I think it’s really awesome that Labour showed itself to be a team who work together – absolutely literally. It highlighted the number of hardworking MPs Labour has – whereas National’s was 100% John Key personality politics.
Well, I am a bit positively surprised by this election video, it sounds and looks good, but to be honest, some of the MPs in there look and sound a bit half-hearted, same as some of the members of the public commenting, or asking questions.
Let us hope they (Labour candidates) mean it and stand up for each other and push the common, positive message across to the undecided voters.
My vote will go elsewhere, the party vote that is, but as we will need Labour, best of luck! Time for a change, for sure!
Yes a Helen Clark returned to a Kinder, gentler, caring, warm, Government is just what we need to save our wonderful country and her people from an aggressive bully of a tyrant.
Thank you Labour for now we are proud to have returned home as Kiwis again for the last 16yrs. It’s been like hell the last six years.
Come save our rail in HB Gisborne please from Key stealing it for a cycleway.
Good ad for labour a touch cringy but got some points I liked across. Couldn’t believe despicable key claiming kiwis not going to oz because of something they did .
Cunliffe came across really well. Very good setting and the whole community action thing. Stopping to talk policy was a bit clunky. It broke up the flow and seemed a bit like a cheap DIY ad.
The best after Cunliffe, was Nania Mahuta. The conversation between her and the young woman seemed fairly natural as they continued doing stuff.
Cunliffe was relaxed and approachable. Talking while walking is a pretty basic thing to do on camera to keep the flow and rhythm and not seem static, and Cunliffe did it very well.
The best part of the ad was Cunliffe. Very assured performance, and the rest looked nicely normal like the rest of New Zealand. This is the country I want back!
That’s a right wing “I’ll be tougher on crime” video. Los Angeles produced, LA politician. If you’re into that sort of thing, great, but I don’t really know what it has to do with NZ.
Nah, it was good, humble, normal, gentle, a place where ordinary people and families can feel safe and included. Come out of your negative contrary space and be part of a positive future.
When are Labour going to learn to turn on both sound channels?
Didn’t watch all of it, wasn’t worth the effort but the bit about portable devices for school brought up a discussion with my tutor that I overheard. She was surprised to be teaching at university what she had learned in high school in the country she was from (I don’t know which country and nor do I care). This highlights one major problem with NZ – we leave the teaching of important fundamentals about computers too late.
The average 6-year-old in Britain understands more about digital technology than the average 45 year old.
Not really. Kids often have a very shallow or narrow understanding of how digital technology really ticks. All they really get exposed to is the application layers – while most people have no idea at all about all the other layers deep under the bonnet.
Do you refer to the button of applications to play games by saying that a 6 year old understands more about IT? Because of parents have to keep their kids occupied whilst working, making dinner, being exhausted etc?
This does not replace the understanding and knowledge one needs to implement any application to a particular problem or operational requirement. Yes, everybody can press a button and it has been shown that with sufficient training over 60 year old can learn software packages of any kind. What it will not be able to do, is to replace is the accumulated knowledge of a subject or issue. This has to acquired by learning and experience. Humans have not changed despite that IT has.
Sure, but the current focus in schools is application based using increasingly linear platforms.
Labour’s proposal sounds like an opportunity cost (shared by the government and families) as the devices themselves do not improve children’s achievement levels.
It seems to me the kids with an aptitude for IT need to be encouraged and resourced to explore ‘deep under the bonnet’ (in RedLogix’s words) in terms of coding or solving problems.
Does the Govt’s (or Labour’s proposed tweak to it) digital device strategy increase the number of children who gravitate towards deeper level IT?
For the rest of us, I agree with American computer scientist Kentaro Toyama who pointed out in a recent interview on Nine to Noon that he could teach someone how to use Twitter in 30 minutes. But just how to teach them to have something worthwhile to say on Twitter was an entirely different matter that had little to do with rapidly changing technology platforms.
