‘Prime Minister John Key is poised to outline the possible sale of thousands of state houses to community groups today, as the Government advances its reform of social housing.’
The privatisation of housing.
Is really the way to solve NZ’s housing crisis, Mr Key?
It’s about transferring public assets to private hands and another issue buried at the GE that all opposition parties should have been demanding a please explain.
Wonder if it will be at the types of discounts the power generators were flogged for especially genesis.
At least will someone in opposition demand the detail on how rents will be controlled and get the attack of this abdication of repsonsibilities going on a few fronts please.
This can only be true if he meant there was no housing crisis for rich people and the Government’s policies are aimed at increasing the supply of rental properties to landlords.
The damage that he does to the plain meaning of words is horrendous.
There was a doozy on Morning Report. When quizzed on whether Mike Sabin was being investigated by the police, he said he couldn’t comment. When quizzed further he said he was advised not to comment. When asked who advised him not to comment he said he was not at liberty to say. When asked why he was not at liberty to say, he said, “Well that’s a circular argument.” It’s about halfway through a 6 minute interview.
yesterday he said he comments on what he wants to comment and not on what he doesnt. I guess overnight they rethought the effectiveness of that childish response and decided to pretend someone was stopping him from commenting. I mean, this is the guy who gets documents declassified to help his election campaign.
I agree on both counts. Yes, Labour and the Greens need to take a strong stand on state house sales, and yes, Key is an arch dissembler. He seems to have three basic moves – (1) Toy out loud with the idea doing something extreme and scary. (get the government out of housing) (2) Step back a little to something more ‘moderate’ (we’ll sell a few but still remain the main provider) (3) Do what he wants to do anyway.
@ Olwyn
That is what the political commentator on Radionz said today. The gummint goes OTT and get people’s backs up, then there is the announcement putting that to rest with a smaller change that appears to be more considered and puts the critics on the back foot as being dogmatic and unreasonable. It’s not too bad, what are you going on about sort of thing.
It also means the government can say homelessness isn’t their responsibility. Families living in cars, caravans and sheds? That will be the fault of the charities that take this on according to the Nats.
Done correctly I think this may help the situation, as well as private charity I imagine there’ll be groups that concentrate on housing and as such should do a better job of handling housing
I’m sure you agree that as peoples circumstances change their housing needs change as well?
You assume that these housing associations have the capacity and the ability to deliver (without prejudice) healthy, affordable housing for communities. In our small country, they don’t. And the private developers included in the mix, don’t have the intent.
And if you want social cohesion, and enhanced community, then transitional housing is not the answer. People are more likely to be connected, and resilient when they have strong stable communities. View the difference in established communities with little turnover, with transient communities such as student areas or holiday home towns.
As people’s circumstances change, if their housing is secure, their energies can be directed towards other benefits for themselves, their families and their communities.
By proposing that when they are on their (choose arbitrary financial point) feet, they are then expected to move house and community, keeps them on a perpetual treadmill, supposedly doing everything right to move forward, but being given other obstacles to achieve to stay in place.
Just how many 3-4 bedroom state houses do you believe are being occupied by single people living alone? Really would be interested Undecided, in whatever information you have on this topic. You do have some right? You are surely not just repeating tired spin from the 1990’s. That time before a concerted effort was made by successive Governments, to relocate people living in such circumstances, not to mention the ensuing shifts in policy direction where such circumstances rarely, if ever, occur today.
The Government will be selling thousands and thousands of homes our grandparents paid to have built so their children and their children’s children could live in a country where need was less.
Was a nice theory, if only the kids had had the guts to follow through with the sentiment, instead of turning the most awesome little country in the world (still full of potential) into a vapid whore working one of the smaller South Pacific outposts of Greed Inc.
Meaning that people in state houses should be moved around depending on their circumstances
However as reported
Prime Minister John Key has confirmed the Government plans to sell 1000 to 2000 state houses in the next year to be run by community housing providers with more sales possible over the next few years.
In his state of the nation speech today Key said Housing New Zealand would still remain the biggest provider of social housing with at last 60,000 properties by 2017 against 65,000 now.
2000 to be sold to community providers with possibly more to come certainly isn’t as bad as some feared
Posters on here were assuming the worst, that Key would sell off most of the housing stock and probably to private investers whereas hes selling off less then 5% to private providers so no loss off housing
Well in regards to asset sales Key said he wouldn’t seel any assets in first term and he didn’t, he said he’d partially sell some power companies in his second term and did so on asset sales hes done what hes said he’d do
and in case you didnt grasp what was happening there, thats the nats trying to not frighten you in order to advance their actual agenda – an agenda they are pretty open about and one that hasnt changed for years now
and yet again your avoiding engaging with the actual questions and points being put to you. What are you afraid of?
your contradicting yourself – in one comment you say they did what they said they would then when i point out that theres more going no and its nbo big secret you resort to “well their popular”
Appeals to populism doesnt explain anything other than popularity
I will take it you are incapable of backing up you opening play.
really weak – so weak that i can only assume your a troll.
Have to confess I’m undecided as to whether Undecided is Dissembling or merely Obfuscating…….while noting that they’re not necessarily mutually exclusive and may indeed be cousins.
Undecided, why are you so scared of answering one simple question?
Let me take a stab at the answer you really wanted to give but were just too timid to front up with:
‘I do not know, but I have faith in John Key to do what is right for New Zealand.’
Is that a fair approximation of your thoughtful “undecided” point of view.
p.s. In today’s speech, was there any mention of a mechanism where Social Providers will get first dibs on State Assets that are being sold?
case in point – used to live in wesley (sandringham) in AK – there was one street where about 10 old style 1/4 acre state houses were moved off site and sold as relocateables. Then a mixture of town and terrace houses with differing numbers of bedrooms was built. Thereby increasing total houses and reformatting to suit a wider variety of circumstances
notice how thats utterly different to the nats plan?
considering thats not the question being asked, you are avoiding
or your not very good at this language thingy
this is what you said
“I’m thinking that a single person taking up a 3-4 bedroom house when theres a family needing a house seems to be a waste of that house”
i responded that the policy being proposed doesnt have anything to do with that
this whole thread between the two of us is based off that one comment – why you think that instead of answers that follow and stick to this argument, im more interested in what you want the nats to do is beyond me
oh for fucks sake!
————————————–
“then the answer isnt sell off current stock is it
the answer is change the stock
case in point – used to live in wesley (sandringham) in AK – there was one street where about 10 old style 1/4 acre state houses were moved off site and sold as relocateables. Then a mixture of town and terrace houses with differing numbers of bedrooms was built. Thereby increasing total houses and reformatting to suit a wider variety of circumstances
notice how thats utterly different to the nats plan?”
———————————–
what bit of that isnt clear?
then i repeated the main question AGAIN to you
—————————
“notice how thats utterly different to the nats plan?”
—————————
what bit of that isnt clear?
Let’s call them “desirable areas” rather than expensive ones. The reason why they are expensive are many and varied, but the primary reason is the failure of government (especially this one), to address rising housing costs. That is a series of posts in itself.
These areas are desirable because they are within easy access of schools, public transport, central city, services and community facilities.
Your suggestion to send those living there to “less expensive” areas results in a transfer of housing providing responsibility costs from government to increased transport and living costs to already vulnerable tenants. Add to that social isolation and reduction of access to sporting and community engagement, and the true costs of this type of policy become apparent.
If we take Glen Innes as an example. This was the creation of a desirable area for social housing, by the government at the time.
Access to services, school, work and health as well as to some of Auckland’s natural environment was excellent.
The encroachment of higher-priced property means that this purpose built social housed community is no longer welcome. Without any regard for the social equity that exists.
We have a government that is not providing enough social housing. It is also not providing access to affordable housing for an increasing number of NZers… It is however, going to provide discounted assets to private property developers. And that seems to be the sum total of it’s efforts on this issue.
I said decent but less expensive areas, I’ll use Christchurch as an example as i’m not from Auckland so I’m thinking if there are any state houses in Merivale, Fendalton etc then sell them off and buy in Hornby (which is a pretty decent suburb) so I’m not suggesting they buy houses in Aranui and stick families there
Your view is that “what you think” is what actually occurs despite evidence to the contrary.
By putting the provision of healthy, affordable homes for all NZ’ers to third parties, a government (such as National) removes itself adroitly from the chain of responsibility and will continue to do so as long as it can get away with it.
By bringing in for-profit providers, not only are they dismantling their responsibility, they are effectively saying “we do not have the capability or otherwise to look after this fundamental requirement for healthy and engaged NZers’. And yet they are responsible for the health and wellbeing of our whole economy.
So we must “never forget” Auschwitz. As a kid raised on WWII stories, books and gruesome pictures courtesy of parents directly involved via the air force and nursing during London blitz I of course concur.
Unfortunately large sections of the Israeli leadership and population do appear to have forgotten. Persecution of the Palestinians remains perilously close to the ideology that sanctioned the death camps.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR) conducted a fact-finding mission, utilising 8 independent international forensic and medical experts. They’re the only human rights group to have been granted access to Gaza by both Israel and Egypt (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the UN Human Rights Council were repeatedly denied entry).
“The report’s authors adopt a cautious and professional tone but describe the stuff of nightmares.”
mouthing off to perpetuate the market they make their living from. Am sick of Bank employees being asked for comment on stuff that hurts or harms banks… real estate agency owners being used as experts on affordable housing when they have no interest in it.
While workers’ rights, living standards and general conditions of life have been made worse over the past 30 years, workers’ resistance has declined to negligible levels. Moreover, the rare tussle that does take place is a defensive one. Workers in this country, with the possible exception of the early days of Unite union when it was organising new workplaces and fighting to get contracts for new union members, haven’t been going on the offensive for several decades now.
Sometimes it seems that two generations of workers got defeated – through the 1980s and 1990s – and the next generation therefore hasn’t had a fighting spirit and class consciousness passed on to it nor developed these through its own experiences.
But if workers here have forgotten or, in the case of the new generation, not yet learned what resistance is let alone what going on the offensive is, there is no shortage of examples of powerful workers’ upsurges and of workers’ resistance pointing to, or at least offering a glimpse of the potential for, alternative ways of organising economic, social and political life.
