(at least not until the government does something about it)
Another biased pro-owner study of the problem has been released.
The brief of this new study exclusively focused on more carrot for rich people, and not sticks to encourage them to rent or put their empty houses up for sale.
Despite the authors of the study admitting that the carrot based strategy has had very limited success.
10% of ghost home owners intentionally keeping them empty
Geraden Cann 05:00, Oct 02 2022
……Ghost homes have become a focus of attention as the housing crisis continues, and now a government-funded project has released a report that explores how many ghost homes there are, how long they remain empty for, why owners keep them empty, and how the Government can encourage owners to rent them out.
Key findings included about 10% of owners of ghost homes kept them empty intentionally, and a little over a quarter had been empty for at least a year…..
…..The survey showed most respondents considered the condition of their empty homes as “ready for occupation”…..
Tax ‘sticks’ not explored
The report listed some tax methods used abroad to encourage owners to rent empty homes out…..
…Wise Group did not investigate how similar policies could be rolled out in New Zealand, or how effective they might be, stating incentive-based measures were more appropriate for the study.
The carrot-based approach was criticised by one of the commenters in the report….
….He Kāinga Oranga Housing and Health Research Programme co-director Nevil Pierse warned in the report that internationally it had proven hard to incentivise owners to fill their empty homes when there were “limited ‘sticks’” available….
…..Despite the report only focusing on carrots, owners still did not favour any of the proposals, which revolved around helping to source and vet potential tenants.
We all know an administration convinced of the justice of neo-liberal trickle down theory, is chary of putting any tax on the lucky rich people with more than one house that they can keep empty, while other families live in cars..
I suggest calling it a fine, instead of a tax.
Rich people, love disproportionately fining poor people.
How about a fine that disproportionately fines the fortunate owners of one or more empty homes?
Would that be more palatable to a neo-liberal administration that has no hestatation on fining low income people for the slightest parking or compliance infraction, yet never call it a tax.
We can fine someone for overparking depriving someone else of a carpark.
Why can't we fine someone for keeping their property/properties empty depriving someone else of somewhere to live?
I agree with encouraging owners to put ghost houses out for rent.
But why go punative? Why not create incentives for owners to rent out their houses? This will likely be more effective than more taxes, because that will just encourage people to look for ways to avoid the tax, so will be a lot less effective than positive incentives to make it worthwhile for Landlords to rent out the houses..
I agree with encouraging owners to put ghost houses out for rent.
But why go punative? Why not create incentives for owners to rent out their houses?….
Hi Smithy what sort of incentive for owners do you think the government should apply. Money incentives?
Now there's an idea, let's subsidise the rich folk (again). If we could just shovel enough money toward the top end of town, trickledown economics could work.. And, a subsidy for the rich folk would be well in line with this government's convinced neoliberal economic agenda.
Unfortunately I am not convinced that more 'carrot' for rich folk (their word) would work, neither are the writers of the report. Even though their brief ruled out "sticks" they had to admit that 'carrot's weren't working. Even the creepy government vetting of tenants to satisfy the wealthy empty home owners, couldn't convince these rich folk to let their empty houses out.
Rather than upset rich folk, better we let kids live in cars. We know homeless kids and their families are never going to give us any party donations. But rich people can and do.
I came across a few of those "ghost houses" when I was working for Auckland Council. The ones I knew about – I doubt that the owners were tax residents in New Zealand – or has much interest in being landlords here at the time. One very large house on an expensive section on the North Shore was just abandoned when its owners went back to their homeland very suddenly. They just packed up and left – even the power was still on in the house. It was a while before the local kids discovered the place was empty as it was a rear site. The neighbours were concerned about squatters and because the lawns were getting long and rank in the summer heat and were a fire hazard. Council eventually made an arrangement to get the lawns mowed and charged the homeowner. The bills were still paid but the house was empty for years.
There is a report available for the 2020 year. It seems to be a well thought out which is working – raising money to both cover costs and assist non-profit providers of housing.
Victory in Lyman appears to be accompanied by an unimaginable slaughter of the fleeing defeated enemy Russian army. Never forget the human cost of this utterly wanton war of aggression.
Caution – read only if you are of a strong constitution. Erich Maria Remarque meets Ernst Jünger. I just thought Jesus Christ, this is happening now in 2022 and while the Ukrainians at least have agency to make sense of what they are going through the Russians are dying for absolutely nothing other than the blood sacrifice demanded from them by their demented dictator. Putin's war is an unspeakable evil where thousands die pathetic deaths and calling for their mothers.
Yes, and not only Lyman. I think the whole Luhansk front will collapse. Very soon the Ukrainians will hold several more key towns for supply of Russian logistics to the whole Donbass region.
Just been reading about the rout in Lyman. It was untenable last week. I could speculate about the political motivations that allowed an effective encirclement without withdrawal. But really just saying that Putin has all of military genius of Hitler just about covers it. It sounds like they were told to hold so it didn’t disrupt a political rally in Moscow.
Just been reading about the rout in Lyman. It was untenable last week. I could speculate about the political motivations that allowed an effective encirclement without withdrawal. But really just saying that Putin has all of military genius of Hitler just about covers it. It sounds like they were told to hold so it didn’t disrupt a political rally in Moscow.
Lyman cuts out a large chunk of the Russian logistics pipeline to their June to August occupation areas. That is going to make life very difficult for those regions when they are attacked.
Yes, it makes the term "bat-shit crazy" seem like a synonym for "rationale".
Despite all the crazy rhetoric, from what I have seen, a lot in Russia are not buying it. Especially those fleeing and those in the poorer regions who are being disproportionately targeted for mobilisation.
I am not too worried about Russia using nukes. An interesting video from an interview with George Friedman that covers that threat amongst other things. He makes the point that so far as tactical nukes go, there are other weapons better for the job, and so far as strategic nukes, the fact that they are being implicitly threatened means they are unlikely to be used, due to the fact that making the threat gives up first strike advantage which is seen as critical in nuclear war.
So, I think Russia is in deep trouble. They are shoving mobilised people to the front line at the moment without any training. Their logisitics is terrible, and struggles to support what they have there now. And human wave tactics don't work in an age of modern weapons.
Do a twitter search using "Kherson". Looks like the Ukrainians are making their play there at the moment, after spending weeks destroying Russian logistics and supplies. They must think the Russians are now too weak to resist.
By morning over there Kherson might be liberated.
That would be a major issue for Russia continuing the war. That is because Ukraine is about to cut supply lines to the Donbass area. Taking Kherson would cut supply lines enable Ukraine to cut supply lines running from Crimea to the other end of Ukraine.
OK – Early reports indicate the Russians planned to hold Lyman and reinforce it with some of their poorly trained newly mobilised troops. However the situation moved faster than they anticipated and the Ukrainians shut off the road between Lyman and Zarichne – effectively surrounding the Russian garrison. The Russians were instead forced to commit the newly arrived troops into a hasty unprepared counter-attack to try and relieve the trapped troops. A dramatic and intense battle ensued. The Russian assault was partially successful but at the cost of catastrophic losses both on the retreating units and the relieving assault. Lots of video showing literally piles of dead Russian bodies.
Sounds like the Ukrainians have suffered many losses as well. What a shit show. Fuck Putin.
Another Lyman scale route and these people in Poots’ ear?
All bets will be off, I reckon.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen republic, said that Putin could use "low-yield" nuclear weapons on the battlefield.
In a statement slamming Russian generals in the wake of Russia’s withdrawal of its forces from the strategic town of Lyman, Kadyrov said it was time for the Kremlin to make use of every weapon at its disposal.
“I do not know what the Defense Ministry reports to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but in my personal opinion we need to take more drastic measures, including declaring martial law in the border territories and using low-yield nuclear weapons. There is no need to make every decision with the Western American community in mind,” Kadyrov said on his Telegram channel.
Earlier last week, Dmitry Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president between 2008 and 2012, also discussed nuclear weapons use on his Telegram channel, saying it was permitted if the existence of the Russian state was threatened by an attack even by conventional forces.
“If the threat to Russia exceeds our established threat limit, we will have to respond … this is certainly not a bluff,” he wrote.
I think two factors are at play there. Firstly, as mentioned in my previous post, it isn't clear tactical nukes are more effective than other weapons. Secondly, NATO has made it clear to Russia about specific devastating threats if they went down that route.
So, some of the conventional weapons that have similar effects might be preferred. For instance FABs (Father of all bombs) would have a similar effect to low-yield nukes without the international blow-back.
And, the Ukrainians are moving so quickly that they may not provide an easy mass target for either of those weapons.
I am always suspicious when people have to say things like "this is not a bluff", because it sounds like they are having to reinforce a weak position that indicates they could be bluffing.
Yesterday in the The Press a perennial mayoral candidate, Tubby Hansen, alleged a maser was being used to attack his knee along with his old truck being sabotaged to hinder his political career.
In the pub on Friday night a former Green MP, an anti-vaxxerr and critic of mandates, warned me that the Covid vaccines could harm unborn babies. "Unproven", he said……..
Credit to the Herald layout people. They didn't put stories of people living in poverty or trying to survive living in motels next to their walled story about Auckland's newest golf course.
"Inside Auckland's newest golf course Te Arai Links (Mangawhai, Northland) and what members get for a $48k joining fee" is the headline.
"As the Herald reported last month, cost of membership is just shy of a $50,000 joining fee and $10,000 a year for a family membership… The club already has around 475 members, made up of New Zealanders and international golfers with a plan to potentially cap the membership towards the 600 mark."
What they get for their fees is the ability to escape the hoi polloi and the reality of the world. I do appreciate they worked so hard all their lives to afford that and so deserve to escape the slackers who didn't.
Hecklers are going from meeting to meeting in Wellington and abusing candidates for their positions on Three Waters reform.
Eagle and fellow mayoral contender Tory Whanau, both of whom are Māori and who support Three Waters reform, were on the receiving end of the heckling. They both believe the hecklers are coordinated and are trying to disrupt meetings.
Foon has started to make sure her supporters stay nearby at the events and don't leave before her.
Some comments towards Whanau were "pretty ugly", she said
support was needed from the council, because residents' associations were not equipped to deal with abuse.
Would be interesting to know who these slime "hecklers" are..and who they are associated with ? Also the Council absolutely needs to ensure the Safety of Candidates..and members of Public..from these type of people. None should be fearful in anyway. Maybe Police need to have a look in?