I agree with American computer scientist Kentaro Toyama who pointed out in a recent interview on Nine to Noon that he could teach someone how to use Twitter in 30 minutes. But just how to teach them to have something worthwhile to say on Twitter was an entirely different matter
The problem is a bit larger – what to say might be just the tip of the iceberg. How to write is the more serious issue. If you can read you can read a manual. If you can do maths, you can convert a description into a mathematical solution to a problem. Basics is what is lacking. Pressing colorful buttons – a baby can do this without having its cognitive functions developed.
How to program, how operating systems work and about computer hardware. You know, the basics and the stuff that our children presently aren’t learning.
Well they do, when the get to University. Those are not basics, they’re part of a computer science degree.
I think that the concentration on education, housing in the video is a lot more relevant to most people than what some anonymous poster from god knows where says they should be talking about.
I disagree. Most of the people I know who are now into technology/IT picked up all that stuff as kids – they were the nerds who were pulling apart their computers and figuring out what everything did at age 10. It’s far more intuitive to them now than to people who didn’t learn it until they were adults.
Being sneery about Draco’s opinion just because he’s posting under a pseudonym on a blog is kind of silly given you yourself are posting under a pseudonym on a blog.
That more or less describes me Stephanie – although computers had yet to be invented when I was 9. And over a lifetime in the tech world I’ve done more or less everything to do with computers short of building my own silicon. But the really geeky kids like me are still a smallish minority.
What is true is that children grow up in a tech world and they absorb what they are exposed to without being much in awe of it. And this means they don’t have too many inhibitions around playing about with a bit of tech or software until it gets them a result they want. But this ain’t the same thing as understanding.
Nor is it true that all adults are hopeless at picking up tech – quite the opposite, there are plenty of take to it just fine and become proficient very quickly. Even quite late in life.
And IT is not the only skill needed in this world. I tend to think the schools have got it about right on IT. If a high school student wants to learn some programming they can. But I don’t really see why they should have to learn about logic boards, ram, memory, hard disc or how to tune a database. This is a specialised area best done at the University level. For now I think it’s better that they learn about China, maths, how to write a good essay and maybe a language or two. Oh and science, biology, chemistry, physics.
This is a specialised area best done at the University level.
At the level we’re talking about it’s not specialised. It’s basic stuff on a similar level to what you’d learn about chemistry and biology at high school.
it’s more important to teach kids how to problem solve, communicate with others, laterally think and access their creativity. Sometimes this might be done through exposure to tech, but most of the time, not.
I just want to chip in and mention here the necessity to learn problem solving, also a sound system of philosophy and ethics as a base to life and all learning, before learning how to play around with instruments of god.
Computers in theory can make you all-knowing. How to utilise the information into what context and framework and what system does a human need to keep to, is the most important thing to acquire first.
There are so many new things to learn all the time, but what basics are being taught, what sense of history and society-building by those before us is being disseminated and absorbed? How does one set new things in context with the old, and understand them. Tech heads are developing strong personal ethics, ie Aaron Swartz believing in the rightness of open availability of publicly paid for information.
But societies need to be built on agreed ethics providing direction, and controls, and that means that time has to be spent on examining philosophical questions not just to be spent on enabling us to be technically competent. What do we understand and do as we reach higher levels of capability using that technical competence?
Agree, what many do not want to accept is, that a computer is just a tool – no more or less. None of the skills and information can be absorbed if a child cannot read. I belief that it is of utmost importance that every child is a competent reader. No guessing words please, this is for stupid people. Soundbites as the one’s in the headlines is not acceptable either. A child needs to be challenged, but then again how many adults are able to do his? Remember the Asian Tiger Mom? Right, this is what the kids will be up against. No amount of rugby will get them by and if this is watered down any further it will be 50% of kids on the poverty line.
Well they do, when the get to University. Those are not basics, they’re part of a computer science degree.
Did you read my original comment at all? Did you understand it? By not teaching our children as early as possible we’re wasting time teaching them later.
Sorry draco, teaching children human skills to deal with themselves and with others is far more important than tech crap. Which can be picked up whenever.
It was fine. And it was about policy as well. 100,000 houses for the underpaid, more money into education (and I hope they get rid of charter schools after the election) etc etc.
The middle class are underpaid now. Auckland is a city where the average house costs 600k or so. If you’re on one middle class income of 60-80k that will not be enough to service the mortgage on that. (about 5k net for a 3,300 monthly mortgage).