So we’ve stuck up on Redline links to pieces about workers’ occupations, about the biggest general strike in history (a couple of years ago in India), the May-June 68 events in France, the formation of bodies of workers’ power in Portugal and Chile in the early 1970s – forms of organising that point the way out of capitalism.
One of the reasons there’s little resistance is small- and medium-sized employers in areas of moderate- to high-unemployment.
I live in one of those areas, and I’ve been in and out of employment since the early 1990s. In that time, one employer has met their obligations and told me who my union was.
One.
My current employer refuses to talk about it, stating they have no official position but if I joined a union we’d all lose our jobs because it’d mean higher wages and better conditions.
This is why their wage theft is on-going. It’s been made quite clear that if any of us cause trouble by attempting to enforce our basic legal rights, our reference will be simply an acknowledgement of employment – the implication being that we were a bad employee because they had nothing good to say about us.
My previous employer didn’t mention a union, but the owner did tell me I was salaried so they didn’t need to pay overtime, and I was waged so they didn’t need to pay me if I was off sick for more days than I had accrued.
During the last years of National’s run in the 1990s, when the ECA required negotiation of pay and conditions, one employer stated wages and conditions, and said “There’s no negotiation of that, that’s the job. If you don’t accept that pay, you don’t get the job.” WINZ, of course, required me to accept the job.
As I understand it, the bulk of the jobs in the area are the same. The employers know there aren’t many jobs out there, so they have low wages and bad conditions, and if you don’t like it you can sod off.
Eventually, the employees do so, moving to towns with better jobs, wages, and conditions, and it seems to me that these factors are such an improvement that they don’t see the need to join a union.
I hear what you are saying. There is the implied threat, that if you do this, then your co-workers will turn against you as to blame for ANY job loss… no matter how unrelated to your decision to join a union
That said, I now have a list of rather important questions to ask employers at my next job interviews. I’ll figure out better phrasings for them, but if they turn me down because I want to know an employer’s position on worker rights, I’m fairly sure I don’t want to work there.
There is no obligation for employers to tell you who your union might be unless there is a Collective Agreement that covers your work and your employer is a party to that agreement, i.e for the first 30 days of your employment you will be covered by the terms & conditions of the Collective ( from 6 March this provision will no longer apply to new employees), after which you can join the union or negotiate individual terms & conditions of employment.
I thought an employer must know what Union/s their staff can join and if asked is required to impart that knowledge to the employee or person being interviewed. If I am incorrect on this please let me know.
Unfortunately you are incorrect unless there is an applicable Collective Agreement for that workplace and the employees work is covered by the agreement.
hi phil and bass guy, couldnt agree more.
i had the misfortune to have desired to be a chef as a youngster. (30 odd years later i still love cooking!)
i have been mainly in hospitality since 1985, and on both sides of this discussion (worker, here and overseas, and employer here).
in my experience in mainly small businesses (less than 10 employees), and have never been involved with a union, let alone acted collectively.
incidentally i am in the throws of renegotiating my wages currently.
the nature of these small businesses tends to create “relationships” between employer and worker, which can make negotiating potentially fraught, tense or non-existant, especially for the younger workers.
none of this is a defence of greedy employers, just my 2 cents worth.
The National government in 1991 legislated against working people and their unions and for their business mates by introducing the Employment Contracts Act (ECA). The award structure was completely gutted and replaced with enterprise bargaining & individual employment contracts, which for many workers meant an offer of inferior terms & conditions of employment on a take it or leave basis. Compulsory unionism was abolished and in many industries and workplaces a collective approach to wage bargaining never took place again. Unions and unionism was decimated. Workers, especially the low & semi skilled, became increasingly reliant upon the benevolence of employers and government who set minimum requirements such as the minimum wage, annual leave and grievance procedures. The workplace power imbalance between employer and worker increased – and remains – heavily weighted in favour of the former. Wages have not kept up with the cost of living because working people no longer enjoy a collective voice in both the workplace and society.
Employers and their supportive governments love high unemployment numbers especially youth. The idea and ability to pick and choose is very appealing. They strongly advocate for and support 90 day trial periods for new employees. They don’t want assertive union officials supporting & promoting alternatives. That weakens their power & control.
Do you think this government would want their business buddies to be made to tell the workers the contact details of Andrew Littles mates?
Noam Chomsky had some choice words about the popularity of “American Sniper,” its glowing New York Times review, and what the worship of a movie about a cold-blooded killer says about the American people.
It’s not good.
During a Cambridge, Massachusetts event hosted by The Baffler, Chomsky first read the glowing recent review the New York Times gave the movie. That review begins inauspiciously by insulting “America’s coastal intelligentsia, which has busied itself with chatter over little-seen art dramas while everyday Americans showed up en masse for a patriotic, pro-family picture which broke all attendance records in its opening days.”
So, Chomsky wonders aloud: “What was the patriotic, pro-family film that so entranced everyday Americans? It’s about the most deadly sniper in American history, a guy named Chris Kyle, who claims to have used his skills to have killed several hundred people in Iraq.”
Kyle’s first kill was a woman who apparently walked into the street with a grenade in her hand as the Marines attacked her village.
“‘I hated the damn savages I’d been fighting,’” Chomsky said, quoting Kyle. “‘Savage, despicable, evil — that’s what we were fighting in Iraq. That’s why a lot of people, myself included, called the enemy savages. There was really no other way to describe what we encountered there.’”
Chomsky also pointed out that The New Yorker loved the film, saying, “it was great, kept to the cinematic values, said it was well done.” On the other hand, Newsweek‘s Jeff Stein, a former US intelligence officer, called it appalling. In that review, Chomsky says, Stein remembered a visit he had made to a “clubhouse for snipers, where to quote him, ‘the barroom walls featured white-on-black Nazi SS insignia, and other Wehrmacht regalia. The Marine shooters clearly identified with the marksmen of the world’s most infamous killing machine, rather than regular troops.”
“Getting back to Chris Kyle,” Chomsky said, arriving at his larger point. “He regarded his first kill as a terrorist — this woman who walked in the street — but we can’t really attribute that to the mentality of a psychopathic killer, because we’re all tarred by the same brush insofar as we tolerate or keep silent about official policy. Now, that mentality helps explain why it’s so easy to ignore what is most clearly the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern history, if not ever — Obama’s global assassination campaign, the drone campaign, which officially is aimed at murdering people who are suspected of maybe someday planning to harm us.”
Chomsky recommends reading some of the transcripts with drone operators, calling them “harrowing” in their dehumanizing treatment of people who are targeted.
The implication is clear and chilling. Are we all, at least tacitly, American snipers?
Rich people around the world buying boltholes in NZ to escape to when the shit they have been taking advantage of to enrich themselves backfires in their faces. Been suggesting such since the Rothschilds bought a large coastal farm on banks Peninsula about 10 or so years ago….. boat access, airstrips, etc…..
Why don’t these people go to the private market for support rather than ask the taxpayer? It is not as if the projects are any larger than countless other private projects in the country….
Aren’t they free market supporters? Why would they push through a project that the free market doesn’t support?
Why do they ask for the taxpayer to start it? Then later ask the taxpayer to support them when the waters run dry? Then ask the taxpayers to pay to clean up the shit afterwards?
I think the angle they are running is that it is for the greater good, if the farmers make money the community benifits which will be hard to argue with in dollars and cents terms
Yeah nah – those ‘for the greater good’ arguments have little credibility these days. Unfortunately no time to go into it… though ….
We would get short shrift if we went to government for loans for our business (which is similar scale to some of these irrigation projects) – and the exact same ‘greater good’ arguments apply. Why should farming business be treated differently to any other business mr waghorn ?
“I think the angle they are running is that it is for the greater good, if the farmers make money the community benifits which will be hard to argue with in dollars and cents terms”
Pretty sure if you did a cost/benefit analysis that took all costs and benefits and downsides into account, it wouldn’t look so good. The theory is based on the idea that it brings jobs and supports businesses and that those can’t happen in any other way so it’s ok to ruin the environment. That theory is wrong.
It needs to be looked at on a case by case basis. I’d say the irrigation of the Canterbury Plains for Fonterra is bad. Trickle irrigation of a kumara garden in Te Tai Tokerau, probably quite reasonable.
I can’t see that the huge scale automated irrigation of large areas of flat grassland is good at all. It’s extremely wasteful of water, which is not well absorbed by pasture where shelter belts have been removed. I think there are less harmful uses of the Canterbury Plains, but I’m no expert. I grew up in Te Tai Tokerau, where the land is hilly and there was usually plenty of water. It was good country for dairy on the smaller scale that it was done in those days.
I think there are crops that could be grown that would need far less irrigation than dairy. I think irrigation of the Canterbury Plains to fatten Tory voters is extremely bad.
herald online is putting the soon to be heard Key speech into ten points.
Interestingly they use this stat, presumably because Key does?
“There are almost 5000 people on a social housing waiting list (as at the end of December). That’s down from just over 11,000 in 2002, but the true level of unmet housing need is estimated to be in the region of 43,000-55,000.”
The use of 2002 as a point of reference piques my interest… Isn’t the number on the waiting list from the end of 2008 to december most relevant?
In 2008 the then Labour Minister stated there were
“as at 29 February 2008 the number of applicants on the waiting list was 9,875. This figure includes 2,435 applicants already living in Housing New Zealand houses who are seeking a transfer.”
In a 2013 Briefing for the Minister HNZ noted the following
“As New Zealand’s largest landlord, Housing New Zealand owns or leases nearly 70,000 rental properties, housing over 200,000 people. This portfolio is worth $15.1 billion and is the Government’s second largest asset. There are also 2,100 families – about 6,000 people – on the waiting list with a serious need for a state house.”
It appears that when National entered parliament in late 2008 there were about 7440 people in serious need of a state house. At the end of 2013 this had dropped to 6000. Why not use the real figures, they seem to still show a decline?
Ordinarily I take conspiracy theories with a grain of salt, but the timing plus the fact that these guys were responsible for many of the “disappeared” in Argentina during the junta…
Hmmm, I don’t understand your approach to humans acting in a conspiracy…. you seem to suggest that only those supporting facts which make it into the public arena are determinative of whether or not people have conspired….