Oh, I had wondered : (. I really like Tory Whanau. This ugly heckling (racist as well to her, Paul Eagle, others). But of course NONE of the Candidates….or Public attending, should have to put up with any of this ugly shit..from the ugly VFF…or their fellow 'travellers"
American journalist Luke Mogelson has some insights about such groups in the US. As I interpret it, he identifies 3 interesting points:
The 'mutability' of the anger they express. It is 'nebulous' and can be manipulated by the movement's leaders against a variety of targets. It thus appears to switch back and forth across a range of targets that to an outsider seem dissimilar.
A sense that they are victims, that something like a birthright has been taken away and needs to be restored. This makes the dissimilar-looking targets feel consistent – and this feeling is genuine even though objectively speaking, they are not actually victims (or not more so than many other people)
A view of the world as being based on a binary dominance-subservience dynamic, i.e. if you are not dominant you are subservient. This also plays into particular views of masculinity (the alpha-beta stereotype)
I suspect a closer look at similar groups here might show similar characteristics and forces at play. They do seem to be on the move everywhere.
Trump's 'rhetoric of inversion' as Luke Mogelson describes it, is playing out in our theatre of disinformation as well. If this review is worth a read, his book will be even more interesting.
Mogelson writes with the descriptive fluency and eye for detail that you would expect of a reporter with his credentials. But what makes this book more than a dystopian travelogue is his ability to tease out connections across history and make illuminating global comparisons.
He dips into his experience abroad, describing, for example, the extraordinary communal response to the Ebola virus in the Monrovia slums in 2014. Local leaders in the Liberian capital designed and enforced their own health measures in the absence of outside help. As a result, fewer than 30,000 people contracted the disease, compared to the 1.5 million that experts had predicted. Mogelson wondered at the time: “How would my country bear up under similar pressure?”
Six years later, he had his answer. Flying in from France, where residents had accepted stringent health measures pretty much without complaint as the price of containing the disease, he saw how in the US, questions of science were engulfed by the country’s all consuming culture wars.
In times gone by this would have been written up in the local rag as lively debate, as politicians were tested by tough questions from passionate local constituents.
Sadly this is just another sign (like the <50% voter turnouts) that our democracy is in a terrible state of affairs.
So, this is both HDPA (anathama to many Standardistas, I know) and Herald premium content (you can read through PressReader via most libraries – certainly the big city ones)
However, setting aside her clear preference for much of the ACT agenda, it's the first article that's clearly come out and said that ACT are likely to be heavily influential in a National/ACT government (which, is certainly an option given the current polling).
Selected excerpts:
It's worth reading what Act says it's planning to do after the next election. Because if things stay the way they are, Act will be doing a lot of it. And Act's ideas might impact you more than National's.
On this year's polling, Act could be bringing 20-25 per cent of the votes to that government.
That gives Act a lot of bargaining power in coalition negotiations. If the party is smart, it'll expect a quarter of the vote to translate to a quarter of the Cabinet positions.
But more importantly, it'll expect a number of big policy wins. And Act has a very clear idea of what it wants to do. It's been prepping for the last two years.
The party reckons it's already released eight policy documents, four Covid policy papers and two fully costed alternative budgets. Act's leader consistently has a clear position on everything from crime to co-governance to the cost of living.
If Act implements even one policy fully, it'll be the closest thing to a proper shake-up within that sector since Rogernomics.
[HDPA specifically addresses ACT policy on cutting public servant numbers, education vouchers (she doesn't use that word, but that's what she means), and a referendum on co-governance.]
The size of Act's possible vote counts in its favour.
So does the fact that Seymour apparently isn't hung up on ministerial posts. If he doesn't get what he wants, he's reportedly happy to walk away, sit on the cross benches and force National to negotiate every piece of legislation.
But most importantly, it's clear Act's a lot more prepared for government than National. While Act's been pumping out fully thought-through policy documents, National's been selecting leaders. National's still trying to explain whether it'll cut taxes or not. It is several years behind Act in prep.
Even when it does eventually release policy, National probably won't have big ideas. It's a party of managing the status quo with small changes. There's every chance Act will bring many of the policy changes.
It doesn't look like National's expecting an assertive Act.
It seems as though Seymour and ACT have a much stronger grasp on their policy outcomes than National does. And, (IMO) Seymour is a stronger character than Luxon – I wouldn't say ACT would blink first in negotiations. [This is me, not HDPA]
Whatever applies to ACT, in this – should also apply to the Greens (especially after Shaw's recent shake up with the membership). They, too, will be looking for very significant policy gains from Labour – and are unlikely to be fobbed off with minor portfolios and/or meaningless titles.
In 2023 – policy may shift much more radically to either left or right, than the centre parties are likely to be comfortable with.
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all, By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul; But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
Credit Suisse has asked hedge funds and other investors to destroy documents relating to its richest clients’ yachts and private jets, in an attempt to stop information leaking about a unit of the bank that has made loans to oligarchs who were later sanctioned.
Investors this week received letters from the Swiss bank requesting that they destroy the documents relating to a securitisation of loans backed by “jets, yachts, real estate and/or financial assets”, according to three people whose firm received the request.
The letters tell the investors to “destroy and permanently erase” any confidential information Credit Suisse previously provided in relation to the transaction, citing a “recent data leak to the media” that it said had been “verified by our investigators”.
Credit Suisse took the action after a Financial Times report last month detailing how it offloaded the risks relating to $2bn of loans to a group of hedge funds.
If the financial risk of the UK is fragile (without the fairy tail economics) prior,there is a substantive misalignment to be undertaken on currency risk alone.Where the Kiwi due to the same problems as the UK,such as high increasing internal debt,large current account deficit,overvalued currency.
These are the drivers of instability in the Global markets,where they are looking for the next storm.and where the wobbly domino appears.
Largest risk,as they (the hedge funds etc) need cash to meet margin calls.There has been a large switch from the long end to short dated cash from large investment groups in the last 3 months.
Oil is falling in value due to demand destruction,cracked products such as diesel is short due to industry and power generators switching from gas.
Electricity is not a driver of inflation in NZ (excluding changes to pricing increases in line charges) Gas similar with lower demand due to some switching to electricity which has allowed the second train at Motunui to start up to meet export demand.
Food and Fibre will still be in demand due to shortages in NH forced by energy constraints.
Both local and central government spending on capital projects,is on borrowed debt with increasing interest risk as new issues for both maturing debt,and increased debt are over 4.1% for the government at the short end moving to 4.5 at the long end.
S&P moved the UK to negative watch late Friday,warning bells are ringing here as each move of 1% in GDP or interest rates changes the interest costs by 1 billion,
Surely it would take mortgages to get to 10% before we start to see big changes in mortgagee sales. In April the NZ mortgagee sales were at a 15 year low.
Perhaps a wee shakeout of investors away from property is just what we need.
More the top end of town,with corporate borrowing becoming more expensive.
Also Government interest costs are well beyond forecast (more if we count SOE) an extra 2b this year,doubling next and net debt increasing 4-6b it isnt coming down.
Property market needs shakeup,as well above realistic valuation,removing a few zombie companies is always good.
Civics education is already part of the curriculum. I don't know what McAnulty's high school taught – but political process (including MMP) has been part of the social studies curriculum in high school for a lot longer than 20 years.
It's not, however, a topic which readily engages kids.
Disengaged teachers droning on to disengaged youth isn't a recipe to change anything about democratic engagement.
Actually changing legislation so that people can make bureaucracy change, especially at a local level, is what's needed. Anyone who's ever engaged the the behemoth which is Auckland Council, knows that achieving even the most obviously beneficial of changes is a multi-year process – requiring commitment and dedication from the individual or group. It's not surprising that youth don't see that this is a winning strategy.
Disengaged teachers droning on to disengaged youth isn't a recipe to change anything about democratic engagement.
"Disengaged teachers droning on" would turn me off – I recall having mostly excellent teachers (the engaged, non-droning kind), and certainly appreciate that now.
The public service profession of teaching is in decline – how to turn this around?
Negative perceptions of teaching as a profession are very well deserved. It's been regularly said over years we want, we need, our best and brightest to go teaching.
We want creatives, flexible and adaptable, personable and empathetic, dedicated with a sense of wanting to make a difference.
Anyone with those qualities doesn't want to be treated like shit by all the unqualified experts without the balls or inclination to take the job on themselves. They're not going to accept being treated like drones by drones who kowtowed to the ignorant crap and have nobbled and sabotaged meaningful teaching as a worthy profession.
How to turn around the public service profession of teaching? It is not possible. To mangle an aged adage: The necessary changes are more difficult than pushing shit to the top of Mt Everest with a marshmallow rake.
How to turn around the public service profession of teaching? It is not possible.
That's depressing Peter – although there are some excellent NZ teachers, I fear you may be right. Another example of the general decline that threatens to overwhelm society's ability to continue in the manner to which we have become accustomed?
I think that if you discuss the quality of teaching/teachers with almost any parent with kids in the current school system, you'd come to a different conclusion.
That's not to say there aren't excellent teachers out there: because there are. However, there are also a number, and a significantly higher number, of teachers who are not.
If you're lucky, you'll get one or two inspirational teachers during your entire schooling career. And they aren't always the same (e.g. a teacher can be inspirational for kid A, but not for kid B).
A much better goal to aim for is excellence – a teacher who thoroughly understands the topic/s they are teaching, is an engaging presenter of material (which may not always be seen as relevant by the kids), and has multiple educational strategies to cut through to kids who don't necessarily 'get' the standard presentation; as well as being able to manage the necessary class discipline for learning.
The numbers of those teachers in the education system is dropping, and dropping rapidly.
What, you believe that the quality of teachers is better now, than it was 20 years ago?
In that case, why have educational levels (you know, the basic ability to read and write) been on a continuous downward trend in virtually every measure?
Yes. Anecdata. In that I do have a kid in the schooling system; do talk to other parents (in primary, a major topic of conversation was how to angle your kid into the class with the 'good' teacher – and you bet it made a difference); do pay attention to the education figures and statistics.
That is entirely probable. And may well be a contributing factor to the observed dropping standards.
The great experiment in Modern Learning Environments (open plan large scale classrooms with 2-4 classes and teachers in a single space), entirely driven by MoE theorists – looks as though it may be coming home to roost [sorry for the mixed metaphors]. With zero evidence that it makes any positive difference to learning, and lots of evidence that it disadvantages kids with learning challenges (hearing, ADHD, etc.) and anecdotal evidence that it damages the teacher-student relationship (it's not realistic for teachers to have a personal relationship with up to 120 primary school kids in a class).
Every new or refurbished classroom for the last 10 years has been built in this style.
However, teachers are (they have to be) a big factor in children's learning. They're the people on the ground, rather than the MoE bureaucrats issuing directives from Wellington.
