons – kids with too much insouciance. (I like using google meanings a lot – so fast.)
Giles always had so much other than the main joke going on in the cartoons.
Cool. But choirboys should be well away from the pulpit, which is the uplifted tower-like stand where the preacher preaches from, unless I am getting that early onset thing yet again. .
And turret does work – ta Incognito.
'The holy lexicon of PCness.' Sounds much less threatening than the holy dictates/scriptures/commandments which holiness normally delivers.
I was only kidding; letting off some ‘steam’, you know …
..not such a good idea…
The saying is: to be too scared to stick your head above the turret. I’m sure …
Yes, I'm sure it's one of them.
https://www.google.com/search?q=head+above+the+parapet&oq=head+above+the+&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l5.8508j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I don't think she's beaten many of her children to death morpissey, not even when on P and thus completely innocent.
No, but she and the likes of Bob "Hairbrush" McCoskrie and other ideologically committed kiddywhackers provide the ideological and moral scaffolding for people who hit their children. I'm sure Collins has not hurt her own kids; it's a pity she has not thought a little more about the impact of her words and her policies. Same goes for her slap-happy political cronies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwRq7zudLZk
It's a one size doesn't fit all type of area really.
Having to smack, for those that would feel they need to, too much is not ideal for the parent. The freedom to be a total brat is not ideal for the child.
A settlement mechanism inclusive of both extreme ends to the area, would perhaps provide the maximum utility in enabling the natural fits that will be most suitable to all i would say if people really wanted it.
That is an independent citizen’s aid authority, that can
A) these smackings could be getting out of hand and becoming counter productive to the situation
B) the child does not have the license of freedom is expecting of the parent & does not have the right to complain.
While leaving the exact dynamics to be worked out by the families, perhaps such a service could help in providing equilibriums that some families would otherwise not be able to reach for themselves.
A referendum then, might not have been a bad stepping stone to optimising the situation if wanted.
How much slapping and hitting with hairbrushes is acceptable for elderly people?
yeah the simpleton approach is always popular with gnats
What good stuff especially unexpected from Basher Collins. Unless she is just dancing clever politics. But wait. Many of her colleagues would disagree with her. So……
She reminds me of Nosher Powell's Prime Minister in Eat The Rich when he knocks the heads of the Palestinian & Israel leaders and tells them to "stop fighting & sort it out".
Collins says whatever she feels like at the time. She doesn't listen and responds on the hoof. This will become immediately obvious if she's ever PM, perhaps just leader of the nats, and would be truly Trumpesque.
We can only hope…
…she becomes leader of the nats. Constant entertainment until she spontaneously combusts.
Crush their spirit, hit them where it hurts, and when they’re down, tell them to pick themselves up and then kick them down again and rinse and repeat. Tell them that it is all about making the right decisions and personal responsibility and they should stop beating their kids. That’s how they treat the Precariat. They are wilfully blind and tone-deaf to context and circumstances. I detest cynical populist politicians with their personal and selfish agendas and their hypocritical smugness.
Simon and the National Party are incompetent idiots.
https://www.twitter.com/NZNationalParty/status/1149121011368939520
The Toyota Corolla model shown in the graphic is from the early 1990's. No one would import a vehicle that old.
In the real world, a Corolla like the one below would be imported and in 2021, when the legislation would apply, this vehicle would be 5 years old.
2016 Toyota Corolla, 1.8 Petrol CVT. 96 C02 (g/km). If this vehicle is imported, it would be eligible for a significant rebate.
The National Party need to lift their game and stop making shit up.
They have taken the lesson from their chums in the US and UK that lying works.
Banks sometimes we love them and sometimes…. we ask awkward questions?
When it comes to the risk mitigation costs arising from their own activities, the banks expect their customers to pick up the tab. Or taxpayers, as happened with the BNZ collapse of the late 1980s, and with the post–GFC collapse of non banking lenders like South Canterbury Finance. It was only ten years ago that governments had to bail 0ut a global banking system that (from the US to Scotland to the Netherlands) had been made vulnerable by the banks’ own lobbying for lax regulation and the pursuit of dodgy lending practices. If the banks have already forgotten the GFC, the rest of us haven’t.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1907/S00063/gordon-campbell-on-the-aussie-banks-latest-fee-hike-excuse.htm
A grown man weeps for the destruction of his whenua, his life.
How the power of a state agency can divide and rule by wooing one group and dismissing another.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113021225/the-devastating-personal-cost-of-taranakis-200m-mt-messenger-bypass
https://www.toko.org.nz/petitions/no-mt-messenger-bypass-save-mangapepeke-valley
There was an option to widen the one-way Awakino tunnel which seems to be one of the biggest problems. There is mention of accidents, and from what I have seen of driving in the rural sector, this is because of excessive speed for the conditions.