Have you conspired today McFlock? Over the last week? I know I have, I know my family members have, I know John Key and Andrew Little have, I know virtually anyone in business has ……. it is what humans do. They conspire together to achieve ends.
this prevailing idea that humans don’t conspire ……. just makes absolutely no sense, flies in the face of reality and is as silly as some person thinking that a lone gunman killed JFK
Even if we were to ignore the negative connotations of the word “conspiracy”, just because humans conspire does not mean that every conspiracy theory is true.
So yeah, I demand evidence before I determine the probability of any particular conspiracy theory being true.
So unless the evidence in the public arena is in your view supportive then you dismiss the notion that some event may be the result of a conspiracy….
kinda misses the notion of how conspiracies are attended to i.e. in secret
You know, another way to make an assessment about an event is to use the well tried and proved method of following the money… or looking at who has benefitted …..
There are ways to assess things other than your own narrow method. Proven ones.
For years, the US Government used this approach to discredit people in court who were claiming that they were being subject to illegal surveillance.
The US Government would say – well you have no evidence of this surveillance, the kind of spying you are talking about is illegal, and we would never do it any way – so you have no standing and no merits in this court.
The moon landings were faked.
Aircraft release chemtrails for geoengineering.
Nasa covered up its photos of martians.
The Earth is hollow and run by Tibetans from Atlantis.
Stealth bombers were made with alien tech from the Roswell crash.
There is a teacup orbiting the sun somewhere between Mars and Jupiter.
All without evidence, so all must be credible /sarc
I demand evidence before I determine the probability of any particular conspiracy theory being true.
to mean this:
So unless the evidence in the public arena is in your view supportive then you dismiss the notion that some event may be the result of a conspiracy….
BTW, CR’s “perfectly good discussion point” seemed to be that one particular conspiracy theory was largely true. That stunning observation’s relevance to the discussion about how we discern a true conspiracy theory from a false one is somewhat thin – although in that case it did rely on evidence being made public. But then we don’t know whether the specific individuals “in open court” were indeed subjected to illegal surveillance.
Not “dismiss”. Not take a position until I have evidence. This can be evidence for the popular theory, evidence of a conspiracy, or evidence of the doubtful reliability of conspiracy theorists.
Oh, we can look at who benefitted, but that merely means that if there actually had been a conspiracy, all the conspirators have to do is benefit slightly less than someone else.
The flipside is that I arbitrarily accept as true conflicting conspiracy theories in the absence of any evidence whatsoever.
E.g. that LHO shot JFK alone, or that the Cubans assassinated JFK,
and that the CIA/military assassinated JFK and used Oswald as a patsy,
and that the mafia assassinated JFK because of Bobby Kennedy going after them as AG,
and all convoluted combinations of any and/or all of the above
Please remember, a conspiracy theory is simply where people have shared their considered views and ideas when attempting to understand an event or situation. When used as a derogatory label or as an attempt to demean and diminish the validity of another’s viewpoint, it is nothing but taking a short cut away from critical thought. Critical thinking is not a threat to knowledge, it is how humanity uses knowledge to survive. At least it used to be.
Language mutates and adapts, freedom. Conspiracy theory still has a literal meaning, but it also now has a pejorative meaning, due mostly to the rise of sites on the interwebs who propagate mindless nonsense but insist we all take it very seriously indeed.
My favourite form of madness is the ‘right of reply’ or ‘balance’ argument, where the deluded demand that their theory should be given equal weight to actual, proven knowledge. The master of this approach is the self aggrandising climate change denier, and fake Lord, Christopher Monckton.
I am eternally grateful that language mutates and adapts. If you accept what you wrote, you also must accept the absurdity of our present condition. By simply speaking two little words in conjunction, many rational brains are triggered to the ‘ignore’ position, predominately without any rationality applied. Behaviour like that does not happen by accident. It is learned and it is learned largely through the use of language. That is where personal responsibility comes into play.
We are the language we let ourselves use. We are the questions that we ask.
The situation today is so absurd that if a person is over-heard to have read a book about JFK, they are immediately assumed to be converts to the writings of David Icke. The short cut away from critical thinking I mentioned earlier? That is well and truly sprinted every time “conspiracy theories” from different fields of research are compared. Do you discuss mainsail maintenance of a racing yacht when talking Bathurst tyre wear?
We both would agree that this world is in a ridiculous position. There is too much fear, not enough love, a boogyman behind every doorway. The true horror though, is the apparent disdain for facts. This of course is where 9/11 is the mother lode of nonsensical discussion. As you know I do not enter into 9/11 discussion here although I might throw a few breadcrumbs on occasion. But disdain for facts is at the core of the 9/11 issue. People go to extraordinary lengths to defend the Official Story, mostly with little to no knowledge of its immense failings, yet decide that all 9/11 Truth is a falsehood because… albatross.
Take The New Pearl Harbour. An amazing achievement by any standard of research, if somewhat lacking in production values. I will repeat what I have said since it first arrived on the scene.
“I am not aware of any person who having claimed to believe the Official Story, after seeing this documentary, still claims that position.” Not one!
To be honest I still have my doubts that you yourself have actually viewed it at all, let alone its entire five hours. Only you can know the truth of your answer. Facts matter. Science matters. Lies just hurt people and the bigger the lies, the more hurt they create. Is that what you want? A simpering humanity, cowering under the baton of ignorance and fear as the totality of knowledge is decided for you by people who most certainly do not have your best interests at heart?
Too afraid to open a window for air, because you are told the window is locked.
Is that not the locking mechanism, laying broken at your feet? Language will mutate, language will adapt, but only you can know the truth of your answer.
He’s not a fake lord – he’s a hereditary peer inheriting the title from his father in 2006 (he’s the 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley).
What he did do is falsely (or at least misleadingly) claim in a letter to US Senators to be a member of the House of Lords which he has never been (since the hereditary peers lost the right to automatically be in the Lords in 1999 and he is not one of the 92 elected hereditaries). The lords even issued a cease and desist to refute his claims in 2011.
As an aside he’s stood 4 times for when a seat for the hereditary peers has fallen vacant in the Lords since 2006 and at least 3 times received no votes.
Definitely a crank though. (Now plowing his furrow with UKIP when not climate denying).
Cheers for the correction, GJ. And I didn’t know he was standing for UKIP! Not sure what that does for the nutter quotient there, but from what I’ve seen of the rest, Monckton might be a civilising influence.
I’d say that’s par for the course in Latin America. The mistake Dilma and Kirchner make is to leave the same state apparatus that served the dictatorships in place. Labour does it here as well. They should realise by now that the SIS is a branch of the Tories, but will they change anything if they ever get voted back in? They could all do with reading ‘State and Revolution” again.
By the way, I don’t see this as a conspiracy theory at all. It’s a reasonable explanation of the facts.
he says, “Islam’s direct threat to our rangatiratanga (sovereignty) and our culture”. But I don’t hear him saying anything about Christianity which imo has done and will continue to be more of a direct threat than Islam ever could. Ban crosses? yeah right.
It is clearly the very notion of religion that is the problem… and has been for a very long time.
The sooner it disappears as an idea the better – pretty much like some religions which used to think the sun was a higher being have evaporated in the heat of reality, so too should all religions which think there is a higher being. Dolly the cloned sheep put paid to these ideas some years ago.
there will come a time when this will happen anyway so lets do it now ….
The sun is a higher being* for all intensive purposes. Whether some entreaty from this planet cuts through the solar flares and stuff and impacts upon the sun causing ‘it’ to ‘hear’ and ‘react’ to those calls is debatable for sure based upon whichever belief system we believe in.
*
Noun
higher being (plural higher beings)
Any of various theoretical, or otherwise unknown, non-human life forms believed to have power over human life.
People have a need for faith and a need to believe in something. Get rid of religion if you like, ban it if you like, it will merely be replaced with faith in the free markets, faith in nationalism, faith in exceptionalism, faith in scientism and infinite technological progress.
I’ve had a bit of odd behaviour with the Replies tab in the last few days. Normally, the tab only appears when I’ve posted that day (it disappears some time after midnight each night), so I usually don’t see replies if I haven’t posted for several days.
Today, I had replies listed only for Raided of the Last Shark, and that was after reloading because I had replies listed for Micky Savage.
I’m going to have to put the aircond on to figure out what it is doing wrong. Mind is fuzzy after I get home through the beautiful warm mind-numbing weather (after being in a fridge all day).
Sean Plunket is a vile, whining piece of shit who sounds like a ten year old reading lines written by Whalespew. His calling Eleanor Catton an ungrateful hua on the basis that she works at a public university makes me sick. FJK is paid by the state, yet he spends whatever time is left after working on his golf handicap on attacking the working class. Why doesn’t Plunket call him a traitor?
Nah, bugger it. Why doesn’t Plunket just go for a long walk off a short pier? I’d never listened to him before, but he obviously bases himself on Alan Jones, speaking slowly and in short sentences so as to not get too far ahead of his audience.
[lprent: Do not go down to far on that avocation of self-harm path yourself, unless you want to discover the limits to moderator tolerance. ]
Just far enough for him to have a nice swim. Do you really think “take a long walk off a short pier” is a hobby involving violent self harm? How about “go jump in the lake?” I see both as dismissive, rather than being any sort of hobby at all. I think I’ve missed what you meant by avocation.
I once inherited a cellfone from someone whose occupation was that of a ‘publicist’ (you know – someone whose job it is to promote). Sean Plonker (among others) contact numbers remained in its contact list. I refrained from making bothersome calls, and from calling them out on their bullshit. There were some very intersting numbers in that little gem that I retain to this day.
Thankfully, the publicist saw sense and left the country, but not before using me (and others as her confidant) – including one of her boyfriends (an electrical engineer). He/they’d actually taken the long walk along the Pike River Mine entrance – according to he: “an accident waiting to happen”. As for Plunket …. I can only relate her comment – he’d be a thoroughly useless fuck.
Funny ole wurl aye.
I imagine tho’ that in future times, that publicist will be ready and anxious to testify.
I fear that might be a little longer than my lifetime will allow.