And teacher unions are adamantly opposed to teacher quality evaluation and/or measurable educational standards (at least before NCEA level), and/or increased pay for high-quality teachers (those delivering above average results, regardless of the educational starting level)- which makes it a bit of a chicken and egg scenario so far as Ministerial quality standards go.
Your examples of comparable professions are interesting.
It's an incredibly high educational bar to get into Med school, requires 7 years of training, and then another couple to be fully qualified, and/or specialize.
Again, you need high results to get into law school – and these need to be maintained each year of your degree (drop down and you drop out). You have to work in a law form for a year before you can sit a bar exam (and you have to pass – not just serve your time).
To get into teacher training, you just need a bare UE pass & a C-grade pass for a 3 year undergraduate degree. (Yes, there are other pathways in, but that's the minimum).
I think that if you discuss the quality of teaching/teachers with almost any parent with kids in the current school system, you'd come to a different conclusion.
Perhaps, but there's no doubt in my mind that the state school teachers who educated me (50+ years ago) were mostly excellent.
There will be many hypotheses about why education and other 'sectors' of society are apparently in decline – maybe someone will present a cogent summary of the root causes for Kiwis to fulminate over as we twiddle our collective thumbs.
The 2021/22 Human Development Report (HDR) – which is entitled “Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World” – paints a picture of a global society lurching from crisis to crisis, and which risks heading towards increasing deprivation and injustice.
Heading the list of events causing major global disruption are the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which have come on top of sweeping social and economic shifts, dangerous planetary changes, and massive increases in polarization.
For the first time in the 32 years that the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has been calculating it, the Human Development Index, which measures a nation’s health, education, and standard of living, has declined globally for two years in a row.
I have no reason to disbelieve you – though have no direct knowledge of the state of teaching 50+ years ago 😉
I don't know what the answer is in the education system. Though, don't feel inclined to either accept the status quo as the best we can get; or junk the whole system.
Teacher status in Finland (November 2016; PDF)) In Finland, teachers work in one of the most sought-after and respected professions in the country. The 2013 OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey found that primary school teachers in Finland had the highest level of agreement (57%) with a statement that the teaching profession is valued in society – over 20% higher than average. The high social status of teaching in Finland makes it an extremely competitive profession to enter: the elementary education departments in Finnish teaching universities (which train class teachers) only accept 10% of all applicants.
Would be great if successive NZ governments could craft a bipartisan programme to significantly strengthen the 'education brand', but judicious tweeking of the teaching status quo is perhaps the best Kiwis can hope for.
Glad I 'went through' the NZ school system in the 60s/70s.
I agree the Finnish education system is world-leading by a whole raft of measures.
And would love a bi (or multi-party) partisan approach to providing a pathway to a similar result. The question is how to get there.
However, I don't have any confidence that the MoE is the right agency to be leading the way. They are very captured by their own dogma – and have proved unwilling to rock the boat in any way.
I think we need more than just tweaking the status quo. With the dropping attendance levels (yes, Covid, but they haven't bounced back in significant areas post-Covid), as well as the falling literacy rates – we need to take action.
And, education is one area where you don't have the luxury of time. Kids only have around 10-12 years in the education system from beginning to end. And the crucial years are the first 4 – the years when you learn the basic building blocks.
They [the MoE] are very captured by their own dogma…
Please expand your 'captured by dogma' critique – when did the rot set in?
[The MoE] have proved unwilling to rock the boat in any way.
Similarly, examples to supporting your impression would be welcome.
My recent experience in the tertiary education sector is that since TEC (Government) funding has been linked to the number of students passing courses and completing degrees, the twins ‘evils’ of dumbing down content and grade inflation have been given freer reign – what a surprise.
The NZ MoE once crafted a world class education system. Imho it’s important to understand why/how outcomes went downhill [quickly?] if that system is to regain and then sustain its former levels of achievement.
World class education? Why New Zealand must strengthen its teaching profession [14 October 2014] Executive Summary: The greatest asset in New Zealand’s education system is teachers. Teacher salaries make up the bulk of education spend, and teachers are the most important factor for student achievement and development.
[Brought to us be The NZ Initiative!]
World Class? Inside NZ Education [2016]
"The New Zealand education system is broken and we need to start fixing it today if we want to have a prosperous future tomorrow."
Bryan Bruce was a teacher for 10 years before he become an award winning documentary maker. He believes the switch to self-managing schools has proved a disaster for children living in poorer areas of our country, that the way we administer our public schools is getting in the way of teachers doing their job and that to produce creative young thinkers from our schools we need to radically change the way we assess the talents and abilities of our children.
What is the purpose of public education? Are we teaching our children in the way that will best prepare them for a future that no one can predict?
The MoE couldn't even produce any research (on improved student outcomes) which led them to the conclusion that open plan classrooms were a winning learning strategy before the new plan was implemented.
They commissioned a literature review, only after they had started rolling these out (initially in Christchurch following the quake). I note with incredulity, that they even acknowledge that the vast majority of the 'research' they cite – originates from themselves….
The majority of sources were published by the Ministry of Education, the Education Review Office (ERO), or the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, and others were commissioned by the Ministry of Education though published by other bodies. Other studies that informed this report have been published in national or international journals. Any other types of studies such as masters or doctoral dissertations were carefully considered before inclusion by examining theoretical
underpinnings, methodological design and data collection instruments, and ensuring the conclusions
reached were justifiable based on the data provided.
Nor did they invest in evaluation of student experience and learning outcomes once they were implemented. And, even when they've been called into question (research showing poorer educational outcomes, especially for students with learning disabilities – and no educational improvement for anyone) – MoE still mandate all new or renovated builds in schools must be open plan MLE.
But the worst (and most long-standing one) is the MoE's attachment to 'balanced literacy' (i.e. learning to read using visual cues, rather than decoding words), even after multiple studies showing that it is not a suitable approach for teaching reading for a large group of children.
People are sceptical (in the above article) because they've been there before with MoE – they'll invest in developing a 'strategy' which takes 3 years – and then the government changes, or there's a new Minister – and they go back to the drawing board. I regard this as professional or bureaucratic capture, rather than a failure of vision from the Minister concerned.
There is a very strong culture of 'we know best' at the MoE – which is not justified by the educational results of kiwi kids.
Thanks Belladonna – the MoE's MLE experiment started in 2011, and the report on MLE you linked to is dated November 2016, so these ‘time points’ coincide with my three links (2012, 2014 and 2016) vis-à-vis when the rot set in at the MoE. It's important (imho) to understand why/how rot sets in, in order to learn from mistakes.
But the worst (and most long-standing one) is the MoE's attachment to 'balanced literacy' (i.e. learning to read using visual cues, rather than decoding words), even after multiple studies showing that it is not a suitable approach for teaching reading for a large group of children.
The RNZ item you linked to suggests that the MoE is considering moving away from 'balanced literacy' towards the 'structured literacy' strategy favoured by Lifting Literacy Aotearoa.
Lifting Literacy Aotearoa chair Alice Wilson said the government was moving in the right direction – but it was moving too slowly.
I hope that the (cautious?) moves currently afoot are in the right direction, and that your assertion the MoE are "unwilling to rock the boat in any way" is a tad hyperbolic. I agree that new initiatives are needed in NZ education, and that making education a political football has the potential to undermine positive change.
The Way Reading Is Taught In New Zealand Must Change – NZ Initiative Report [November 2021] Reading with the Light Switched On by research fellow and former teacher Steen Videbeck shows there are large teaching challenges to overcome. But recent changes by the Ministry of Education provide some hope for the future.
Credit where credit is due [September 2022] Lest our readers think that all we ever do is complain about what’s wrong, I’m delighted to say that we may be on the verge of a new era in New Zealand education. The Ministry has released an action plan for literacy, communication and mathematics.
Like most Ministry publications, the plan is long on buzzwords and short on detail. Still, it does signal a Common Practice Model for effective teaching in these three key areas. Associate Minister of Education Jan Tinetti was recently interviewed on Q&A. Importantly, she confirmed that the model will use a structured literacy approach.
… But for now, credit where credit is due. Congratulations to Jan Tinetti for heralding a much-needed change in direction for literacy education in New Zealand.
There is a very strong culture of 'we know best' at the MoE…
"Very strong" might be a bit strong, but yes, that seems typical of all Governments, Ministries, private companies and individuals. Mind you, sometimes they probably do 'know best',"lest our readers think that all we ever do is complain about what’s wrong."
MoE has been strongly pro the 'whole language' or 'balanced literacy' (the phrasing changes over time) approach to teaching reading – since at least the 1990s
We tend to forget that much content, earlier than the mid 2000s isn't readily available online, and gets missed from our searches.
There have, during that time, been multiple studies showing that a structured or phonics based approach has a better result for more children (i.e. kids who would learn using balanced literacy, also learn using structured literacy; and the kids who would fail using balanced literacy are more likely to succeed using structured literacy)
That's more than 30 years of MoE clinging to an approach which has demonstrably failed. To me, that qualifies as a "very strong 'we know best' culture".
To me, that qualifies as a "very strong 'we know best' culture".
Let’s hope that MoE public servants continue to believe that they know best, now that they are adopting strategies you support – "lest our readers think that all we ever do is complain about what’s wrong."
To my mind, the apparent shift to a ‘structured literacy’ approach is evidence that MoE public servants can ‘change their dogma’ (ha!) – maybe not rocking the boat, just swaying a little.
You're not going to get inspirational people, the 'best and brightest,' in the job and have them stay there because they're going to the treated like shit.
They can be trained and knowledgeable and become experienced but they will never be as expert as the self-centred, know-it-all, chip on their shoulder parents and the school managers who are driven buy checklists.
Of course the numbers of those with the qualities you want is dropping, and dropping rapidly.
From the era of the likes of Dr C E Beeby and Elwyn Richardson came the expression of New Zealand having a 'world class education system.' The further we moved from their philosophy the more the headlines are about failure.
The discussion started around Civics and topics readily engaging kids. Are we really interested in kids learning about civics and being really engaged? Or is the starting and ending point checklists, accountability charts and administrative paperwork?
Civics education is already part of the curriculum. I don't know what McAnulty's high school taught – but political process (including MMP) has been part of the social studies curriculum in high school for a lot longer than 20 years.
Not everyone believes C.E. Beeby was the great educator you portrait . When he was around (mid 20th century )NZ did have a world class education but his drasticchanges to progressive education away from traditional liberal education have been the cause of our present educational woes. This was predicted by wise educators of Beeby's era .