Yes, exactly, but you don’t have to be brown for that (although it helps). And this in turn often forces you into the hands of unscrupulous lenders so you’re double screwed.
I think you have the wrong idea about what middles class is. The middle class, pretty much by definition, have enough to live on comfortably including housing. If they can’t afford housing then they aren’t middle class – they’re poor.
As ColonelViper said the median income is around 42k. If you’re earning 80k a year I don’t see how you cannot be classified as middle class. But 80k will not pay a mortgage in Auckland and won’t pay it in a few other places as well.
The middle classes have no fight with the poor, not naturally anyway. If they look up rather than down they will identify the problem.
Great opening addresses by both Labour and the Greens…. and a total contrast to the Key sanctimonious monologue. Hope they get the traction they deserve.
Quite funny how straight after the Key15 minute monologue, the first item on One News Update was about Collins refusing to apologise and resign! Great truth and reality check…. More please.
An honest message. DC conveys sincerity and Norm Kirk’s integrity. JK fakes both not very well.
In a simplistic analysis typical of John? Ansell, Labour members were working as a team with ordinary people to achieve something and John Key was trying to sell us a second hand rowing boat or something. Not sure what he was trying to sell- futures maybe?
Wasn’t in the mood for 13:30min long vid on a Saturday night, so only just got around to finishing this video on Sunday morning.
I thought the overarching theme of rebuilding communities as exemplified in renovation work was effective. Particularly liked the last minute of Cunliffe asking for questions from the public, that should be effective in getting people who might not otherwise go there onto the Labour website to be exposed to election messages.
This was excellent .A welcome return to man and women the better team.
We have had enough of the one man band .Team Key what a joke there is only onwe person in the team and he suffers with brain lapses . Im looking forward the Cunliffe and Key debate. My money’s on Cunliffe ,
Yeah but with Hoskins liking the sound of his own voice, and is a know ass kisser, you know that if Cunliffe starts to get on top, he will jump in, so as to break up the flow of things.
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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. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
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 ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
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 ...
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 ...
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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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
Good. Cunliffe came across as a very warm, caring person. & has a great head of hair, wow.
I think it’s really awesome that Labour showed itself to be a team who work together – absolutely literally. It highlighted the number of hardworking MPs Labour has – whereas National’s was 100% John Key personality politics.
Well, I am a bit positively surprised by this election video, it sounds and looks good, but to be honest, some of the MPs in there look and sound a bit half-hearted, same as some of the members of the public commenting, or asking questions.
Let us hope they (Labour candidates) mean it and stand up for each other and push the common, positive message across to the undecided voters.
My vote will go elsewhere, the party vote that is, but as we will need Labour, best of luck! Time for a change, for sure!
Yes a Helen Clark returned to a Kinder, gentler, caring, warm, Government is just what we need to save our wonderful country and her people from an aggressive bully of a tyrant.
Thank you Labour for now we are proud to have returned home as Kiwis again for the last 16yrs. It’s been like hell the last six years.
Come save our rail in HB Gisborne please from Key stealing it for a cycleway.
Key the pinstriped head got creamed by Cunliffe.
In the minors, the Greens could simply not beat Peters’ solid flag waving.
The rest were simply shit.
The extension cord prop was a win.
Is that what it was. I thought it was a rope and was waiting to see DC climb up the side of the building
So completely uncorporate!!
Fancy having real people on display!
Has to be a conspiracy from the left.
Well done. 10/10 for the concept – 9/10 execution.
I especially liked that the Labour team were in the picture.
Good ad for labour a touch cringy but got some points I liked across. Couldn’t believe despicable key claiming kiwis not going to oz because of something they did .
Cunliffe came across really well. Very good setting and the whole community action thing. Stopping to talk policy was a bit clunky. It broke up the flow and seemed a bit like a cheap DIY ad.
The best after Cunliffe, was Nania Mahuta. The conversation between her and the young woman seemed fairly natural as they continued doing stuff.