Report for Mt Messenger Alliance (who are they). https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/projects/awakino-gorge-to-mt-messenger-programme/mt-messenger-bypass/rma-applications/technical-reports/tr-9-historic-heritage-assessment.pdf
https://www.trc.govt.nz/buses-transport/transport-planning/state-highway-3/
It is interesting that if one wants to look at one of the numerous maps of the area that is noted as nzta, it won't come up individually to be expanded but just switches over to the group of area maps. That is unusual as I can normally hone in to get a good view, but not here.
Found this for 13 April 2017, (all MPs in the area are National)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/91551220/twobridge-bypass-of-awakino-tunnel-announced-as-part-of-135m-safety-project
and for 21 October 2017
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98097430/taranaki-mps-are-hopeful-big-spending-projects-will-proceed-under-new-government
Taranaki's elected MPs say they are confident the region will not become a political backwater now that it is not represented in government.
The three MPs, Jonathan Young (New Plymouth), Barbara Kuriger (Taranaki King Country) and newcomer Hirate Hipango (Whanganui), face the next three years in opposition for the first time since 2008.
Major roading and housing projects earmarked for the region would still go ahead under the three party Labour/New Zealand First/ Green coalition government, they say….
A decision to mine iron sand off the South Taranaki coastline could also be up for change, depending on the new government's position after a High Court appeal is heard.
The trio hoped coalition partner New Zealand First's focus on regional issues would help retain skills and job training for people in Taranaki.
Kuriger said New Zealand First leader Winston Peters campaigned for provincial rural communities during the election.
The National MPs have been in a political hiatus under National apparently but pushed through the expensive roading option to get it on the books before another election, which National lost.
Former Taranaki King Country MP Shane Ardern said the Mt Messenger project could still be overturned….
Ardern famously drove a tractor up the steps of parliament to protest against a methane emissions bill.
He was critical of the MMP voting system. "I don't like MMP, I think it is a rotten system. "What we've got now is a group of losers who have cobbled together to chop off the winners.
Noticeable in what I have skimmed through is no emphasis on saving environment or kokako or kiwi. There is talk of tourism but no feeling that could include special areas for endangered species. Just the usual bull-headed, unchanging obeisance to saving minutes of driving time. WTF. And concern about accidents, well let's face it, a lot of that could be avoided by making people sit regular driving checks on simulators. That would save more lives and injuries, and squillions of dollars on roading and written off vehicles. And having a licence would be a treasure. The emphasis should not be making it so hard to get a licence, but ensure a reasonably competent driver stays proud of their competence.
There was an article about this couple back in 2017…https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/96155843/farmer-says-mt-messenger-road-option-would-be-environmental-and-ecological-suicide
..and a quick scan of the Comments section gives a good indication of the neanderthal numpties who are demanding the destruction of our ever diminishing and degraded indigenous forests and waterways so they can GO FASTER.
Yes. I'd help dig out another lane in the Tunnel with my bare hands if that would satisfy the drongoes for whom being forced to spend an unnecessary six minutes driving slowly through near virgin forest is torture.
Believe me…it is a heavenly drive.
I see it as a National Party MP push – look what we do for Taranaki.
And I don't think they have in Naki got a lot more understanding of other values beside farming and money since Parihaka. I am prepared to be taken to task – but it's a feeling I have from my short experience there and what Ive read.
Totally agree with ya grey on the driving simulators etc Im fairly certain we could all benefit from more and better driver training .Much better direction i think to be going in than one of ever expanding use of barriers etc personally i find some roads to be like driving through a cattle race !plus any scenic value is erased along with technically the risk ! .I shudder to think what might be ahead of us as drivers prob something like a complete shield along the sides of roads along with robotic control .Cars will probably still keep their steering wheels but only so we dont feel like completely useless idiots and can still pretend at least to be driving ! So risk adverse will society have become by then that its likely we'll all have to suck on dummies while we drive in case we bite our tongues if a bug hits the windscreen if theres any bugs left by then of course
Ver funny weston and prophetic too. Think of the kiddy cars in the supermarkets.
How sad for Sir John.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12249032
But I suppose a successful claim would be paid for by the customers and not any of the Directors. Damn.
It's like when he "committed" New Zealand troops to Iraq: no personal involvement at all. Unless that useless son of his has signed up?
What the hell is going on here? Why can't I access Hansard?
I've been trying to get on to the Hansard site in order to track down a horrible speech in favour of child-beating by the Dishonorable Judith Collins. I tried several times but this is all I got…..
https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/databases/record/?record=hansard
What is wrong here? Why can't I get through? Has anyone else had this problem with accessing Hansard?