Please note it is well recorded that Beeby , at the end of his seemingly illustrious life greatly regretted the changes he had made to NZ s excellent education .. He saw the damage they had done even in his life time .
We need to reverse our entire educational philosophy to return to traditional values which believed in universal literacy and numeracy by phonics , spelling, tables some some rote learning , correction of work , proper handwriting , comprehension exercises ,etc .
Traditional learning would never had excluded art and crafts and civics but progressive education condemned the above mentioned subjects,
Lack of civics education doesn't account for a massive decline in local government voter turnout in one year.
If MPs wanted more public engagement about what they do, they could get those feckless and otherwise utterly $170k useless list MPs to go do some actual work in the community. There's enough of them.
The cynicism about bothering to vote in local body elections is very real — almost no one at work (100+ employees) is going to bother. The few who will, are 50+, and doing so as an act of civic virtue, rather than in any belief that their vote will make a difference.
The problem is in the age of the individual, where most of us don't have regular contact with large parts of our own community, I've got nothing to base my vote on other than guessing.
However, it's the older people who are (anecdotally, at least – I recognize this is just my own lived experience) the ones bothering to vote.
How do you motivate younger people to care? When everything around them is showing that voting doesn't change anything.
Dropping the electoral limit age below 70 is probably a good thing (we can certainly see instances of where politicians have remained beyond their use-by date – Shadbolt should have gracefully retired at the last election)
But, I don't see that electing a bunch of people in their 50s and 60s is going to be a whole lot better. And, many of the ones elected younger just become an institutional part of the system.
Given the stress and family-unfriendly hours and conditions – it's not realistic to expect many politicians in their 30s and 40s.
Perhaps a total limit on the number of years you can serve as an elected representative. 12 years (3 terms). And then a mandatory break of at least one term (3 years) before you can serve another 3 terms. After that, not eligible. Time served at both national and regional/local level to count.
I don't believe that we've been particularly well served by MP retreads at local body level.
But, none of that addresses the engagement factor.
Coming from Auckland, I'd say the biggest factor is the inertia of the local bureaucracy. Quite simply, I don't believe that any elected representatives have the ability to make change happen.
quite. I ended up in a conversation off that tweet which was saying that if we get rid of the olds, young people will vote. I think this is dangerous (messing with enfranchisement), discriminatory (ageist), and lacking in class analysis (why exclude older women, Māori, working class people and as you say end up with a bunch of late Pākehā middle agers top heavy with blokes).
It's also daft. Young people don't vote for a range of reasons including that they're busy doing other things they deem more important. I agree that people feel their vote doesn't change anything, but patently it does. So many people seem to believe that their vote is about their personal gratification, even politically aware people hold this view that. I see voting as an act of solidarity with my community and as a social good 🤷♀️
I don't feel disempowered, so I suppose that's part of why I see the power in voting.
I vote as a civic duty (if I don't vote in elections, I believe I forfeit the right to complain about the results for the next 3 years – a fate too dire to contemplate) (joke)
In the Auckland local body elections – even given the relatively significant divergence of the candidates at the mayoral level – I don't have a lot of confidence that much will change in the AC bureaucracy (and especially not with the council owned entities – like AT) – no matter who is elected.
At the local level – the Community Boards are basically powerless. They are blatantly ignored (and even lied to) by the likes of AT – and have little power to change or influence AC bureaucratic policy.
I admire the people who put their hats in the ring (without having any desire to emulate them); and I know they work hard in an often thankless job.
Truly. We have to find a way to give back more power at the local level. So that people can really see that their candidate (i.e. their vote) can make a difference in their community.
TOP will support National into government if it suits them. They've had major problems with their policies conflicting with welfare. I see they've made some changes on that, but haven't looked at the details yet.
They also wanted to asset strip elderly when they die by deferring the land tax. Don't know if that's still true.
Given they've specifically said they're a Centrist party – then that goes with the territory – supporting Labour or National depending on the policy gains they can get.
They've specifically said that the land tax can be deferred – so the 'asset stripping the elderly' would still apply (as it does to any land tax or CGT which includes land value, and has the capacity to be deferred).
A one-off land tax applied at death (aka death duties) is a known cost. (you know it's x% of whatever the value is)
A deferred tax simply goes on adding up – depending on how long it takes to die or sell. So, potentially could be a lot more, when added up over 20 years or so….
Can see them getting hammered on their property tax. When most landlords are operating on 2-3% real return, at best, (the money's in the capital gain) a 0.75% Property Tax is going to put 25 – 40% on the rent initially until property values crash.
Like CGT a good idea in a perfect world, but getting from here to there has got a few knobs on it.
I'd like to see a breakdown of parts of New Zealand where the gain from reduced income tax is equal or greater than what the homeowner will pay in Property Tax. It'll be an interesting relationship between property values and income, desirable places with poor wages will get hammered, others not so much. Can see a lot of wailing from people who have to sell their homes because they can't afford the tax payments.
I seem to remember Morgan's property tax proposal 10 years back wasn't quite so stark and was around equity so you could borrow and invest something other than property to reduce your liability.
There are some decent ideas in their tax policy. Worth considering.
Sadly, they won't get anywhere with the wider public for 2 reasons:
1) The 5% threshold is too high, and unfair. Proposals to lower it have been consistently blocked by National.
2) TOP killed their own brand when Gareth Morgan and Sean Plunkett decided to insult as many people as possible, which turned out not to be a vote-winning tactic. Who'd have guessed?
Of course TOP today is not the same as it was then. But you only get one chance to be a new, fresh party, and they blew it.
Again, they do have good ideas. Sadly, nobody is going to talk about them, outside a tiny minority of us on poli-blogs.
That Morgan meltdown of his own party was quite something to witness. New people now who seem to be doing good things. I value diversity in politics and it's been good to see them updating their policy as they get feedback on the holes in it. Still have some major issues with their positioning (they will support Nact into govt if it suits them). They've improved some of the stuff that was going to impact negatively on welfare*, but haven't looked at the details yet.
*they're also smart in some ways. Increasing disability allowance is both good for people who can't work and is non taxable and won't be affected by earnings and the WINZ rebate, but also there are a lot of people fucked off with Labour over them ignoring disabled people in benefits.
This is the first tax policy I have seen that will help the poor and pay for it by taxing landowners.
Top will also right off beneficiary debt. I am surprized more on the left aren't cheering it.
There are a lot of dissaffected Labour voters who can't bring themselves to vote National, especially having seen how disastrous the UK tax cuts have been (in all of 5 minutes). I think this policy will appeal. Many of us want some redistribution of wealth. Labour have increased inequality and made a lot of weatlhy people even wealthier.
This is the first tax policy I have seen that will help the poor and pay for it by taxing landowners.
It will tax rich and poor landowners alike. The Greens's policy targets people with a lot of wealth and directly helps all beneficiaries.
Top will also right off beneficiary debt. I am surprized more on the left aren't cheering it.
Most won't be aware of it yet. There are some good things in the policy for low income people. I'm not seeing an overall plan that's better than the GP's.
The land tax would replace current the bright line test, not apply to rural, Māori and conservation land and could be deferred for superannuitants.
Suspect they may not have thought this through. Replacing the bright line test, takes us right back to the property price inflation (buy and sell for capital gain) – though, it might look more appealing in an era of falling/settling property values. Rural land exempt? Farmers will be delighted: a massive tax cut, and no compensatory tax increase.
Manji also announced that he would run in the seat of Ilam, which was lost by long-term MP Gerry Brownlee to Labour’s Sarah Pallett in 2020. Manji won 23% of the vote in the seat running as an independent in 2017
“If we win Ilam, every single vote will count, so that will be our focus and the team is ready to go”, he said.
Looks like a well-thought through strategy there. Labour has little hold on the seat, and it would depend mightily on who National chose to put up against him (will Brownlee stay or go?). He's clearly got a strong local profile in the seat – so may be able to capitalize on this – even if only as a protest vote. And, if he looks like a winner in Ilam – then waverers are more inclined to risk their vote on TOP.
Oh, I absolutely agree the Swarbrick showed it was possible.
And, it looks as though Manji has the right local profile to give it a good shot.
I wouldn't expect Labour to hold this seat, even if TOP didn't stand – it's one of the ones which they won in the 2020 Jacinda landslide, and couldn't realistically have believed they'd hold.
It all depends on who National puts up.
Options:
Brownlee has high local and national profile (you may not like him but you certainly know who he is). However, he's already said he's going list only (with the aim of Speaker, if the Right wins). I don't see him standing in Ilam as a likely alternative.
National could parachute another high-profile list MP in (not a lot of options here, given their clean out in 2020)
National could head-hunt a local high-profile candidate [better get the selection right 😉 ] – with the specific goal of knee-capping Manji.
National could put up a standard candidate, and see how the chips fall. [I don't think they'd be happy with this option – and would prefer no. 3]
I can't see National doing a cup of tea with Manji – but they have history of working with centrist MPs and parties (Peter Dunn).
We don't have a good picture on how the resurgent ACT would play here either. Historically, this hasn't been a good seat for them – but the figures have changed a lot since 2020.
This will be a seat to watch with interest, once electoral polling gets going at the regional/seat level.
The Greens ran Auckland Central as if it were a by-election. They threw everything at it – they had people from as far away as Riverton working in Auckland Central. They also piled on the emotional blackmail to Labour people trying to get them to give the electorate vote to Swarbribk as some sort of insurance policy "how would you feel if Labour was not in government because they did not have the Green Party to support them"?
Do you think Swarbrick will hold Auckland Central?
I wouldn't bet against her. National profile, and she's visible and articulate at a local level as well.
I'd be surprised if Helen White (in parliament on a list seat) takes it from her. White hasn't shone in Parliament (I know, difficult when you're a new back bencher), and doesn't seem to be getting cut-through locally, either.
Don't know who National will stand. A Nikki Kaye clone would have the possibility of coming through the middle, with the left vote split between Swarbrick and White. But it's a big ask for a newcomer. Emma Mellow (previous Nat candidate) has gone to Australia (I think) – so will almost certainly be a new face.
My gut says that Swarbrick will hold the electorate.
I usually ignore Avaaz campaigns. This time I'm going to ignore the WC and sign the campaign petition.
In just two months, more than a million fans will watch the World Cup from seats built with the blood of Qatar’s migrant workforce. These seven gleaming stadiums, dozens of new hotels, and other construction cost the lives of 6,500 modern day slaves.
That’s 39 lives for every goal expected at the World Cup.
Qatar is expected to rake in $17 billion in profit from hosting the games. FIFA will grab $6 billion. The winning teams will take home $440 million. Migrant workers make as little as $1 per hour.