Oh…. btw – Chris Finalyson fiigured heavily in her daily commentary – it kind of reinforced my impressions of just what a bitter old queen he’s become. And I say that ONLY because had he not been subjugated by the Jonky phenomenon, there’d have been a different outcome.
Common fucking sense anyone? (Not for the foreseeable future it seems) – EVEN in here judging by some comments above
Reply to LPrent’s comments on Little’s State of the nation address thread
”
Martyn Bradbury seemed to be quite close to David Cunliffe and Hone Harawira. However that is beside the point. You are making a guilt by association argument. That is usually bad form.
[lprent: Why? Have you looked at the side of this site at John Key’s face recently – that accurately expresses my opinion of his ethics of getting involved with Slater’s garbage diving. As far as I can see John Key has been politically profiting from having his head stuffed firmly in Slater’s faecal bacteria for the last 7 years. I can’t see any justification for having a dirty politician to not be called for what he is.
For the record, I have a number of politician’s numbers. I don’t use them unless I have to. They are mainly there for caller id when they (rarely) call me so that I pick up the phone. The only phone numbers that I ever call cold were those of Helen Clark. That was because I was part of the Mt Albert campaign team and I sometimes needed direct information about targeting.
As much as I think that Martyn is a bit of a dork, I don’t think that he is trying to blackmail journalists with prostitutes or any of the other crap that Slater did. I suspect Martyn mainly contacts them when he was organising events or pitching for work.
Answer in OpenMike, but I suspect that I am going to be completely unsympathetic to your theory of disassociation of a dirty politician and his dirty operatives. ]”
I’m not discussing how you you can be associated with the behaviour of an individual. I would agree you can argue that being in contact with someone who is overtly behaving in a particular manner does suggest a degree of tacit support.
What I am meaning is that if someone I know and associate with holds a particular view (say on the benefits or otherwise of collectivisation) that it does not hold that the view is held by myself as well. For example just because you are majorly involved in this blog does not mean you agree with the views expressed by the authors who post articles here. I am sure you would come down hard on anyone trying to state that you did.
And what if you gave them your cellphone number, and contacted them frequently, which was the original comparison?
That at least suggests that the beliefs they espouse are not contrary to one’s ethical standards. For example, I don’t socialise with any white supremacists AFAIK.
John Key is a good example of a “mainstream” (your relocated goalpost, I remind you) tory, no?
Cameron Slater has a number of views that I suspect the PM does not hold. Key’s reasons for contacting him has been well publicised. You may disagree with it but even if it was some insidious plot to subvert democracy in NZ it doesn’t mean that they share the same views.
Anyway I suspect Slater is not anti-collective as you suggest. He may well be anti-Union but that is a different matter.
Birds of a feather flock together aye goosey.
Always defending the indefensable!
Your like a cheap little wind up doll repeating the same old lies!
you make mathew hootton look good.
always having to have the last word never admitting when your wrong!
Men who are into selfies are more likely to be Narcissistic Nutjobs .
Key Slater.and you are both narcissistic Nutjobs Goosy birds of a feather
Key’s willing association with slater certainly means that slater’s attitudes and practises are not incompatible with his own. Otherwise key would not willingly associate with him.
Trade me and Harmoney. Money lenders operating through Trade me – not sure what I think about this. It is being promoted as peer to peer lending. So what’s peer-to-peer lending?
It’s a new way of lending and borrowing that has proved very successful in Australia, the USA and the UK and is just getting started here in New Zealand. Investors loan money directly to borrowers anonymously via an online platform, without having to go through a financial institution like a bank.
It’s simple. By missing out the middleman, Harmoney can provide lower interest rates for borrowers and higher returns for lenders – a win-win for everyone.
A new way of getting into financial strife? I don’t know what to make of it.
I know it in the context of an alternative source of business funding and I was about to spout on about that, and how useful it can be as a more flexible way to raise venture capital or early stage funding for a good business idea. And I’ve seen that work really well overseas. The crowd funding idea in the US is great because it disintermediates the whole formal financing business and people with relatively small amounts of money can get into deals they’d otherwise never see, and spread their risk (which is essential for venture capital type deals).
However, looking at the Harmoney website, first thing I see is:
Borrow
Debt Consolidation
Car Loans
Home Improvements
Holiday Loans
What the farque? This is not really peer to peer lending or crowd funding. This is your neighbourhood predatory lender dressed up in fancy internet clothes. The good thing is that it is very transparent and simple, but does NZ really need this? I guess we will see.
On old maps from ancient times, areas outside the known were labelled “There be Dragons” as a warning of possible perils and pitfalls. In NZ citizens should be aware that this situation applies in their own fair land if, while travelling at the other end of an island or the country, they fall ill.
The story I heard was that a couple were on holiday and one got really ill and was said to need an operation. But the DHB was reluctant to carry it out and stated they should go back to their own hospital board and have it done there. Insistence and threats of negative publicity resulted in agreement to attend to the op at the holiday location.
This is the result of the lack of adequate funding to DHBs. They have had financial sinking lids for some time. Also their budgets are population-based for the locals only and even that may be scant, not providing much for those at the fringes of the areas, and isolated farming settlements. The technology costs for a modern hospital are high also, not only capital costs, but maintenance, and security measures.
The surgeons may have been on holiday, there may have been pressures from car crashes and drunken mayhem incidents in the case I was given. But it is an example of the difficulties the gummint is causing to the public service provision we thought we had provided as a permanent public good.
So beware of the dragons that might pop up when you are away from home. You may need to buy health insurance to get you home within the country’s borders if health provisioning isn’t funded appropriately. If the governnment is running NZ without oil, sooner or later the mechanism will seize up and stop.
Yesterday, Greece canceled the privatisation of the biggest port yesterday, which was a key component of the their existing bailout.
Merkel quoted along the lines of astonished Greece is looking for a debt cut, the new ggovenmnet has to show they are committed to the EU aid program, and the ball is in Greece’s court.
Greek bank equities -11% yesterday.
But the real test comes today. The EU is voting on whether to add to sanctions on Russia. This has to be unanimous and given Greece was reported to say yesterday “we don’t consent”, this vote will be interesting. If Greece does veto the sanctions I guess that signals a really hardball approach to negotiations.
I spoke earlier to a few people in London – a European political analyst at a bank, an economist and a debt trader- were all of the view that the Germans will be happy to say no to any Greek haircut demands, perhaps ease the repayment schedule, but ultimately play hardball. And if the Greeks threaten to leave the Euro, ask them not to let the door hit their bum on the way out.
Personally I don’t know, though I do believe the best thing for Greece would be to negotiate a departure form the Euro, stay in the EU and get transitional support as they go back to controlling their own policy settings. As long as their productivity lags so far behind northern Europe they will never make a go of being in the Euro. They need a weaker currency in order to compete.
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, 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 ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
‘Prime Minister John Key is poised to outline the possible sale of thousands of state houses to community groups today, as the Government advances its reform of social housing.’
The privatisation of housing.
Is really the way to solve NZ’s housing crisis, Mr Key?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/65481888/Key-set-to-air-plan-on-state-houses
It’s about transferring public assets to private hands and another issue buried at the GE that all opposition parties should have been demanding a please explain.
Wonder if it will be at the types of discounts the power generators were flogged for especially genesis.
At least will someone in opposition demand the detail on how rents will be controlled and get the attack of this abdication of repsonsibilities going on a few fronts please.
Probably. This government just loves ripping us off for the benefit of the cronies.
“small government is good”
“the state has no business being in business”
“can we sell the people to?”
“there is no housing crisis”
“sell more assets Bill needs a surplus”
“that Catton women is just a greenie”
“sell it all there will be a profit in there somewhere”
“Angry Andy is living in the past”
“I grew up in a state house….sell them all”
“look there’s a squirrel”
John Key slot machine circa 2015
“Mr Key said there was no housing “crisis” and the Government’s policies were aimed at increasing supply.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11392703
This can only be true if he meant there was no housing crisis for rich people and the Government’s policies are aimed at increasing the supply of rental properties to landlords.
The damage that he does to the plain meaning of words is horrendous.
There was a doozy on Morning Report. When quizzed on whether Mike Sabin was being investigated by the police, he said he couldn’t comment. When quizzed further he said he was advised not to comment. When asked who advised him not to comment he said he was not at liberty to say. When asked why he was not at liberty to say, he said, “Well that’s a circular argument.” It’s about halfway through a 6 minute interview.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20165124
+1 Olwyn.
Key sounded like a blithering idiot in this interview. Full marks to Espiner. All 6 minutes well worth a listen.
Classic, dear leader has “zipped it” on Sabin, like Richard Worth Sabin is not MP material at all which the Nats now have to deal with.
Is Key’s farcical dodging just about buying time for HQ to manage the details of Sabin’s exit or is there more to it?
yesterday he said he comments on what he wants to comment and not on what he doesnt. I guess overnight they rethought the effectiveness of that childish response and decided to pretend someone was stopping him from commenting. I mean, this is the guy who gets documents declassified to help his election campaign.
His calling Espiner’s persistent questioning a “circular argument” came across like a line from that Monty Python parrot sketch.
well, funny you should say that, cos his response yesterday to not commenting reminded me of the Python “argument clinic”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y
😀
The Greens position was very weak on this. Both Labour and Greens need to take a strong stand against sales.
Key is an arch dissembler aka known as a lying asswipe. He doesn’t give straight answers to anything.
I agree on both counts. Yes, Labour and the Greens need to take a strong stand on state house sales, and yes, Key is an arch dissembler. He seems to have three basic moves – (1) Toy out loud with the idea doing something extreme and scary. (get the government out of housing) (2) Step back a little to something more ‘moderate’ (we’ll sell a few but still remain the main provider) (3) Do what he wants to do anyway.
@ Olwyn
That is what the political commentator on Radionz said today. The gummint goes OTT and get people’s backs up, then there is the announcement putting that to rest with a smaller change that appears to be more considered and puts the critics on the back foot as being dogmatic and unreasonable. It’s not too bad, what are you going on about sort of thing.
“Mr Key said there was no housing “crisis””
yet were gutting the rma to fix said housing crisis
Oh I see:
There is a housing crisis, so need to gut the RMA.