Cunliffe was relaxed and approachable. Talking while walking is a pretty basic thing to do on camera to keep the flow and rhythm and not seem static, and Cunliffe did it very well.
I liked the Phil Twyford housing segment. Maybe you were just focusing on what interests you, as was I. No worries it was all good…..
I liked it. The down-to-earth team work and the atmosphere of conviviality provides a marked contrast to National without the need for overt attacks.
The best part of the ad was Cunliffe. Very assured performance, and the rest looked nicely normal like the rest of New Zealand. This is the country I want back!
Cunliffe was 100% who he needed to be: himself, using his own words, in his own way.
+100
I want him to be the Prime Minister next month.
Did we all see the same video? It was god awful.
Though the rest weren’t much better. Peters could have saved some time and cash by just yelling “Asians!” to ominous music.
OK T C – what would you have done better that wouldn’t be god awful.
Something like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ3B8WvVjL4
(note: I thought the Greens was easily the best)
That’s a right wing “I’ll be tougher on crime” video. Los Angeles produced, LA politician. If you’re into that sort of thing, great, but I don’t really know what it has to do with NZ.
It was an attempt at humour on my part.
Nah While it showed a green message environment etc it seemed all about the two Leaders. Where were the rest of the team.
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The extension cord prop was a win.
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Don’t fret TC. You saw god-awful because you cannot understand it’s purpose or meaning. Never mind.
I saw god awful because it thought it was god awful, forced and contrived. Ah well.
Yes I saw the contrived and forced too. OK so none of them are good actors and I’m willing to look past that to what they are saying.
Which strikes me as the important thing.
I thought it was pretty bad too.
Cunliffe was especially good and King was ok, the rest were stilted and forced. Greens was much much better.
Nah, it was good, humble, normal, gentle, a place where ordinary people and families can feel safe and included. Come out of your negative contrary space and be part of a positive future.
Did you notice that Key used images of the Queen for partisan politics ?
It was the Balmoral pics too, the Brits were not amused when Key took cameras with him on meeting with HM.
I imagine there will be a stiff please explain from the GG about this, and no dont send some lackey from ‘the office’.
TC time waster, we are positive see!!
When are Labour going to learn to turn on both sound channels?
Didn’t watch all of it, wasn’t worth the effort but the bit about portable devices for school brought up a discussion with my tutor that I overheard. She was surprised to be teaching at university what she had learned in high school in the country she was from (I don’t know which country and nor do I care). This highlights one major problem with NZ – we leave the teaching of important fundamentals about computers too late.
‘This highlights one major problem with NZ – we leave the teaching of important fundamentals about computers too late.’
The average 6-year-old in Britain understands more about digital technology than the average 45 year old. No doubt it’s similar in NZ. By then they have only had 1 year of schooling anyway.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/07/ofcom-children-digital-technology-better-than-adults
The average 6-year-old in Britain understands more about digital technology than the average 45 year old.
Not really. Kids often have a very shallow or narrow understanding of how digital technology really ticks. All they really get exposed to is the application layers – while most people have no idea at all about all the other layers deep under the bonnet.
+1
Good article about why kids don’t necessarily know anything about computers.
Says the guy who thought hacking was quite rare and not really that big of an issue
Do you refer to the button of applications to play games by saying that a 6 year old understands more about IT? Because of parents have to keep their kids occupied whilst working, making dinner, being exhausted etc?
This does not replace the understanding and knowledge one needs to implement any application to a particular problem or operational requirement. Yes, everybody can press a button and it has been shown that with sufficient training over 60 year old can learn software packages of any kind. What it will not be able to do, is to replace is the accumulated knowledge of a subject or issue. This has to acquired by learning and experience. Humans have not changed despite that IT has.
Sure, but the current focus in schools is application based using increasingly linear platforms.
Labour’s proposal sounds like an opportunity cost (shared by the government and families) as the devices themselves do not improve children’s achievement levels.
It seems to me the kids with an aptitude for IT need to be encouraged and resourced to explore ‘deep under the bonnet’ (in RedLogix’s words) in terms of coding or solving problems.
Does the Govt’s (or Labour’s proposed tweak to it) digital device strategy increase the number of children who gravitate towards deeper level IT?