It is clear Qatar did not value the lives lost preparing for the World Cup. But we can make sure that the hundreds of thousands of workers and their families are compensated for the serious abuses they faced and continue to face.
Human rights organizations around the world are calling on FIFA and everyone else profiting from the World Cup to set aside $440 million in compensation funds for the migrant workers exploited in preparing for the World Cup – the same amount that will be awarded to the winning teams.
FIFA is ignoring the call to action – but pressure is mounting. Just this week England’s top football organization publicly backed the campaign. And if FIFA hears a massive outcry from people all around the world – they may be forced to act! So add your voice today and we’ll deliver our petition straight to FIFA.
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Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – 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 is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
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 Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
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 ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
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The ghost that will not rest.
(at least not until the government does something about it)
Another biased pro-owner study of the problem has been released.
The brief of this new study exclusively focused on more carrot for rich people, and not sticks to encourage them to rent or put their empty houses up for sale.
Despite the authors of the study admitting that the carrot based strategy has had very limited success.
https://waikanaewatch.org/2022/08/23/number-of-kids-living-in-cars-has-jumped-447-under-the-jacinda-government/
We all know an administration convinced of the justice of neo-liberal trickle down theory, is chary of putting any tax on the lucky rich people with more than one house that they can keep empty, while other families live in cars..
I suggest calling it a fine, instead of a tax.
Rich people, love disproportionately fining poor people.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6347272/not-feasible-income-based-fines-not-an-option-barr-says/
How about a fine that disproportionately fines the fortunate owners of one or more empty homes?
Would that be more palatable to a neo-liberal administration that has no hestatation on fining low income people for the slightest parking or compliance infraction, yet never call it a tax.
We can fine someone for overparking depriving someone else of a carpark.
Why can't we fine someone for keeping their property/properties empty depriving someone else of somewhere to live?
Maybe check whether "full and undisturbed possession of their lands' applies to all. TOW article 2
I agree with encouraging owners to put ghost houses out for rent.
But why go punative? Why not create incentives for owners to rent out their houses? This will likely be more effective than more taxes, because that will just encourage people to look for ways to avoid the tax, so will be a lot less effective than positive incentives to make it worthwhile for Landlords to rent out the houses..
Hi Smithy what sort of incentive for owners do you think the government should apply. Money incentives?
Now there's an idea, let's subsidise the rich folk (again). If we could just shovel enough money toward the top end of town, trickledown economics could work.. And, a subsidy for the rich folk would be well in line with this government's convinced neoliberal economic agenda.
Unfortunately I am not convinced that more 'carrot' for rich folk (their word) would work, neither are the writers of the report. Even though their brief ruled out "sticks" they had to admit that 'carrot's weren't working. Even the creepy government vetting of tenants to satisfy the wealthy empty home owners, couldn't convince these rich folk to let their empty houses out.
Rather than upset rich folk, better we let kids live in cars. We know homeless kids and their families are never going to give us any party donations. But rich people can and do.
I came across a few of those "ghost houses" when I was working for Auckland Council. The ones I knew about – I doubt that the owners were tax residents in New Zealand – or has much interest in being landlords here at the time. One very large house on an expensive section on the North Shore was just abandoned when its owners went back to their homeland very suddenly. They just packed up and left – even the power was still on in the house. It was a while before the local kids discovered the place was empty as it was a rear site. The neighbours were concerned about squatters and because the lawns were getting long and rank in the summer heat and were a fire hazard. Council eventually made an arrangement to get the lawns mowed and charged the homeowner. The bills were still paid but the house was empty for years.
Vancouver has just such a tax, see:
https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/empty-homes-tax.aspx
There is a report available for the 2020 year. It seems to be a well thought out which is working – raising money to both cover costs and assist non-profit providers of housing.
See also https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/speculation-vacancy-tax
My perception is that this would be good in Wellington and Auckland; possibly less useful for Christchurch and Rotorua . . .
On the good news front;
The Russian Federation's neo-imperialist and colonialist project in Ukraine suffers another setback.
Victory in Lyman appears to be accompanied by an unimaginable slaughter of the fleeing defeated enemy Russian army. Never forget the human cost of this utterly wanton war of aggression.
Caution – read only if you are of a strong constitution. Erich Maria Remarque meets Ernst Jünger. I just thought Jesus Christ, this is happening now in 2022 and while the Ukrainians at least have agency to make sense of what they are going through the Russians are dying for absolutely nothing other than the blood sacrifice demanded from them by their demented dictator. Putin's war is an unspeakable evil where thousands die pathetic deaths and calling for their mothers.
Yes, and not only Lyman. I think the whole Luhansk front will collapse. Very soon the Ukrainians will hold several more key towns for supply of Russian logistics to the whole Donbass region.
Running for their lives but they couldn't abandon booty for the fam'.
(women's tights and immersion blender in the red bag)
https://twitter.com/radiosvoboda/status/1576239984675364865
Just been reading about the rout in Lyman. It was untenable last week. I could speculate about the political motivations that allowed an effective encirclement without withdrawal. But really just saying that Putin has all of military genius of Hitler just about covers it. It sounds like they were told to hold so it didn’t disrupt a political rally in Moscow.
Just been reading about the rout in Lyman. It was untenable last week. I could speculate about the political motivations that allowed an effective encirclement without withdrawal. But really just saying that Putin has all of military genius of Hitler just about covers it. It sounds like they were told to hold so it didn’t disrupt a political rally in Moscow.
Lyman cuts out a large chunk of the Russian logistics pipeline to their June to August occupation areas. That is going to make life very difficult for those regions when they are attacked.
Breaking news. video on the internet of large explosions at a Russian airbase in Crimea.
This will be the second time that Russian Federation airbases in Crimea have been rocked by explosions.
Barking.
https://twitter.com/KonstantinKisin/status/1576126809993011205
https://twitter.com/KonstantinKisin/status/1575853684852150272
https://konstantinkisin.substack.com/p/putin-the-end-of-western-hegemony?
Yes, it makes the term "bat-shit crazy" seem like a synonym for "rationale".
Despite all the crazy rhetoric, from what I have seen, a lot in Russia are not buying it. Especially those fleeing and those in the poorer regions who are being disproportionately targeted for mobilisation.
I am not too worried about Russia using nukes. An interesting video from an interview with George Friedman that covers that threat amongst other things. He makes the point that so far as tactical nukes go, there are other weapons better for the job, and so far as strategic nukes, the fact that they are being implicitly threatened means they are unlikely to be used, due to the fact that making the threat gives up first strike advantage which is seen as critical in nuclear war.
I think Russian mobilisation will be a complete disaster. Excellent analysis on that by Perun. It is a long video, but his stuff is well-researched and comprehensive. Also, Peter Zeihan makes some great points in a video on this.
So, I think Russia is in deep trouble. They are shoving mobilised people to the front line at the moment without any training. Their logisitics is terrible, and struggles to support what they have there now. And human wave tactics don't work in an age of modern weapons.
Of course he's a defrocked Orthodox priest.
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1575863539939823616
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1575868888327524352
Do a twitter search using "Kherson". Looks like the Ukrainians are making their play there at the moment, after spending weeks destroying Russian logistics and supplies. They must think the Russians are now too weak to resist.
By morning over there Kherson might be liberated.
That would be a major issue for Russia continuing the war. That is because Ukraine is about to cut supply lines to the Donbass area. Taking Kherson would cut supply lines enable Ukraine to cut supply lines running from Crimea to the other end of Ukraine.
It would basically be game over then.
Even according to favourable media, Ukraine was suffering heavy losses in Kherson a month ago. By now the losses must be enormous.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/ukraine-kherson-offensive-casualties-ammunition/
We will see. But Ukraine has been working on destroying logistics and supplies in Kherson. The Russians may not have anything to fire back now.
Yup, getting big 1905 vibes about this…
You must be very old.
OK – Early reports indicate the Russians planned to hold Lyman and reinforce it with some of their poorly trained newly mobilised troops. However the situation moved faster than they anticipated and the Ukrainians shut off the road between Lyman and Zarichne – effectively surrounding the Russian garrison. The Russians were instead forced to commit the newly arrived troops into a hasty unprepared counter-attack to try and relieve the trapped troops. A dramatic and intense battle ensued. The Russian assault was partially successful but at the cost of catastrophic losses both on the retreating units and the relieving assault. Lots of video showing literally piles of dead Russian bodies.
Sounds like the Ukrainians have suffered many losses as well. What a shit show. Fuck Putin.
Indeed.
https://twitter.com/CasualArtyFan/status/1576188496255254529
Another Lyman scale route and these people in Poots’ ear?
All bets will be off, I reckon.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen republic, said that Putin could use "low-yield" nuclear weapons on the battlefield.
In a statement slamming Russian generals in the wake of Russia’s withdrawal of its forces from the strategic town of Lyman, Kadyrov said it was time for the Kremlin to make use of every weapon at its disposal.
Earlier last week, Dmitry Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president between 2008 and 2012, also discussed nuclear weapons use on his Telegram channel, saying it was permitted if the existence of the Russian state was threatened by an attack even by conventional forces.
“If the threat to Russia exceeds our established threat limit, we will have to respond … this is certainly not a bluff,” he wrote.
https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-10-01-22#h_33f48bf1d4d8f1898e12a4ff46407fae
I think two factors are at play there. Firstly, as mentioned in my previous post, it isn't clear tactical nukes are more effective than other weapons. Secondly, NATO has made it clear to Russia about specific devastating threats if they went down that route.
So, some of the conventional weapons that have similar effects might be preferred. For instance FABs (Father of all bombs) would have a similar effect to low-yield nukes without the international blow-back.
And, the Ukrainians are moving so quickly that they may not provide an easy mass target for either of those weapons.
I am always suspicious when people have to say things like "this is not a bluff", because it sounds like they are having to reinforce a weak position that indicates they could be bluffing.
Though who knows. Time will tell I guess.
Wonder if some people in Florida will figure out what Federal government is for now.
Yup – it is manipulating the weather to punish Trump voters.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1575874385948598272
Don't worry, we've got 'em in NZ, too.
Remember Bishop Brian saying the earthquakes were God's revenge for our homosexual law reform? https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2016/11/destiny-church-leader-brian-tamaki-blames-earthquake-on-gays.html
Yesterday in the The Press a perennial mayoral candidate, Tubby Hansen, alleged a maser was being used to attack his knee along with his old truck being sabotaged to hinder his political career.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/130023313/tubby-hansen-the-man-who-has-run-unsuccessfully-in-every-christchurch-election-since-1969
In the pub on Friday night a former Green MP, an anti-vaxxerr and critic of mandates, warned me that the Covid vaccines could harm unborn babies. "Unproven", he said……..