Now that attention is on the RMA, there’s no housing crisis.
🙄
I’m more concerned with the projected increase in housing subsidies. Ultimately they feed the landlords which just makes the situation worse.
This is all going to lead to higher rents, and a bigger struggle for people to find accomodation in the private sector.
And do we really want to hand over public services to private charity? Who pick and choose who they help? And put rules and regulations around it?
It also means the government can say homelessness isn’t their responsibility. Families living in cars, caravans and sheds? That will be the fault of the charities that take this on according to the Nats.
Done correctly I think this may help the situation, as well as private charity I imagine there’ll be groups that concentrate on housing and as such should do a better job of handling housing
I’m sure you agree that as peoples circumstances change their housing needs change as well?
what did these groups say the last time this policy was discussed?
~ We arent able to handle such a scheme – not by a long shot ~
using the “~” for paraphrasing
You assume that these housing associations have the capacity and the ability to deliver (without prejudice) healthy, affordable housing for communities. In our small country, they don’t. And the private developers included in the mix, don’t have the intent.
And if you want social cohesion, and enhanced community, then transitional housing is not the answer. People are more likely to be connected, and resilient when they have strong stable communities. View the difference in established communities with little turnover, with transient communities such as student areas or holiday home towns.
As people’s circumstances change, if their housing is secure, their energies can be directed towards other benefits for themselves, their families and their communities.
By proposing that when they are on their (choose arbitrary financial point) feet, they are then expected to move house and community, keeps them on a perpetual treadmill, supposedly doing everything right to move forward, but being given other obstacles to achieve to stay in place.
I’m thinking that a single person taking up a 3-4 bedroom house when theres a family needing a house seems to be a waste of that house
Just how many 3-4 bedroom state houses do you believe are being occupied by single people living alone? Really would be interested Undecided, in whatever information you have on this topic. You do have some right? You are surely not just repeating tired spin from the 1990’s. That time before a concerted effort was made by successive Governments, to relocate people living in such circumstances, not to mention the ensuing shifts in policy direction where such circumstances rarely, if ever, occur today.
The Government will be selling thousands and thousands of homes our grandparents paid to have built so their children and their children’s children could live in a country where need was less.
Was a nice theory, if only the kids had had the guts to follow through with the sentiment, instead of turning the most awesome little country in the world (still full of potential) into a vapid whore working one of the smaller South Pacific outposts of Greed Inc.
Meaning that people in state houses should be moved around depending on their circumstances
However as reported
Prime Minister John Key has confirmed the Government plans to sell 1000 to 2000 state houses in the next year to be run by community housing providers with more sales possible over the next few years.
In his state of the nation speech today Key said Housing New Zealand would still remain the biggest provider of social housing with at last 60,000 properties by 2017 against 65,000 now.
2000 to be sold to community providers with possibly more to come certainly isn’t as bad as some feared
i fail to see what your trying to prove with the cut and paste of what key claims the nats are doing
its not proof of anything other than “this is what key said” and im struggling to see its relevance to the comment directly preceding yours
Posters on here were assuming the worst, that Key would sell off most of the housing stock and probably to private investers whereas hes selling off less then 5% to private providers so no loss off housing
which is still irrelevant to the question you were replying to.
“Just how many 3-4 bedroom state houses do you believe are being occupied by single people living alone?”
And if you think the nats will stop there your deluding yourself
stop taking things at face value (and especially at “what JK says” value) and apply some historical and ideological context
Well in regards to asset sales Key said he wouldn’t seel any assets in first term and he didn’t, he said he’d partially sell some power companies in his second term and did so on asset sales hes done what hes said he’d do
im sorry – did history stop waaay back in 2008?
and in case you didnt grasp what was happening there, thats the nats trying to not frighten you in order to advance their actual agenda – an agenda they are pretty open about and one that hasnt changed for years now
and yet again your avoiding engaging with the actual questions and points being put to you. What are you afraid of?
sheesh
an agenda they are pretty open about and one that hasnt changed for years now
Its an agenda that enough people think is a good one then as its got National back into power
Key is selling off the wealth of the nation, to the wealthy of the nation.
What a bastard.
your contradicting yourself – in one comment you say they did what they said they would then when i point out that theres more going no and its nbo big secret you resort to “well their popular”
Appeals to populism doesnt explain anything other than popularity
I will take it you are incapable of backing up you opening play.
really weak – so weak that i can only assume your a troll.
end of subject
Have to confess I’m undecided as to whether Undecided is Dissembling or merely Obfuscating…….while noting that they’re not necessarily mutually exclusive and may indeed be cousins.
Undecided, why are you so scared of answering one simple question?
Let me take a stab at the answer you really wanted to give but were just too timid to front up with:
‘I do not know, but I have faith in John Key to do what is right for New Zealand.’
Is that a fair approximation of your thoughtful “undecided” point of view.
p.s. In today’s speech, was there any mention of a mechanism where Social Providers will get first dibs on State Assets that are being sold?
then the answer isnt sell off current stock is it
the answer is change the stock
case in point – used to live in wesley (sandringham) in AK – there was one street where about 10 old style 1/4 acre state houses were moved off site and sold as relocateables. Then a mixture of town and terrace houses with differing numbers of bedrooms was built. Thereby increasing total houses and reformatting to suit a wider variety of circumstances
notice how thats utterly different to the nats plan?
I agree mostly with this though I’d also look at selling state houses in the very expensive suburbs and buying more in decent but less expensive areas
“notice how thats utterly different to the nats plan?”
your avoiding again
Not avoiding, theres quite a lot I’d like National to do but they won’t however just because I want them to do something doesn’t make me right
considering thats not the question being asked, you are avoiding
or your not very good at this language thingy
this is what you said
“I’m thinking that a single person taking up a 3-4 bedroom house when theres a family needing a house seems to be a waste of that house”
i responded that the policy being proposed doesnt have anything to do with that
this whole thread between the two of us is based off that one comment – why you think that instead of answers that follow and stick to this argument, im more interested in what you want the nats to do is beyond me
You’re not very good at asking questions, make the question clear and unambiguous and I’ll answer
oh for fucks sake!
————————————–
“then the answer isnt sell off current stock is it
the answer is change the stock
case in point – used to live in wesley (sandringham) in AK – there was one street where about 10 old style 1/4 acre state houses were moved off site and sold as relocateables. Then a mixture of town and terrace houses with differing numbers of bedrooms was built. Thereby increasing total houses and reformatting to suit a wider variety of circumstances
notice how thats utterly different to the nats plan?”
———————————–
what bit of that isnt clear?
then i repeated the main question AGAIN to you
—————————
“notice how thats utterly different to the nats plan?”
—————————
what bit of that isnt clear?
The last thing NZ needs is for the enclaves of the rich to shut themselves off from the rest of society.
Let’s call them “desirable areas” rather than expensive ones. The reason why they are expensive are many and varied, but the primary reason is the failure of government (especially this one), to address rising housing costs. That is a series of posts in itself.
These areas are desirable because they are within easy access of schools, public transport, central city, services and community facilities.
Your suggestion to send those living there to “less expensive” areas results in a transfer of housing providing responsibility costs from government to increased transport and living costs to already vulnerable tenants. Add to that social isolation and reduction of access to sporting and community engagement, and the true costs of this type of policy become apparent.
The role of government includes creating many “desirable” areas in many places, as well as ensuring their affordability.
If we take Glen Innes as an example. This was the creation of a desirable area for social housing, by the government at the time.
Access to services, school, work and health as well as to some of Auckland’s natural environment was excellent.
The encroachment of higher-priced property means that this purpose built social housed community is no longer welcome. Without any regard for the social equity that exists.
We have a government that is not providing enough social housing. It is also not providing access to affordable housing for an increasing number of NZers… It is however, going to provide discounted assets to private property developers. And that seems to be the sum total of it’s efforts on this issue.
I said decent but less expensive areas, I’ll use Christchurch as an example as i’m not from Auckland so I’m thinking if there are any state houses in Merivale, Fendalton etc then sell them off and buy in Hornby (which is a pretty decent suburb) so I’m not suggesting they buy houses in Aranui and stick families there
Your view is that “what you think” is what actually occurs despite evidence to the contrary.
By putting the provision of healthy, affordable homes for all NZ’ers to third parties, a government (such as National) removes itself adroitly from the chain of responsibility and will continue to do so as long as it can get away with it.
By bringing in for-profit providers, not only are they dismantling their responsibility, they are effectively saying “we do not have the capability or otherwise to look after this fundamental requirement for healthy and engaged NZers’. And yet they are responsible for the health and wellbeing of our whole economy.
Can you give us their address? I’ll go and ask them why they live there. You’re right, we need to get to the bottom of this.
So we must “never forget” Auschwitz. As a kid raised on WWII stories, books and gruesome pictures courtesy of parents directly involved via the air force and nursing during London blitz I of course concur.
Unfortunately large sections of the Israeli leadership and population do appear to have forgotten. Persecution of the Palestinians remains perilously close to the ideology that sanctioned the death camps.
Here’s a report that’s just been published on Israel’s July-August 2014 massacre of 1500 civilians and 500 children in Gaza…http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/double_tapping_in_gaza
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR) conducted a fact-finding mission, utilising 8 independent international forensic and medical experts. They’re the only human rights group to have been granted access to Gaza by both Israel and Egypt (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the UN Human Rights Council were repeatedly denied entry).
“The report’s authors adopt a cautious and professional tone but describe the stuff of nightmares.”
Thanks swordfish. A harrowing but necessary read.
Radio NZ is covering Andrew Little’s speech at http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/264639/live-andrew-little-taking-the-nation's-pulse
We will have the text up shortly.
i already have it up..
http://whoar.co.nz/2015/tex-of-littles-state-of-the-nation-2015/
This advertorial tells us that there are Thousands of ‘affordable’ Auckland homes in outer suburbs
Obviously these idiots don’t know the meaning of the word affordable.
can they identify the transport times required to get to their jobs and home, as well as the cost.