For the rest of us, I agree with American computer scientist Kentaro Toyama who pointed out in a recent interview on Nine to Noon that he could teach someone how to use Twitter in 30 minutes. But just how to teach them to have something worthwhile to say on Twitter was an entirely different matter that had little to do with rapidly changing technology platforms.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20143331/the-limitations-of-technology-in-the-classroom-digital-devices-and-deeper-learning
That’s it, right there.
And what I’m suggesting is to teach people to have something worthwhile to say.
The problem is a bit larger – what to say might be just the tip of the iceberg. How to write is the more serious issue. If you can read you can read a manual. If you can do maths, you can convert a description into a mathematical solution to a problem. Basics is what is lacking. Pressing colorful buttons – a baby can do this without having its cognitive functions developed.
You think that we should learn about sock puppets, paid blog posters and encryption?
How to program, how operating systems work and about computer hardware. You know, the basics and the stuff that our children presently aren’t learning.
Well they do, when the get to University. Those are not basics, they’re part of a computer science degree.
I think that the concentration on education, housing in the video is a lot more relevant to most people than what some anonymous poster from god knows where says they should be talking about.
I disagree. Most of the people I know who are now into technology/IT picked up all that stuff as kids – they were the nerds who were pulling apart their computers and figuring out what everything did at age 10. It’s far more intuitive to them now than to people who didn’t learn it until they were adults.
Being sneery about Draco’s opinion just because he’s posting under a pseudonym on a blog is kind of silly given you yourself are posting under a pseudonym on a blog.
That more or less describes me Stephanie – although computers had yet to be invented when I was 9. And over a lifetime in the tech world I’ve done more or less everything to do with computers short of building my own silicon. But the really geeky kids like me are still a smallish minority.
What is true is that children grow up in a tech world and they absorb what they are exposed to without being much in awe of it. And this means they don’t have too many inhibitions around playing about with a bit of tech or software until it gets them a result they want. But this ain’t the same thing as understanding.
Nor is it true that all adults are hopeless at picking up tech – quite the opposite, there are plenty of take to it just fine and become proficient very quickly. Even quite late in life.
Stephanie, the original sneering was not mine.
And IT is not the only skill needed in this world. I tend to think the schools have got it about right on IT. If a high school student wants to learn some programming they can. But I don’t really see why they should have to learn about logic boards, ram, memory, hard disc or how to tune a database. This is a specialised area best done at the University level. For now I think it’s better that they learn about China, maths, how to write a good essay and maybe a language or two. Oh and science, biology, chemistry, physics.
Actually, it was.
At the level we’re talking about it’s not specialised. It’s basic stuff on a similar level to what you’d learn about chemistry and biology at high school.
it’s more important to teach kids how to problem solve, communicate with others, laterally think and access their creativity. Sometimes this might be done through exposure to tech, but most of the time, not.
Using tech often requires problem solving, communicating today often requires tech and tech can also free peoples creativity.
Oh, and if we used your argument we also wouldn’t teach them maths, physics, biology, chemistry, etc, etc.
PCs, tablets and smartphones were each designed by a whole generation of people who never used them at school. Think about it.
And the deeper understanding about tech that would come from learning about it sooner would bring about the next generation of tech.
I just want to chip in and mention here the necessity to learn problem solving, also a sound system of philosophy and ethics as a base to life and all learning, before learning how to play around with instruments of god.
Computers in theory can make you all-knowing. How to utilise the information into what context and framework and what system does a human need to keep to, is the most important thing to acquire first.
There are so many new things to learn all the time, but what basics are being taught, what sense of history and society-building by those before us is being disseminated and absorbed? How does one set new things in context with the old, and understand them. Tech heads are developing strong personal ethics, ie Aaron Swartz believing in the rightness of open availability of publicly paid for information.
But societies need to be built on agreed ethics providing direction, and controls, and that means that time has to be spent on examining philosophical questions not just to be spent on enabling us to be technically competent. What do we understand and do as we reach higher levels of capability using that technical competence?
And at no point have I said that any of those things should not be taught.