Its their hurricane season for God's sake. If "they" had the technology to manipulate the weather then they are God!
The insanity and the ignorance is beyond…….. words.
Credit to the Herald layout people. They didn't put stories of people living in poverty or trying to survive living in motels next to their walled story about Auckland's newest golf course.
"Inside Auckland's newest golf course Te Arai Links (Mangawhai, Northland) and what members get for a $48k joining fee" is the headline.
"As the Herald reported last month, cost of membership is just shy of a $50,000 joining fee and $10,000 a year for a family membership… The club already has around 475 members, made up of New Zealanders and international golfers with a plan to potentially cap the membership towards the 600 mark."
What they get for their fees is the ability to escape the hoi polloi and the reality of the world. I do appreciate they worked so hard all their lives to afford that and so deserve to escape the slackers who didn't.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/inside-aucklands-newest-golf-course-te-arai-links-and-what-members-get-for-a-48k-joining-fee/7P4QGMPGMGTXRR4FE3L3LLEUR4/
Would be interesting to know who these slime "hecklers" are..and who they are associated with ? Also the Council absolutely needs to ensure the Safety of Candidates..and members of Public..from these type of people. None should be fearful in anyway. Maybe Police need to have a look in?
Voices For Freedom.
Oh, I had wondered : (. I really like Tory Whanau. This ugly heckling (racist as well to her, Paul Eagle, others). But of course NONE of the Candidates….or Public attending, should have to put up with any of this ugly shit..from the ugly VFF…or their fellow 'travellers"
The heckling was racist? Citation please…
American journalist Luke Mogelson has some insights about such groups in the US. As I interpret it, he identifies 3 interesting points:
I suspect a closer look at similar groups here might show similar characteristics and forces at play. They do seem to be on the move everywhere.
Trump's 'rhetoric of inversion' as Luke Mogelson describes it, is playing out in our theatre of disinformation as well. If this review is worth a read, his book will be even more interesting.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/07/the-storm-is-here-by-luke-mogelson-review-america-on-the-brink
In times gone by this would have been written up in the local rag as lively debate, as politicians were tested by tough questions from passionate local constituents.
Sadly this is just another sign (like the <50% voter turnouts) that our democracy is in a terrible state of affairs.
So, this is both HDPA (anathama to many Standardistas, I know) and Herald premium content (you can read through PressReader via most libraries – certainly the big city ones)
However, setting aside her clear preference for much of the ACT agenda, it's the first article that's clearly come out and said that ACT are likely to be heavily influential in a National/ACT government (which, is certainly an option given the current polling).
Selected excerpts:
[HDPA specifically addresses ACT policy on cutting public servant numbers, education vouchers (she doesn't use that word, but that's what she means), and a referendum on co-governance.]
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/heather-du-plessis-allan-national-needs-to-watch-its-hand-with-act-holding-the-cards/GVFBYG22RH7TGGQ2QKMCB6ZYTA/?c_id=1&objectid=12555717&ref=rss
It seems as though Seymour and ACT have a much stronger grasp on their policy outcomes than National does. And, (IMO) Seymour is a stronger character than Luxon – I wouldn't say ACT would blink first in negotiations. [This is me, not HDPA]
Whatever applies to ACT, in this – should also apply to the Greens (especially after Shaw's recent shake up with the membership). They, too, will be looking for very significant policy gains from Labour – and are unlikely to be fobbed off with minor portfolios and/or meaningless titles.
In 2023 – policy may shift much more radically to either left or right, than the centre parties are likely to be comfortable with.
The Sunday lesson (Kipling)
https://mobile.twitter.com/DaveTaylorNews/status/1576137253734076418?cxt=HHwWhMCi4eieyN8rAAAA
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1576208659486412802
The dodgy debt they couldn't flog?
Credit Suisse has asked hedge funds and other investors to destroy documents relating to its richest clients’ yachts and private jets, in an attempt to stop information leaking about a unit of the bank that has made loans to oligarchs who were later sanctioned.
Investors this week received letters from the Swiss bank requesting that they destroy the documents relating to a securitisation of loans backed by “jets, yachts, real estate and/or financial assets”, according to three people whose firm received the request.
The letters tell the investors to “destroy and permanently erase” any confidential information Credit Suisse previously provided in relation to the transaction, citing a “recent data leak to the media” that it said had been “verified by our investigators”.
Credit Suisse took the action after a Financial Times report last month detailing how it offloaded the risks relating to $2bn of loans to a group of hedge funds.
https://archive.ph/g9jeI (ft)
More the appreciation of the credit default swaps against CS.
Kipling and Bismark in one post….things must indeed be dire.
If the financial risk of the UK is fragile (without the fairy tail economics) prior,there is a substantive misalignment to be undertaken on currency risk alone.Where the Kiwi due to the same problems as the UK,such as high increasing internal debt,large current account deficit,overvalued currency.
These are the drivers of instability in the Global markets,where they are looking for the next storm.and where the wobbly domino appears.
https://twitter.com/RobinBrooksIIF/status/1575107614647603200
And liquidity disappears in an instant….a greatly underestimated risk.
Largest risk,as they (the hedge funds etc) need cash to meet margin calls.There has been a large switch from the long end to short dated cash from large investment groups in the last 3 months.
I remember Brash complaining about why we were overvalued 20 years ago.
Granted all those July predictions that NZ inflation would peak by the end of the year look optimistic with oil esp diesel going up fast.
But in reality we're pretty good.
Our GDP has stabilised after 2020-21 and is strong
Economy | Stats NZ
Jobs growth looking good still
Employment indicators: Weekly as at 26 September 2022 | Stats NZ
Unemployment still the lowest it's ever been
New Zealand Unemployment Rate – 2022 Data – 2023 Forecast – 1985-2021 Historical (tradingeconomics.com)
New building consents and construction still gangbusters
Building consents issued: August 2022 | Stats NZ
Cars and trucks are busy on the roads again
ANZ Truckometer | NZ economic indicator | ANZ
Food and fibre exports are strong and dairy in particular is very strong in both price and production
Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries | NZ Government (mpi.govt.nz)
We're in about the best place in the world. No panic.
Oil is falling in value due to demand destruction,cracked products such as diesel is short due to industry and power generators switching from gas.
Electricity is not a driver of inflation in NZ (excluding changes to pricing increases in line charges) Gas similar with lower demand due to some switching to electricity which has allowed the second train at Motunui to start up to meet export demand.
Food and Fibre will still be in demand due to shortages in NH forced by energy constraints.
Both local and central government spending on capital projects,is on borrowed debt with increasing interest risk as new issues for both maturing debt,and increased debt are over 4.1% for the government at the short end moving to 4.5 at the long end.
S&P moved the UK to negative watch late Friday,warning bells are ringing here as each move of 1% in GDP or interest rates changes the interest costs by 1 billion,
Surely it would take mortgages to get to 10% before we start to see big changes in mortgagee sales. In April the NZ mortgagee sales were at a 15 year low.
Perhaps a wee shakeout of investors away from property is just what we need.
More the top end of town,with corporate borrowing becoming more expensive.
Also Government interest costs are well beyond forecast (more if we count SOE) an extra 2b this year,doubling next and net debt increasing 4-6b it isnt coming down.
Property market needs shakeup,as well above realistic valuation,removing a few zombie companies is always good.
Civics education is already part of the curriculum. I don't know what McAnulty's high school taught – but political process (including MMP) has been part of the social studies curriculum in high school for a lot longer than 20 years.
It's not, however, a topic which readily engages kids.
Disengaged teachers droning on to disengaged youth isn't a recipe to change anything about democratic engagement.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/300701729/civics-education-floated-to-combat-voter-disengagement-distrust
Actually changing legislation so that people can make bureaucracy change, especially at a local level, is what's needed. Anyone who's ever engaged the the behemoth which is Auckland Council, knows that achieving even the most obviously beneficial of changes is a multi-year process – requiring commitment and dedication from the individual or group. It's not surprising that youth don't see that this is a winning strategy.
"Disengaged teachers droning on" would turn me off – I recall having mostly excellent teachers (the engaged, non-droning kind), and certainly appreciate that now.
The public service profession of teaching is in decline – how to turn this around?
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2021/06/30/deciphering-the-decline-in-literacy-of-new-zealand-students.html
Negative perceptions of teaching as a profession are very well deserved. It's been regularly said over years we want, we need, our best and brightest to go teaching.
We want creatives, flexible and adaptable, personable and empathetic, dedicated with a sense of wanting to make a difference.
Anyone with those qualities doesn't want to be treated like shit by all the unqualified experts without the balls or inclination to take the job on themselves. They're not going to accept being treated like drones by drones who kowtowed to the ignorant crap and have nobbled and sabotaged meaningful teaching as a worthy profession.
How to turn around the public service profession of teaching? It is not possible. To mangle an aged adage: The necessary changes are more difficult than pushing shit to the top of Mt Everest with a marshmallow rake.
That's depressing Peter – although there are some excellent NZ teachers, I fear you may be right. Another example of the general decline that threatens to overwhelm society's ability to continue in the manner to which we have become accustomed?
I think that if you discuss the quality of teaching/teachers with almost any parent with kids in the current school system, you'd come to a different conclusion.
That's not to say there aren't excellent teachers out there: because there are. However, there are also a number, and a significantly higher number, of teachers who are not.
If you're lucky, you'll get one or two inspirational teachers during your entire schooling career. And they aren't always the same (e.g. a teacher can be inspirational for kid A, but not for kid B).
A much better goal to aim for is excellence – a teacher who thoroughly understands the topic/s they are teaching, is an engaging presenter of material (which may not always be seen as relevant by the kids), and has multiple educational strategies to cut through to kids who don't necessarily 'get' the standard presentation; as well as being able to manage the necessary class discipline for learning.
The numbers of those teachers in the education system is dropping, and dropping rapidly.
Love to know where you get that information from BD.
Looks like unreliable anecdata to me.
What, you believe that the quality of teachers is better now, than it was 20 years ago?
In that case, why have educational levels (you know, the basic ability to read and write) been on a continuous downward trend in virtually every measure?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/why-literacy-rates-are-falling-in-nz-schools/YTQJAYXYV4SG6XTJFWIRI5E3CA/
Why are articles like these common:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300368442/our-education-system-is-in-decline-but-nobody-wants-to-fix-it
Yes. Anecdata. In that I do have a kid in the schooling system; do talk to other parents (in primary, a major topic of conversation was how to angle your kid into the class with the 'good' teacher – and you bet it made a difference); do pay attention to the education figures and statistics.