Of course not, that would require them actually making informed comment rather than just mouthing off to sound good.
mouthing off to perpetuate the market they make their living from. Am sick of Bank employees being asked for comment on stuff that hurts or harms banks… real estate agency owners being used as experts on affordable housing when they have no interest in it.
or conversely they have a truly vested interest in it…
While workers’ rights, living standards and general conditions of life have been made worse over the past 30 years, workers’ resistance has declined to negligible levels. Moreover, the rare tussle that does take place is a defensive one. Workers in this country, with the possible exception of the early days of Unite union when it was organising new workplaces and fighting to get contracts for new union members, haven’t been going on the offensive for several decades now.
Sometimes it seems that two generations of workers got defeated – through the 1980s and 1990s – and the next generation therefore hasn’t had a fighting spirit and class consciousness passed on to it nor developed these through its own experiences.
But if workers here have forgotten or, in the case of the new generation, not yet learned what resistance is let alone what going on the offensive is, there is no shortage of examples of powerful workers’ upsurges and of workers’ resistance pointing to, or at least offering a glimpse of the potential for, alternative ways of organising economic, social and political life.
So we’ve stuck up on Redline links to pieces about workers’ occupations, about the biggest general strike in history (a couple of years ago in India), the May-June 68 events in France, the formation of bodies of workers’ power in Portugal and Chile in the early 1970s – forms of organising that point the way out of capitalism.
See: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/01/27/this-is-what-resistance-looks-like/
Phil
One of the reasons there’s little resistance is small- and medium-sized employers in areas of moderate- to high-unemployment.
I live in one of those areas, and I’ve been in and out of employment since the early 1990s. In that time, one employer has met their obligations and told me who my union was.
One.
My current employer refuses to talk about it, stating they have no official position but if I joined a union we’d all lose our jobs because it’d mean higher wages and better conditions.
This is why their wage theft is on-going. It’s been made quite clear that if any of us cause trouble by attempting to enforce our basic legal rights, our reference will be simply an acknowledgement of employment – the implication being that we were a bad employee because they had nothing good to say about us.
My previous employer didn’t mention a union, but the owner did tell me I was salaried so they didn’t need to pay overtime, and I was waged so they didn’t need to pay me if I was off sick for more days than I had accrued.
During the last years of National’s run in the 1990s, when the ECA required negotiation of pay and conditions, one employer stated wages and conditions, and said “There’s no negotiation of that, that’s the job. If you don’t accept that pay, you don’t get the job.” WINZ, of course, required me to accept the job.
As I understand it, the bulk of the jobs in the area are the same. The employers know there aren’t many jobs out there, so they have low wages and bad conditions, and if you don’t like it you can sod off.
Eventually, the employees do so, moving to towns with better jobs, wages, and conditions, and it seems to me that these factors are such an improvement that they don’t see the need to join a union.
I hear what you are saying. There is the implied threat, that if you do this, then your co-workers will turn against you as to blame for ANY job loss… no matter how unrelated to your decision to join a union
Yep.
That said, I now have a list of rather important questions to ask employers at my next job interviews. I’ll figure out better phrasings for them, but if they turn me down because I want to know an employer’s position on worker rights, I’m fairly sure I don’t want to work there.
There is no obligation for employers to tell you who your union might be unless there is a Collective Agreement that covers your work and your employer is a party to that agreement, i.e for the first 30 days of your employment you will be covered by the terms & conditions of the Collective ( from 6 March this provision will no longer apply to new employees), after which you can join the union or negotiate individual terms & conditions of employment.
I thought an employer must know what Union/s their staff can join and if asked is required to impart that knowledge to the employee or person being interviewed. If I am incorrect on this please let me know.
Unfortunately you are incorrect unless there is an applicable Collective Agreement for that workplace and the employees work is covered by the agreement.
thanks Atiawa
Ah – I was under the impression that they had to. I’ve had a few people tell me that, actually.
hi phil and bass guy, couldnt agree more.
i had the misfortune to have desired to be a chef as a youngster. (30 odd years later i still love cooking!)
i have been mainly in hospitality since 1985, and on both sides of this discussion (worker, here and overseas, and employer here).
in my experience in mainly small businesses (less than 10 employees), and have never been involved with a union, let alone acted collectively.
incidentally i am in the throws of renegotiating my wages currently.
the nature of these small businesses tends to create “relationships” between employer and worker, which can make negotiating potentially fraught, tense or non-existant, especially for the younger workers.
none of this is a defence of greedy employers, just my 2 cents worth.
The National government in 1991 legislated against working people and their unions and for their business mates by introducing the Employment Contracts Act (ECA). The award structure was completely gutted and replaced with enterprise bargaining & individual employment contracts, which for many workers meant an offer of inferior terms & conditions of employment on a take it or leave basis. Compulsory unionism was abolished and in many industries and workplaces a collective approach to wage bargaining never took place again. Unions and unionism was decimated. Workers, especially the low & semi skilled, became increasingly reliant upon the benevolence of employers and government who set minimum requirements such as the minimum wage, annual leave and grievance procedures. The workplace power imbalance between employer and worker increased – and remains – heavily weighted in favour of the former. Wages have not kept up with the cost of living because working people no longer enjoy a collective voice in both the workplace and society.
Employers and their supportive governments love high unemployment numbers especially youth. The idea and ability to pick and choose is very appealing. They strongly advocate for and support 90 day trial periods for new employees. They don’t want assertive union officials supporting & promoting alternatives. That weakens their power & control.
Do you think this government would want their business buddies to be made to tell the workers the contact details of Andrew Littles mates?
gday atiawa,
i concur with every thing you have said.
in my experience there are few of mr littles’ mates in the workplace.
unfortunately i also have absolutely no faith in a little led labour regime making any difference to the status quo.
Chomsky Blasts ‘American Sniper’ and the Media that Glorifies It
by JANET ALLON, AlterNet, Jan. 26, 2015
http://www.alternet.org/watch-chomsky-blasts-american-sniper-and-media-glorifies-it
Noam Chomsky had some choice words about the popularity of “American Sniper,” its glowing New York Times review, and what the worship of a movie about a cold-blooded killer says about the American people.
It’s not good.
During a Cambridge, Massachusetts event hosted by The Baffler, Chomsky first read the glowing recent review the New York Times gave the movie. That review begins inauspiciously by insulting “America’s coastal intelligentsia, which has busied itself with chatter over little-seen art dramas while everyday Americans showed up en masse for a patriotic, pro-family picture which broke all attendance records in its opening days.”
So, Chomsky wonders aloud: “What was the patriotic, pro-family film that so entranced everyday Americans? It’s about the most deadly sniper in American history, a guy named Chris Kyle, who claims to have used his skills to have killed several hundred people in Iraq.”
Kyle’s first kill was a woman who apparently walked into the street with a grenade in her hand as the Marines attacked her village.
“‘I hated the damn savages I’d been fighting,’” Chomsky said, quoting Kyle. “‘Savage, despicable, evil — that’s what we were fighting in Iraq. That’s why a lot of people, myself included, called the enemy savages. There was really no other way to describe what we encountered there.’”
Chomsky also pointed out that The New Yorker loved the film, saying, “it was great, kept to the cinematic values, said it was well done.” On the other hand, Newsweek‘s Jeff Stein, a former US intelligence officer, called it appalling. In that review, Chomsky says, Stein remembered a visit he had made to a “clubhouse for snipers, where to quote him, ‘the barroom walls featured white-on-black Nazi SS insignia, and other Wehrmacht regalia. The Marine shooters clearly identified with the marksmen of the world’s most infamous killing machine, rather than regular troops.”
“Getting back to Chris Kyle,” Chomsky said, arriving at his larger point. “He regarded his first kill as a terrorist — this woman who walked in the street — but we can’t really attribute that to the mentality of a psychopathic killer, because we’re all tarred by the same brush insofar as we tolerate or keep silent about official policy. Now, that mentality helps explain why it’s so easy to ignore what is most clearly the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern history, if not ever — Obama’s global assassination campaign, the drone campaign, which officially is aimed at murdering people who are suspected of maybe someday planning to harm us.”
Chomsky recommends reading some of the transcripts with drone operators, calling them “harrowing” in their dehumanizing treatment of people who are targeted.
The implication is clear and chilling. Are we all, at least tacitly, American snipers?
Here’s Chomsky via WGBH below….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X30Gkp9FVs
Rich people around the world buying boltholes in NZ to escape to when the shit they have been taking advantage of to enrich themselves backfires in their faces. Been suggesting such since the Rothschilds bought a large coastal farm on banks Peninsula about 10 or so years ago….. boat access, airstrips, etc…..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/65486615/nz-farms-eyed-as-boltholes-for-worlds-super-rich
Dirty bastards
With Mr small beer in charge the doors wide open for them to
And the handout mentality never stops from the hypocritical right wing National-voting farmers ……..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/65482711/irrigation-lobbyists-seek-easier-cash
Why don’t these people go to the private market for support rather than ask the taxpayer? It is not as if the projects are any larger than countless other private projects in the country….
Aren’t they free market supporters? Why would they push through a project that the free market doesn’t support?
Why do they ask for the taxpayer to start it? Then later ask the taxpayer to support them when the waters run dry? Then ask the taxpayers to pay to clean up the shit afterwards?
Unbelievable.
Bludgers.
No credibility.
I think the angle they are running is that it is for the greater good, if the farmers make money the community benifits which will be hard to argue with in dollars and cents terms
Yeah nah – those ‘for the greater good’ arguments have little credibility these days. Unfortunately no time to go into it… though ….
We would get short shrift if we went to government for loans for our business (which is similar scale to some of these irrigation projects) – and the exact same ‘greater good’ arguments apply. Why should farming business be treated differently to any other business mr waghorn ?
Trickle down has been laughed out of town.
Huge amounts of money is spent on Auckland s roads because businesses say it costs them to have workers stuck in traffic.
“I think the angle they are running is that it is for the greater good, if the farmers make money the community benifits which will be hard to argue with in dollars and cents terms”
Pretty sure if you did a cost/benefit analysis that took all costs and benefits and downsides into account, it wouldn’t look so good. The theory is based on the idea that it brings jobs and supports businesses and that those can’t happen in any other way so it’s ok to ruin the environment. That theory is wrong.
From a green perspective is irrigation always bad?
define irrigation (not being smart, it means different things to different people).