No, working perfectly
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/
But doubt you will find what you think you are looking for on Hansard.
Perhaps you meant this?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/85282990/judith-collins-criticised-for-comments-about-parental-responsibility-and-poverty
Or this?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018657355/echoes-of-the-past-in-collins-fake-news-row
I've just clicked on the link you gave and I'm still getting the "Your connection is not private…." nonsense. I can't even ignore it and move on to the site.
Very strange, and annoying.
Be afraid. This is how it starts …
Please, please (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) ….
They're laughing at me.
Usually it's because the website's sso cert has bust in some way. In your case it's probably the NSA trying to thwart you.
Seems OK Morrissey.
2013: Collins,"More than 50 children have died in New Zealand in the last 5 years not because of poverty, actually, but because of extreme abuse. I do not think for a moment that poverty is any excuse for killing one’s child, or the child of somebody else either, or of harming them. etc etc."
Maybe on this matter she is genuine?
She also said she's "proud" to have beaten her own child. Puts her broadside against people who think like her but take it a bit far into some perspective. I'm also troubled by her phrase "not because of poverty, actually"—even when speaking on something like this, she felt entitled to inject her ideologically motivated and cynical repudiation of the very notion of poverty in New Zealand.
very likely your internet connection is down and when you go to any URL you (try to) get the login page of your router , the message is from your browser refusing to connect to a different non https page from the one asked for
Thanks for that xanthe!
Bastards. I thought as much.
Farmers ceased to be a store that considered itself a family store decades ago. Now it's a private equity handbag accessory I think.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/394233/farmers-stores-refuse-to-budge-on-workers-pay-claims
Lynda Kamariera had been at the company for almost 23 years and said workers were some of the lowest-paid retail staff in the country.
"They value themselves as being a family story but the families who work inside Farmers are finding they're struggling."
After more than two decades at the company, Lynda's pay had yet to reach the current rate living wage of $20.55 an hour, which was due to go up in September to $21.15.
The situation was just continuing to get more desperate for staff, she said.
"There are workers that have taken out loans to get car repairs so they can come to work."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12248984
Jesus wept! It's premium so can't see the full article but if we "accept the USA's invitation” and go to war with Iran, there will be hell to pay.
Drones to the left of me, rifles to the right, stuck in the middle with you.
Our present nashionul anthem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8StG4fFWHqg
Lyrics for the singing of:
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stealerswheel/stuckinthemiddlewithyou.html
This probably makes more sense and is more coherent than what was actually said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI0_mEMaTyE
Whatever Trump said, it's morally superior to what the Democratic "leaders", including that heroic desk warrior Kamala Harris, have been saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vkJn7aaMlI
Self-awareness, much? https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12-07-2019/#comment-1636402
No, you haven't defended that warmonger one little bit. You can't of course.
A group of investors in New Zealand's largest Ponzi scheme has accused the ANZ of negligence in its role as banker of the company, Ross Asset Management.
Former commercial lawyer, John Strahl, who is acting as a spokesman for the group said the action would have started years ago, but ANZ took legal action against the financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority to prevent it sharing the finding of its investigation.
ANZ strongly denies the allegations and will be defending the claim.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114197565/investors-launch-legal-claim-against-anz-over-it-relationship-with-ponzi-scheme
Nasty.
From 2004 to 2017, when she was a San Francisco D.A. and then the Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris was a key figure in the institutional oppression of black and Latino citizens. She did not speak out against the wicked and iniquitous "three strikes" travesty of a law, and she contended, to the anger and consternation of black and civil rights groups, that local police should be allowed to investigate themselves after killing people. She supported the outrageous, controversial 2011 California truancy legislation that made criminals of poor and disadvantaged parents throughout the state.
She has also foolishly swallowed—hook, line, and sinker—the Bellingcat/U.K. government's disinformation campaigns about Syria, and has spoken at AIPAC conferences, where she boasted: "The first resolution I co-sponsored as a United States senator was to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations." The AIPAC delegates applauded that little speech almost as loudly as they cheer a nurse being shot and killed by IDF snipers in Gaza.
In the following puff piece from—you guessed it!—CNN, there is an unintentionally amusing, and sadly quite accurate, bit of blithering from an uncritical supporter….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114209639/paddle-pops-withheld-from-dirty-crims-by-prison-guards
'They claimed that some inmates at Auckland Prison, Paremoremo, which houses New Zealand's only specialist maximum-security prison unit, never got the ice blocks, with officers refusing to give them to "dirty crims".'
Good, all it will do is create more problems.