Rather than dump on teachers, maybe look at the Ministry. They’re the ones who set the curriculum and liase with training organisations.
The range of quality of teaching probably mirrors the range of every other profession. Doctors and lawyers included.
That is entirely probable. And may well be a contributing factor to the observed dropping standards.
The great experiment in Modern Learning Environments (open plan large scale classrooms with 2-4 classes and teachers in a single space), entirely driven by MoE theorists – looks as though it may be coming home to roost [sorry for the mixed metaphors]. With zero evidence that it makes any positive difference to learning, and lots of evidence that it disadvantages kids with learning challenges (hearing, ADHD, etc.) and anecdotal evidence that it damages the teacher-student relationship (it's not realistic for teachers to have a personal relationship with up to 120 primary school kids in a class).
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018859439/no-evidence-modern-learning-environments-work-report
Every new or refurbished classroom for the last 10 years has been built in this style.
However, teachers are (they have to be) a big factor in children's learning. They're the people on the ground, rather than the MoE bureaucrats issuing directives from Wellington.
And teacher unions are adamantly opposed to teacher quality evaluation and/or measurable educational standards (at least before NCEA level), and/or increased pay for high-quality teachers (those delivering above average results, regardless of the educational starting level)- which makes it a bit of a chicken and egg scenario so far as Ministerial quality standards go.
Your examples of comparable professions are interesting.
It's an incredibly high educational bar to get into Med school, requires 7 years of training, and then another couple to be fully qualified, and/or specialize.
Again, you need high results to get into law school – and these need to be maintained each year of your degree (drop down and you drop out). You have to work in a law form for a year before you can sit a bar exam (and you have to pass – not just serve your time).
To get into teacher training, you just need a bare UE pass & a C-grade pass for a 3 year undergraduate degree. (Yes, there are other pathways in, but that's the minimum).
Perhaps, but there's no doubt in my mind that the state school teachers who educated me (50+ years ago) were mostly excellent.
There will be many hypotheses about why education and other 'sectors' of society are apparently in decline – maybe someone will present a cogent summary of the root causes for Kiwis to fulminate over as we twiddle our collective thumbs.
I have no reason to disbelieve you – though have no direct knowledge of the state of teaching 50+ years ago 😉
I don't know what the answer is in the education system. Though, don't feel inclined to either accept the status quo as the best we can get; or junk the whole system.
Would be great if successive NZ governments could craft a bipartisan programme to significantly strengthen the 'education brand', but judicious tweeking of the teaching status quo is perhaps the best Kiwis can hope for.
Glad I 'went through' the NZ school system in the 60s/70s.
I agree the Finnish education system is world-leading by a whole raft of measures.
And would love a bi (or multi-party) partisan approach to providing a pathway to a similar result. The question is how to get there.
However, I don't have any confidence that the MoE is the right agency to be leading the way. They are very captured by their own dogma – and have proved unwilling to rock the boat in any way.
I think we need more than just tweaking the status quo. With the dropping attendance levels (yes, Covid, but they haven't bounced back in significant areas post-Covid), as well as the falling literacy rates – we need to take action.
And, education is one area where you don't have the luxury of time. Kids only have around 10-12 years in the education system from beginning to end. And the crucial years are the first 4 – the years when you learn the basic building blocks.
Please expand your 'captured by dogma' critique – when did the rot set in?
Similarly, examples to supporting your impression would be welcome.
My recent experience in the tertiary education sector is that since TEC (Government) funding has been linked to the number of students passing courses and completing degrees, the twins ‘evils’ of dumbing down content and grade inflation have been given freer reign – what a surprise.
The NZ MoE once crafted a world class education system. Imho it’s important to understand why/how outcomes went downhill [quickly?] if that system is to regain and then sustain its former levels of achievement.
The MLE linked earlier is one example.
https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-media/media/media-release-school-classrooms-experiment-has-been-based-on-ideology-report/
The MoE couldn't even produce any research (on improved student outcomes) which led them to the conclusion that open plan classrooms were a winning learning strategy before the new plan was implemented.
They commissioned a literature review, only after they had started rolling these out (initially in Christchurch following the quake). I note with incredulity, that they even acknowledge that the vast majority of the 'research' they cite – originates from themselves….
https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/Documents/Primary-Secondary/Property/Design/Flexible-learning-spaces/FLS-The-impact-of-physical-design-on-student-outcomes.pdf
Nor did they invest in evaluation of student experience and learning outcomes once they were implemented. And, even when they've been called into question (research showing poorer educational outcomes, especially for students with learning disabilities – and no educational improvement for anyone) – MoE still mandate all new or renovated builds in schools must be open plan MLE.
But the worst (and most long-standing one) is the MoE's attachment to 'balanced literacy' (i.e. learning to read using visual cues, rather than decoding words), even after multiple studies showing that it is not a suitable approach for teaching reading for a large group of children.
https://iowareadingresearch.org/blog/structured-and-balanced-literacy
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/472783/government-s-new-literacy-plan-met-with-some-skepticism
People are sceptical (in the above article) because they've been there before with MoE – they'll invest in developing a 'strategy' which takes 3 years – and then the government changes, or there's a new Minister – and they go back to the drawing board. I regard this as professional or bureaucratic capture, rather than a failure of vision from the Minister concerned.
There is a very strong culture of 'we know best' at the MoE – which is not justified by the educational results of kiwi kids.
Thanks Belladonna – the MoE's MLE experiment started in 2011, and the report on MLE you linked to is dated November 2016, so these ‘time points’ coincide with my three links (2012, 2014 and 2016) vis-à-vis when the rot set in at the MoE. It's important (imho) to understand why/how rot sets in, in order to learn from mistakes.
The RNZ item you linked to suggests that the MoE is considering moving away from 'balanced literacy' towards the 'structured literacy' strategy favoured by Lifting Literacy Aotearoa.
I hope that the (cautious?) moves currently afoot are in the right direction, and that your assertion the MoE are "unwilling to rock the boat in any way" is a tad hyperbolic. I agree that new initiatives are needed in NZ education, and that making education a political football has the potential to undermine positive change.
https://gazette.education.govt.nz/articles/structured-literacy-provides-solid-foundations/
https://pld.education.govt.nz/find-pld/bsla-professional-support
https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/budget-2022/education-summary-of-initiatives-2022/
"Very strong" might be a bit strong, but yes, that seems typical of all Governments, Ministries, private companies and individuals. Mind you, sometimes they probably do 'know best', "lest our readers think that all we ever do is complain about what’s wrong."
MoE has been strongly pro the 'whole language' or 'balanced literacy' (the phrasing changes over time) approach to teaching reading – since at least the 1990s
https://www.nzcpr.com/doris-ferry-and-the-phonics-debate/
We tend to forget that much content, earlier than the mid 2000s isn't readily available online, and gets missed from our searches.
There have, during that time, been multiple studies showing that a structured or phonics based approach has a better result for more children (i.e. kids who would learn using balanced literacy, also learn using structured literacy; and the kids who would fail using balanced literacy are more likely to succeed using structured literacy)
That's more than 30 years of MoE clinging to an approach which has demonstrably failed. To me, that qualifies as a "very strong 'we know best' culture".
Let’s hope that MoE public servants continue to believe that they know best, now that they are adopting strategies you support – "lest our readers think that all we ever do is complain about what’s wrong."
To my mind, the apparent shift to a ‘structured literacy’ approach is evidence that MoE public servants can ‘change their dogma’ (ha!) – maybe not rocking the boat, just swaying a little.
You're not going to get inspirational people, the 'best and brightest,' in the job and have them stay there because they're going to the treated like shit.
They can be trained and knowledgeable and become experienced but they will never be as expert as the self-centred, know-it-all, chip on their shoulder parents and the school managers who are driven buy checklists.
Of course the numbers of those with the qualities you want is dropping, and dropping rapidly.
From the era of the likes of Dr C E Beeby and Elwyn Richardson came the expression of New Zealand having a 'world class education system.' The further we moved from their philosophy the more the headlines are about failure.
The discussion started around Civics and topics readily engaging kids. Are we really interested in kids learning about civics and being really engaged? Or is the starting and ending point checklists, accountability charts and administrative paperwork?
Civics education is already part of the curriculum. I don't know what McAnulty's high school taught – but political process (including MMP) has been part of the social studies curriculum in high school for a lot longer than 20 years.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6r8/richardson-elwyn-stuart
Not everyone believes C.E. Beeby was the great educator you portrait . When he was around (mid 20th century )NZ did have a world class education but his drasticchanges to progressive education away from traditional liberal education have been the cause of our present educational woes. This was predicted by wise educators of Beeby's era .
Please note it is well recorded that Beeby , at the end of his seemingly illustrious life greatly regretted the changes he had made to NZ s excellent education .. He saw the damage they had done even in his life time .
We need to reverse our entire educational philosophy to return to traditional values which believed in universal literacy and numeracy by phonics , spelling, tables some some rote learning , correction of work , proper handwriting , comprehension exercises ,etc .
Traditional learning would never had excluded art and crafts and civics but progressive education condemned the above mentioned subjects,
Lack of civics education doesn't account for a massive decline in local government voter turnout in one year.
If MPs wanted more public engagement about what they do, they could get those feckless and otherwise utterly $170k useless list MPs to go do some actual work in the community. There's enough of them.
The cynicism about bothering to vote in local body elections is very real — almost no one at work (100+ employees) is going to bother. The few who will, are 50+, and doing so as an act of civic virtue, rather than in any belief that their vote will make a difference.
The problem is in the age of the individual, where most of us don't have regular contact with large parts of our own community, I've got nothing to base my vote on other than guessing.
this is why we have shit in our rivers.
We also have people saying stuff like this,
https://twitter.com/justadiver1999/status/1576042955164766209
234 people agree with him.
However, it's the older people who are (anecdotally, at least – I recognize this is just my own lived experience) the ones bothering to vote.
How do you motivate younger people to care? When everything around them is showing that voting doesn't change anything.
Dropping the electoral limit age below 70 is probably a good thing (we can certainly see instances of where politicians have remained beyond their use-by date – Shadbolt should have gracefully retired at the last election)
But, I don't see that electing a bunch of people in their 50s and 60s is going to be a whole lot better. And, many of the ones elected younger just become an institutional part of the system.
Given the stress and family-unfriendly hours and conditions – it's not realistic to expect many politicians in their 30s and 40s.
Perhaps a total limit on the number of years you can serve as an elected representative. 12 years (3 terms). And then a mandatory break of at least one term (3 years) before you can serve another 3 terms. After that, not eligible. Time served at both national and regional/local level to count.