Irrigation for commercial gain be it crops , wine or milk and meat.
It needs to be looked at on a case by case basis. I’d say the irrigation of the Canterbury Plains for Fonterra is bad. Trickle irrigation of a kumara garden in Te Tai Tokerau, probably quite reasonable.
+1
Is irrigation on the Canterbury plains to grow crops or fatten sheep and beef bad
I can’t see that the huge scale automated irrigation of large areas of flat grassland is good at all. It’s extremely wasteful of water, which is not well absorbed by pasture where shelter belts have been removed. I think there are less harmful uses of the Canterbury Plains, but I’m no expert. I grew up in Te Tai Tokerau, where the land is hilly and there was usually plenty of water. It was good country for dairy on the smaller scale that it was done in those days.
I think there are crops that could be grown that would need far less irrigation than dairy. I think irrigation of the Canterbury Plains to fatten Tory voters is extremely bad.
Is Key’s speech text also available ahead of schedule?
herald online is putting the soon to be heard Key speech into ten points.
Interestingly they use this stat, presumably because Key does?
“There are almost 5000 people on a social housing waiting list (as at the end of December). That’s down from just over 11,000 in 2002, but the true level of unmet housing need is estimated to be in the region of 43,000-55,000.”
The use of 2002 as a point of reference piques my interest… Isn’t the number on the waiting list from the end of 2008 to december most relevant?
In 2008 the then Labour Minister stated there were
“as at 29 February 2008 the number of applicants on the waiting list was 9,875. This figure includes 2,435 applicants already living in Housing New Zealand houses who are seeking a transfer.”
In a 2013 Briefing for the Minister HNZ noted the following
“As New Zealand’s largest landlord, Housing New Zealand owns or leases nearly 70,000 rental properties, housing over 200,000 people. This portfolio is worth $15.1 billion and is the Government’s second largest asset. There are also 2,100 families – about 6,000 people – on the waiting list with a serious need for a state house.”
It appears that when National entered parliament in late 2008 there were about 7440 people in serious need of a state house. At the end of 2013 this had dropped to 6000. Why not use the real figures, they seem to still show a decline?
Phil Twyford said this in April 2014
“The figures show that in March 5,204 priority applicants were on the waiting list. In January this year the number was 4,197.”
By December 2014 they were
4964
Ordinarily I take conspiracy theories with a grain of salt, but the timing plus the fact that these guys were responsible for many of the “disappeared” in Argentina during the junta…
Lawyer about to testify against government officials turns up dead, so Kirchner finally disbands Argentina’s intelligence service and will work on a decent replacement.
Hmmm, I don’t understand your approach to humans acting in a conspiracy…. you seem to suggest that only those supporting facts which make it into the public arena are determinative of whether or not people have conspired….
Have you conspired today McFlock? Over the last week? I know I have, I know my family members have, I know John Key and Andrew Little have, I know virtually anyone in business has ……. it is what humans do. They conspire together to achieve ends.
this prevailing idea that humans don’t conspire ……. just makes absolutely no sense, flies in the face of reality and is as silly as some person thinking that a lone gunman killed JFK
🙄
Even if we were to ignore the negative connotations of the word “conspiracy”, just because humans conspire does not mean that every conspiracy theory is true.
So yeah, I demand evidence before I determine the probability of any particular conspiracy theory being true.
edit: comma inserted
So unless the evidence in the public arena is in your view supportive then you dismiss the notion that some event may be the result of a conspiracy….
kinda misses the notion of how conspiracies are attended to i.e. in secret
You know, another way to make an assessment about an event is to use the well tried and proved method of following the money… or looking at who has benefitted …..
There are ways to assess things other than your own narrow method. Proven ones.
never mind, on you go
For years, the US Government used this approach to discredit people in court who were claiming that they were being subject to illegal surveillance.
The US Government would say – well you have no evidence of this surveillance, the kind of spying you are talking about is illegal, and we would never do it any way – so you have no standing and no merits in this court.
And then, Snowden…
The moon landings were faked.
Aircraft release chemtrails for geoengineering.
Nasa covered up its photos of martians.
The Earth is hollow and run by Tibetans from Atlantis.
Stealth bombers were made with alien tech from the Roswell crash.
There is a teacup orbiting the sun somewhere between Mars and Jupiter.
All without evidence, so all must be credible /sarc
sure, go and ruin a perfectly good discussion point with sarcasm and derogatory comment.
you were doing fine until that point silly
You’re the one who took this:
to mean this:
BTW, CR’s “perfectly good discussion point” seemed to be that one particular conspiracy theory was largely true. That stunning observation’s relevance to the discussion about how we discern a true conspiracy theory from a false one is somewhat thin – although in that case it did rely on evidence being made public. But then we don’t know whether the specific individuals “in open court” were indeed subjected to illegal surveillance.
Not “dismiss”. Not take a position until I have evidence. This can be evidence for the popular theory, evidence of a conspiracy, or evidence of the doubtful reliability of conspiracy theorists.
Oh, we can look at who benefitted, but that merely means that if there actually had been a conspiracy, all the conspirators have to do is benefit slightly less than someone else.
The flipside is that I arbitrarily accept as true conflicting conspiracy theories in the absence of any evidence whatsoever.
E.g. that LHO shot JFK alone, or that the Cubans assassinated JFK,
and that the CIA/military assassinated JFK and used Oswald as a patsy,
and that the mafia assassinated JFK because of Bobby Kennedy going after them as AG,
and all convoluted combinations of any and/or all of the above
Oh, and that Oswald acted alone.
Please remember, a conspiracy theory is simply where people have shared their considered views and ideas when attempting to understand an event or situation. When used as a derogatory label or as an attempt to demean and diminish the validity of another’s viewpoint, it is nothing but taking a short cut away from critical thought. Critical thinking is not a threat to knowledge, it is how humanity uses knowledge to survive. At least it used to be.
Language mutates and adapts, freedom. Conspiracy theory still has a literal meaning, but it also now has a pejorative meaning, due mostly to the rise of sites on the interwebs who propagate mindless nonsense but insist we all take it very seriously indeed.
My favourite form of madness is the ‘right of reply’ or ‘balance’ argument, where the deluded demand that their theory should be given equal weight to actual, proven knowledge. The master of this approach is the self aggrandising climate change denier, and fake Lord, Christopher Monckton.
I am eternally grateful that language mutates and adapts. If you accept what you wrote, you also must accept the absurdity of our present condition. By simply speaking two little words in conjunction, many rational brains are triggered to the ‘ignore’ position, predominately without any rationality applied. Behaviour like that does not happen by accident. It is learned and it is learned largely through the use of language. That is where personal responsibility comes into play.
We are the language we let ourselves use. We are the questions that we ask.
The situation today is so absurd that if a person is over-heard to have read a book about JFK, they are immediately assumed to be converts to the writings of David Icke. The short cut away from critical thinking I mentioned earlier? That is well and truly sprinted every time “conspiracy theories” from different fields of research are compared. Do you discuss mainsail maintenance of a racing yacht when talking Bathurst tyre wear?
We both would agree that this world is in a ridiculous position. There is too much fear, not enough love, a boogyman behind every doorway. The true horror though, is the apparent disdain for facts. This of course is where 9/11 is the mother lode of nonsensical discussion. As you know I do not enter into 9/11 discussion here although I might throw a few breadcrumbs on occasion. But disdain for facts is at the core of the 9/11 issue. People go to extraordinary lengths to defend the Official Story, mostly with little to no knowledge of its immense failings, yet decide that all 9/11 Truth is a falsehood because… albatross.
Take The New Pearl Harbour. An amazing achievement by any standard of research, if somewhat lacking in production values. I will repeat what I have said since it first arrived on the scene.
“I am not aware of any person who having claimed to believe the Official Story, after seeing this documentary, still claims that position.” Not one!
To be honest I still have my doubts that you yourself have actually viewed it at all, let alone its entire five hours. Only you can know the truth of your answer. Facts matter. Science matters. Lies just hurt people and the bigger the lies, the more hurt they create. Is that what you want? A simpering humanity, cowering under the baton of ignorance and fear as the totality of knowledge is decided for you by people who most certainly do not have your best interests at heart?
Too afraid to open a window for air, because you are told the window is locked.
Is that not the locking mechanism, laying broken at your feet? Language will mutate, language will adapt, but only you can know the truth of your answer.
He’s not a fake lord – he’s a hereditary peer inheriting the title from his father in 2006 (he’s the 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley).
What he did do is falsely (or at least misleadingly) claim in a letter to US Senators to be a member of the House of Lords which he has never been (since the hereditary peers lost the right to automatically be in the Lords in 1999 and he is not one of the 92 elected hereditaries). The lords even issued a cease and desist to refute his claims in 2011.
As an aside he’s stood 4 times for when a seat for the hereditary peers has fallen vacant in the Lords since 2006 and at least 3 times received no votes.
Definitely a crank though. (Now plowing his furrow with UKIP when not climate denying).
Cheers for the correction, GJ. And I didn’t know he was standing for UKIP! Not sure what that does for the nutter quotient there, but from what I’ve seen of the rest, Monckton might be a civilising influence.
I’d say that’s par for the course in Latin America. The mistake Dilma and Kirchner make is to leave the same state apparatus that served the dictatorships in place. Labour does it here as well. They should realise by now that the SIS is a branch of the Tories, but will they change anything if they ever get voted back in? They could all do with reading ‘State and Revolution” again.
By the way, I don’t see this as a conspiracy theory at all. It’s a reasonable explanation of the facts.
rankin is someone I don’t like or respect
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/religion-and-beliefs/news/article.cfm?c_id=301&objectid=11392913
he says, “Islam’s direct threat to our rangatiratanga (sovereignty) and our culture”. But I don’t hear him saying anything about Christianity which imo has done and will continue to be more of a direct threat than Islam ever could. Ban crosses? yeah right.
It is clearly the very notion of religion that is the problem… and has been for a very long time.
The sooner it disappears as an idea the better – pretty much like some religions which used to think the sun was a higher being have evaporated in the heat of reality, so too should all religions which think there is a higher being. Dolly the cloned sheep put paid to these ideas some years ago.
there will come a time when this will happen anyway so lets do it now ….
do you think people would run with this ?