Agree, what many do not want to accept is, that a computer is just a tool – no more or less. None of the skills and information can be absorbed if a child cannot read. I belief that it is of utmost importance that every child is a competent reader. No guessing words please, this is for stupid people. Soundbites as the one’s in the headlines is not acceptable either. A child needs to be challenged, but then again how many adults are able to do his? Remember the Asian Tiger Mom? Right, this is what the kids will be up against. No amount of rugby will get them by and if this is watered down any further it will be 50% of kids on the poverty line.
“I tend to think the schools have got it about right on IT.”
Strongly disagree. It’s about preparing younger generations for a future increasingly reliant on layers and layers of technology.
“If a high school student wants to learn some programming they can.”
Programming is a subset of Computer Science, one of the main benefits of which is teaching people to think better/problem-solve
Did you read my original comment at all? Did you understand it? By not teaching our children as early as possible we’re wasting time teaching them later.
And, yes, they are the basics.
Oh, and I’m not anonymous.
Sorry draco, teaching children human skills to deal with themselves and with others is far more important than tech crap. Which can be picked up whenever.
You’re sneering again, Draco.
No they’re not.
Well I liked it and I think it will do the job. It was ‘running with scissor’ production I think?
Not the Burroughs one either.
It was fine. And it was about policy as well. 100,000 houses for the underpaid, more money into education (and I hope they get rid of charter schools after the election) etc etc.
FTFY
If they were talking about the underpaid getting houses they would have talked about an extra 100 thousand state houses.
The middle class are underpaid now. Auckland is a city where the average house costs 600k or so. If you’re on one middle class income of 60-80k that will not be enough to service the mortgage on that. (about 5k net for a 3,300 monthly mortgage).
And if you’re brown, who have a median wage far under the national median wage of ~$42K pa, you’re basically screwed.
Yes, exactly, but you don’t have to be brown for that (although it helps). And this in turn often forces you into the hands of unscrupulous lenders so you’re double screwed.
It really is a cruel system, one which exists because it is deliberately tolerated (if not tacitly endorsed) by too many.
Or if you are a women you have to be content with a 30% drop in wages plus being the left foot of your husband once you retire.
I think you have the wrong idea about what middles class is. The middle class, pretty much by definition, have enough to live on comfortably including housing. If they can’t afford housing then they aren’t middle class – they’re poor.
What happened to the intern?
As ColonelViper said the median income is around 42k. If you’re earning 80k a year I don’t see how you cannot be classified as middle class. But 80k will not pay a mortgage in Auckland and won’t pay it in a few other places as well.
The middle classes have no fight with the poor, not naturally anyway. If they look up rather than down they will identify the problem.
Obviously the income bracket isn’t the best determinant of if you’re poor or not.
QFT
Great opening addresses by both Labour and the Greens…. and a total contrast to the Key sanctimonious monologue. Hope they get the traction they deserve.
Quite funny how straight after the Key15 minute monologue, the first item on One News Update was about Collins refusing to apologise and resign! Great truth and reality check…. More please.
Excellent! A positive message about a great team. DC looks ever more the leader every time I see him.
An honest message. DC conveys sincerity and Norm Kirk’s integrity. JK fakes both not very well.
In a simplistic analysis typical of John? Ansell, Labour members were working as a team with ordinary people to achieve something and John Key was trying to sell us a second hand rowing boat or something. Not sure what he was trying to sell- futures maybe?
Wasn’t in the mood for 13:30min long vid on a Saturday night, so only just got around to finishing this video on Sunday morning.
I thought the overarching theme of rebuilding communities as exemplified in renovation work was effective. Particularly liked the last minute of Cunliffe asking for questions from the public, that should be effective in getting people who might not otherwise go there onto the Labour website to be exposed to election messages.
This was excellent .A welcome return to man and women the better team.
We have had enough of the one man band .Team Key what a joke there is only onwe person in the team and he suffers with brain lapses . Im looking forward the Cunliffe and Key debate. My money’s on Cunliffe ,
Yeah but with Hoskins liking the sound of his own voice, and is a know ass kisser, you know that if Cunliffe starts to get on top, he will jump in, so as to break up the flow of things.