I don't believe that we've been particularly well served by MP retreads at local body level.
But, none of that addresses the engagement factor.
Coming from Auckland, I'd say the biggest factor is the inertia of the local bureaucracy. Quite simply, I don't believe that any elected representatives have the ability to make change happen.
quite. I ended up in a conversation off that tweet which was saying that if we get rid of the olds, young people will vote. I think this is dangerous (messing with enfranchisement), discriminatory (ageist), and lacking in class analysis (why exclude older women, Māori, working class people and as you say end up with a bunch of late Pākehā middle agers top heavy with blokes).
It's also daft. Young people don't vote for a range of reasons including that they're busy doing other things they deem more important. I agree that people feel their vote doesn't change anything, but patently it does. So many people seem to believe that their vote is about their personal gratification, even politically aware people hold this view that. I see voting as an act of solidarity with my community and as a social good 🤷♀️
I don't feel disempowered, so I suppose that's part of why I see the power in voting.
I vote as a civic duty (if I don't vote in elections, I believe I forfeit the right to complain about the results for the next 3 years – a fate too dire to contemplate) (joke)
In the Auckland local body elections – even given the relatively significant divergence of the candidates at the mayoral level – I don't have a lot of confidence that much will change in the AC bureaucracy (and especially not with the council owned entities – like AT) – no matter who is elected.
At the local level – the Community Boards are basically powerless. They are blatantly ignored (and even lied to) by the likes of AT – and have little power to change or influence AC bureaucratic policy.
I admire the people who put their hats in the ring (without having any desire to emulate them); and I know they work hard in an often thankless job.
Truly. We have to find a way to give back more power at the local level. So that people can really see that their candidate (i.e. their vote) can make a difference in their community.
At the very least, voting is holding a line. Even if there is only one worthy candidate, it's worth voting just to support them.
Agree about community democracy.
Potholes . . .
https://twitter.com/michaelwoodnz/status/1576090159749115905?cxt=HHwWgsCtncvpst8rAAAA
TOp has just released their tax policy. Will try and link. It looks bloody fantastic. They may well get my vote
TOP will support National into government if it suits them. They've had major problems with their policies conflicting with welfare. I see they've made some changes on that, but haven't looked at the details yet.
They also wanted to asset strip elderly when they die by deferring the land tax. Don't know if that's still true.
Given they've specifically said they're a Centrist party – then that goes with the territory – supporting Labour or National depending on the policy gains they can get.
They've specifically said that the land tax can be deferred – so the 'asset stripping the elderly' would still apply (as it does to any land tax or CGT which includes land value, and has the capacity to be deferred).
Is there a difference between applying a land tax on death, as opposed to applying one yearly and deferring it until death or sale?
Mostly a matter of amount and certainty.
A one-off land tax applied at death (aka death duties) is a known cost. (you know it's x% of whatever the value is)
A deferred tax simply goes on adding up – depending on how long it takes to die or sell. So, potentially could be a lot more, when added up over 20 years or so….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130049986/the-opportunities-party-releases-65b-tax-cut-plan-to-get-back-on-political-map
TOPs tax policy. First 15,000 not taxed. Forgive the debt owed by beneficiaries. Pay for it all by a small land tax.75%. Retirees can defer payment.
Interesting ,nz needs top, if he's got a chance of a seat I might vote top again, (voted once for them , 3 elections ago if I remember rightly)
Can see them getting hammered on their property tax. When most landlords are operating on 2-3% real return, at best, (the money's in the capital gain) a 0.75% Property Tax is going to put 25 – 40% on the rent initially until property values crash.
Like CGT a good idea in a perfect world, but getting from here to there has got a few knobs on it.
I'd like to see a breakdown of parts of New Zealand where the gain from reduced income tax is equal or greater than what the homeowner will pay in Property Tax. It'll be an interesting relationship between property values and income, desirable places with poor wages will get hammered, others not so much. Can see a lot of wailing from people who have to sell their homes because they can't afford the tax payments.
I seem to remember Morgan's property tax proposal 10 years back wasn't quite so stark and was around equity so you could borrow and invest something other than property to reduce your liability.
They aren't and never have chased the wealthy house owners vote
There are some decent ideas in their tax policy. Worth considering.
Sadly, they won't get anywhere with the wider public for 2 reasons:
1) The 5% threshold is too high, and unfair. Proposals to lower it have been consistently blocked by National.
2) TOP killed their own brand when Gareth Morgan and Sean Plunkett decided to insult as many people as possible, which turned out not to be a vote-winning tactic. Who'd have guessed?
Of course TOP today is not the same as it was then. But you only get one chance to be a new, fresh party, and they blew it.
Again, they do have good ideas. Sadly, nobody is going to talk about them, outside a tiny minority of us on poli-blogs.
That Morgan meltdown of his own party was quite something to witness. New people now who seem to be doing good things. I value diversity in politics and it's been good to see them updating their policy as they get feedback on the holes in it. Still have some major issues with their positioning (they will support Nact into govt if it suits them). They've improved some of the stuff that was going to impact negatively on welfare*, but haven't looked at the details yet.
*they're also smart in some ways. Increasing disability allowance is both good for people who can't work and is non taxable and won't be affected by earnings and the WINZ rebate, but also there are a lot of people fucked off with Labour over them ignoring disabled people in benefits.
This is the first tax policy I have seen that will help the poor and pay for it by taxing landowners.
Top will also right off beneficiary debt. I am surprized more on the left aren't cheering it.
There are a lot of dissaffected Labour voters who can't bring themselves to vote National, especially having seen how disastrous the UK tax cuts have been (in all of 5 minutes). I think this policy will appeal. Many of us want some redistribution of wealth. Labour have increased inequality and made a lot of weatlhy people even wealthier.
It will tax rich and poor landowners alike. The Greens's policy targets people with a lot of wealth and directly helps all beneficiaries.
Most won't be aware of it yet. There are some good things in the policy for low income people. I'm not seeing an overall plan that's better than the GP's.
there's some good stuff in here, I'll wait for the details.
https://www.top.org.nz/the_status_quo_must_go
Suspect they may not have thought this through. Replacing the bright line test, takes us right back to the property price inflation (buy and sell for capital gain) – though, it might look more appealing in an era of falling/settling property values. Rural land exempt? Farmers will be delighted: a massive tax cut, and no compensatory tax increase.
Looks like a well-thought through strategy there. Labour has little hold on the seat, and it would depend mightily on who National chose to put up against him (will Brownlee stay or go?). He's clearly got a strong local profile in the seat – so may be able to capitalize on this – even if only as a protest vote. And, if he looks like a winner in Ilam – then waverers are more inclined to risk their vote on TOP.
Swarbrick broke the mold for Labour holding a seat. It would improve MMP if they win (although some of their policies are problematic from a lw pov).
Oh, I absolutely agree the Swarbrick showed it was possible.
And, it looks as though Manji has the right local profile to give it a good shot.
I wouldn't expect Labour to hold this seat, even if TOP didn't stand – it's one of the ones which they won in the 2020 Jacinda landslide, and couldn't realistically have believed they'd hold.
It all depends on who National puts up.
Options:
I can't see National doing a cup of tea with Manji – but they have history of working with centrist MPs and parties (Peter Dunn).
We don't have a good picture on how the resurgent ACT would play here either. Historically, this hasn't been a good seat for them – but the figures have changed a lot since 2020.
This will be a seat to watch with interest, once electoral polling gets going at the regional/seat level.
thanks Belladonna, appreciate that analysis and insight.
The Greens ran Auckland Central as if it were a by-election. They threw everything at it – they had people from as far away as Riverton working in Auckland Central. They also piled on the emotional blackmail to Labour people trying to get them to give the electorate vote to Swarbribk as some sort of insurance policy "how would you feel if Labour was not in government because they did not have the Green Party to support them"?
that's not emotional blackmail, that's reminding people how MMP works 😉
Do you think Swarbrick will hold Auckland Central?
I wouldn't bet against her. National profile, and she's visible and articulate at a local level as well.
I'd be surprised if Helen White (in parliament on a list seat) takes it from her. White hasn't shone in Parliament (I know, difficult when you're a new back bencher), and doesn't seem to be getting cut-through locally, either.
Don't know who National will stand. A Nikki Kaye clone would have the possibility of coming through the middle, with the left vote split between Swarbrick and White. But it's a big ask for a newcomer. Emma Mellow (previous Nat candidate) has gone to Australia (I think) – so will almost certainly be a new face.
My gut says that Swarbrick will hold the electorate.
Public Opinion News. Net approval ratings for Prime Ministers (positive, minus negative) …
1) Wicked Dictator Cindy: + 15. Worst Government Ever, End Of, Fact!!111!!
2) Bright New Tax-Cutting Tory: – 37.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/01/liz-truss-poll-ratings-plummet-lower-than-boris-johnsons-before-he-was-forced-out
"The Conservative Party and the National Party enjoy many shared values and I hope both parties will continue to build on that." (Christopher Luxon)
And this amazing remarkable stat on Sir Keith considering an alleged 33 point poll lead.
‘His net score is now +9, up from -4 last week. ’
I usually ignore Avaaz campaigns. This time I'm going to ignore the WC and sign the campaign petition.
In just two months, more than a million fans will watch the World Cup from seats built with the blood of Qatar’s migrant workforce. These seven gleaming stadiums, dozens of new hotels, and other construction cost the lives of 6,500 modern day slaves.
That’s 39 lives for every goal expected at the World Cup.
Qatar is expected to rake in $17 billion in profit from hosting the games. FIFA will grab $6 billion. The winning teams will take home $440 million. Migrant workers make as little as $1 per hour.
It is clear Qatar did not value the lives lost preparing for the World Cup. But we can make sure that the hundreds of thousands of workers and their families are compensated for the serious abuses they faced and continue to face.
Human rights organizations around the world are calling on FIFA and everyone else profiting from the World Cup to set aside $440 million in compensation funds for the migrant workers exploited in preparing for the World Cup – the same amount that will be awarded to the winning teams.
FIFA is ignoring the call to action – but pressure is mounting. Just this week England’s top football organization publicly backed the campaign. And if FIFA hears a massive outcry from people all around the world – they may be forced to act! So add your voice today and we’ll deliver our petition straight to FIFA.
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/make_fifa_pay_21/
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/what-is-the-human-cost-of-the-world-cup-in-qatar/m3zrnp26l
They'll investigate until they wear the skin off.
https://twitter.com/AymanMSNBC/status/1575553496539078656