Well no I don’t agree with you.
The sun is a higher being* for all intensive purposes. Whether some entreaty from this planet cuts through the solar flares and stuff and impacts upon the sun causing ‘it’ to ‘hear’ and ‘react’ to those calls is debatable for sure based upon whichever belief system we believe in.
*
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/higher_being
But back to your point – I don’t think people will run with it.
Belief systems aren’t the problem – rather trying to fit square pegs into round holes is.
Nice point about the sun.
People have a need for faith and a need to believe in something. Get rid of religion if you like, ban it if you like, it will merely be replaced with faith in the free markets, faith in nationalism, faith in exceptionalism, faith in scientism and infinite technological progress.
Tautoko. He’s not worthy of your respect. He doesn’t have mine either.
I’ve had a bit of odd behaviour with the Replies tab in the last few days. Normally, the tab only appears when I’ve posted that day (it disappears some time after midnight each night), so I usually don’t see replies if I haven’t posted for several days.
Today, I had replies listed only for Raided of the Last Shark, and that was after reloading because I had replies listed for Micky Savage.
The Replies Tab has been misbehaving for several days now.
I’m going to have to put the aircond on to figure out what it is doing wrong. Mind is fuzzy after I get home through the beautiful warm mind-numbing weather (after being in a fridge all day).
Sean Plunket is a vile, whining piece of shit who sounds like a ten year old reading lines written by Whalespew. His calling Eleanor Catton an ungrateful hua on the basis that she works at a public university makes me sick. FJK is paid by the state, yet he spends whatever time is left after working on his golf handicap on attacking the working class. Why doesn’t Plunket call him a traitor?
Nah, bugger it. Why doesn’t Plunket just go for a long walk off a short pier? I’d never listened to him before, but he obviously bases himself on Alan Jones, speaking slowly and in short sentences so as to not get too far ahead of his audience.
[lprent: Do not go down to far on that avocation of self-harm path yourself, unless you want to discover the limits to moderator tolerance. ]
Just far enough for him to have a nice swim. Do you really think “take a long walk off a short pier” is a hobby involving violent self harm? How about “go jump in the lake?” I see both as dismissive, rather than being any sort of hobby at all. I think I’ve missed what you meant by avocation.
I once inherited a cellfone from someone whose occupation was that of a ‘publicist’ (you know – someone whose job it is to promote). Sean Plonker (among others) contact numbers remained in its contact list. I refrained from making bothersome calls, and from calling them out on their bullshit. There were some very intersting numbers in that little gem that I retain to this day.
Thankfully, the publicist saw sense and left the country, but not before using me (and others as her confidant) – including one of her boyfriends (an electrical engineer). He/they’d actually taken the long walk along the Pike River Mine entrance – according to he: “an accident waiting to happen”. As for Plunket …. I can only relate her comment – he’d be a thoroughly useless fuck.
Funny ole wurl aye.
I imagine tho’ that in future times, that publicist will be ready and anxious to testify.
I fear that might be a little longer than my lifetime will allow.
Oh…. btw – Chris Finalyson fiigured heavily in her daily commentary – it kind of reinforced my impressions of just what a bitter old queen he’s become. And I say that ONLY because had he not been subjugated by the Jonky phenomenon, there’d have been a different outcome.
Common fucking sense anyone? (Not for the foreseeable future it seems) – EVEN in here judging by some comments above
ThugMouthPlunket’s contribution ? Having NZ’ers look like hectoring, spittling, backwoodsmen.
Catton’s contribution ? Having NZ’ers stand proud. And having ThugMouth exemplify her point.
The dog here is…….?
Idiot ! So got himself owned.
Reply to LPrent’s comments on Little’s State of the nation address thread
”
Martyn Bradbury seemed to be quite close to David Cunliffe and Hone Harawira. However that is beside the point. You are making a guilt by association argument. That is usually bad form.
[lprent: Why? Have you looked at the side of this site at John Key’s face recently – that accurately expresses my opinion of his ethics of getting involved with Slater’s garbage diving. As far as I can see John Key has been politically profiting from having his head stuffed firmly in Slater’s faecal bacteria for the last 7 years. I can’t see any justification for having a dirty politician to not be called for what he is.
For the record, I have a number of politician’s numbers. I don’t use them unless I have to. They are mainly there for caller id when they (rarely) call me so that I pick up the phone. The only phone numbers that I ever call cold were those of Helen Clark. That was because I was part of the Mt Albert campaign team and I sometimes needed direct information about targeting.
As much as I think that Martyn is a bit of a dork, I don’t think that he is trying to blackmail journalists with prostitutes or any of the other crap that Slater did. I suspect Martyn mainly contacts them when he was organising events or pitching for work.
Answer in OpenMike, but I suspect that I am going to be completely unsympathetic to your theory of disassociation of a dirty politician and his dirty operatives. ]”
I’m not discussing how you you can be associated with the behaviour of an individual. I would agree you can argue that being in contact with someone who is overtly behaving in a particular manner does suggest a degree of tacit support.
What I am meaning is that if someone I know and associate with holds a particular view (say on the benefits or otherwise of collectivisation) that it does not hold that the view is held by myself as well. For example just because you are majorly involved in this blog does not mean you agree with the views expressed by the authors who post articles here. I am sure you would come down hard on anyone trying to state that you did.
And what if you gave them your cellphone number, and contacted them frequently, which was the original comparison?
That at least suggests that the beliefs they espouse are not contrary to one’s ethical standards. For example, I don’t socialise with any white supremacists AFAIK.
John Key is a good example of a “mainstream” (your relocated goalpost, I remind you) tory, no?
Cameron Slater has a number of views that I suspect the PM does not hold. Key’s reasons for contacting him has been well publicised. You may disagree with it but even if it was some insidious plot to subvert democracy in NZ it doesn’t mean that they share the same views.
Anyway I suspect Slater is not anti-collective as you suggest. He may well be anti-Union but that is a different matter.
Birds of a feather flock together aye goosey.
Always defending the indefensable!
Your like a cheap little wind up doll repeating the same old lies!
you make mathew hootton look good.
always having to have the last word never admitting when your wrong!
Men who are into selfies are more likely to be Narcissistic Nutjobs .
Key Slater.and you are both narcissistic Nutjobs Goosy birds of a feather
Key’s willing association with slater certainly means that slater’s attitudes and practises are not incompatible with his own. Otherwise key would not willingly associate with him.
Trade me and Harmoney. Money lenders operating through Trade me – not sure what I think about this. It is being promoted as peer to peer lending.
So what’s peer-to-peer lending?
It’s a new way of lending and borrowing that has proved very successful in Australia, the USA and the UK and is just getting started here in New Zealand. Investors loan money directly to borrowers anonymously via an online platform, without having to go through a financial institution like a bank.
It’s simple. By missing out the middleman, Harmoney can provide lower interest rates for borrowers and higher returns for lenders – a win-win for everyone.
A new way of getting into financial strife? I don’t know what to make of it.
I know it in the context of an alternative source of business funding and I was about to spout on about that, and how useful it can be as a more flexible way to raise venture capital or early stage funding for a good business idea. And I’ve seen that work really well overseas. The crowd funding idea in the US is great because it disintermediates the whole formal financing business and people with relatively small amounts of money can get into deals they’d otherwise never see, and spread their risk (which is essential for venture capital type deals).
However, looking at the Harmoney website, first thing I see is:
Borrow
Debt Consolidation
Car Loans
Home Improvements
Holiday Loans
What the farque? This is not really peer to peer lending or crowd funding. This is your neighbourhood predatory lender dressed up in fancy internet clothes. The good thing is that it is very transparent and simple, but does NZ really need this? I guess we will see.
On old maps from ancient times, areas outside the known were labelled “There be Dragons” as a warning of possible perils and pitfalls. In NZ citizens should be aware that this situation applies in their own fair land if, while travelling at the other end of an island or the country, they fall ill.
The story I heard was that a couple were on holiday and one got really ill and was said to need an operation. But the DHB was reluctant to carry it out and stated they should go back to their own hospital board and have it done there. Insistence and threats of negative publicity resulted in agreement to attend to the op at the holiday location.
This is the result of the lack of adequate funding to DHBs. They have had financial sinking lids for some time. Also their budgets are population-based for the locals only and even that may be scant, not providing much for those at the fringes of the areas, and isolated farming settlements. The technology costs for a modern hospital are high also, not only capital costs, but maintenance, and security measures.
The surgeons may have been on holiday, there may have been pressures from car crashes and drunken mayhem incidents in the case I was given. But it is an example of the difficulties the gummint is causing to the public service provision we thought we had provided as a permanent public good.
So beware of the dragons that might pop up when you are away from home. You may need to buy health insurance to get you home within the country’s borders if health provisioning isn’t funded appropriately. If the governnment is running NZ without oil, sooner or later the mechanism will seize up and stop.
News out of Greece is interesting……
Yesterday, Greece canceled the privatisation of the biggest port yesterday, which was a key component of the their existing bailout.
Merkel quoted along the lines of astonished Greece is looking for a debt cut, the new ggovenmnet has to show they are committed to the EU aid program, and the ball is in Greece’s court.
Greek bank equities -11% yesterday.
But the real test comes today. The EU is voting on whether to add to sanctions on Russia. This has to be unanimous and given Greece was reported to say yesterday “we don’t consent”, this vote will be interesting. If Greece does veto the sanctions I guess that signals a really hardball approach to negotiations.
I spoke earlier to a few people in London – a European political analyst at a bank, an economist and a debt trader- were all of the view that the Germans will be happy to say no to any Greek haircut demands, perhaps ease the repayment schedule, but ultimately play hardball. And if the Greeks threaten to leave the Euro, ask them not to let the door hit their bum on the way out.
Personally I don’t know, though I do believe the best thing for Greece would be to negotiate a departure form the Euro, stay in the EU and get transitional support as they go back to controlling their own policy settings. As long as their productivity lags so far behind northern Europe they will never make a go of being in the Euro. They need a weaker currency in order to compete.
@ nadis
That sounds doable. I wonder how long the Greeks will take to come to that approach.