Here’s me adopted triplet grandpooklets at 9 am one sunny morning, 8 January 2019.
Little River is up on the blocks. Big Bruv Shadow (born a week before the other two) is doing fine; bold as brass (I reckoned he’s a boy).
But River’s “twin” Summer is already growing bigger & despite my entreaties to the adults to “Feed River, feed River” the little one seems to get ignored at times.
I worried just a tad about the runty one, as ya do, when ya a grandparent. But she did ok in the end. All made it to young adult pukeko.
Your little family of pukeko and the rest have seen you through the lockdowns and given real pleasure, and filming their progress joy.
Opposite us we have a natural park with trees and a stream on its boundary and a wet area which has been protected. It is a designated dog walking park, and we would watch the various breeds joy in running free on the grassy area. The birds would take to the trees and when the visitors were gone, they would all appear again. There is always something happening.
The most rewarding part of it has been gaining the trust of the Whanau Pook pukekos, Patricia. That's been videoed with a 2 megapixel vidcam in an old Sony Ericsson 3G mobile.
I'm right above them, looking down on them leaning the vidcam over the fence.
But with each new "batch" of pooklets, Bluey gets his trustmeter set to zero by Nature. Doesn't matter how long he's known & trusted me, 3 years by then, if I went thru the gate & approached these pooklets, this young he'd attack me.
David Slack from More Than A Feilding <subslack@substack.com>
“It really was quite a dazzling kind of inverted political wizardry to get bike riding cast as an act of smug entitled indulgence, and a driver’s love for their double cab ute as tortured victimhood.”
<<<<From the moment they unveiled the drawing it felt like a Diva’s sweep of the arm: OK you mewling grizzling cyclists, you want a bridge?? Here's a bridge!! Here's the most bridge a bike bridge ever had. How lavish do you eternally moaning guts-achers want it? How about this lavish? Hey, no, don't get up we've got some more lavish to trowel all over youse.
LOL! Now let's see what hard working New Zealanders think of your dopey Greta delusions. Sure would be a shame if this over-the-top bullshit got your dopey climate crisis ideas tanked.>>>>
Once again, even suggesting this bridge was a priority in regards to climate change for Auckland when there are large swathes of non-inner city Aucklanders with abysmal, unaffordable or non-existent transport alternatives after decades of bad town and transport planning is a stretch.
Addressing that transport inequality should be the priority in terms of climate change mitigation. That's a complex issue that's not going to get simpler by being ignored.
Beyond the completion of CRL that is increasingly the case.
No one has ignored climate change as an issue for transport in Auckland and it's just stupid to say that it has been.
The Waitemata Bridge was not on the horizon of projects that people opposed in the actual budget consultation. The big ones that tends of thousands of people opposed in the actual consultation that the Minister was supposed to rely on for his prioritisation were Mill Road and Penlink. Penlink survived and Mill Road didn't.
That the Minister is still stuffing around with the NLTP rather than actually following what was consulted on shows that he just doesn't support cycling. The cycling projects that will be completed in Auckland in the next decade are largely well underway already – and they are in the south of CBD except for New Lynn to Avondale.
Just a cursory look through the RLTP will show you all of this in the detail you so clearly need.
I am on the AT list for consultation and keep track of local projects out south.
The AT consultation process that informs them of support and aids in prioritisation is flawed. The demographics of those responding is unlikely to reflect the access and affordability issues of badly served and lower income households. Non participation is not a fault of AT, but their failure to recognise it and mitigate that bias is.
"More than a third of Aucklanders live within 500 metres of a frequent public transport service, yet the majority of us still choose to use our private motor vehicle for most of our trips" – that's a pitiful amount to justify the following :
"Road pricing (or congestion pricing) is another important area of regulatory change. The current way Aucklanders pay for using their roads does not incentivise them to be used in the most productive way, or support climate change outcomes."
Guess which households will be hit by those congestion or road pricing charges? The ones who have to live in areas poorly served by public transport services because of housing unaffordability, and who have no other option but to use the car for commuting, often over long distances. They are already the ones hit hardest by the Auckland fuel tax, and also those unlikely to have transport costs to work paid for by their employer. The continual financial hits on the lowest income households by the failure to address these connecting policies and effects will continue unless AT recognises them.
I strongly support their walkable neighbourhoods and cycleways initiatives, but consider there should be a recognised difference between recreational community facilities, and those that actually are commuter alternative transport options, that do enable people to get out of cars for essential trips.
In terms of climate change mitigation, AT needs to look at poorly served communities and do their own research, to figure out how to serve them and not rely on consultation to identify those possible projects. Climate action must include climate justice or climate equity.
If AT was serious about climate change then only those commuter centred projects for badly served 2/3 of the Auckland population would be undertaken until equality of access was markedly improved.
That doesn't mean that "recreational" projects are stopped or postponed, just that funding needs to come from existing alternative methods, such as developers or local ratepayer targeted rates. If 75% of local ratepayers support the project, which is likely because it will not only enhance their community, but most likely improve their capital values, then the project can be funded and go ahead.
AT consultation is of course a legal requirement under NLTP. They demonstrate at the front who engaged and why. Disability groups and disadvantaged groups all get a focus and they are assisted in this by the Council.
AT, Council, and Kainga Ora put in extensive engagement into disadvantaged areas outside of that.
AT already did a major access improvement for PT with their implementation of high frequency buses on key routes. They can't have zero fares unless the government funds them to do so, due to the PTOM model which government has chosen not to change.
Gen Zero, Greater Auckland and others with a climate focus all put in detailed submissions, and they usually get a significant chunk of hearing time.
AT already do climate change mitigation projects. Their most recent was jacking up Tamaki Drive by a metre since it's been regularly flooded and cut off. Complementing that of course was the cycling routes under construction all the way from Glen Innes through to the CBD.
Been there, participated in consultation. Friends that I met are still involved, and working on projects.
I see the demographics at the workshops and presentations, and I also know the technique of going to the same identied representatives to gather the views of tangata whenua.
One of my close friends, a vocal and enthusiastic participant in the 'protest' ride over the bridge, also used climate change as a reason for the project. Despite the fact that his use of the bridge – which he would undertake because of the pure enjoyment of the experience – would require a car-ride of 40km each way to get there. He meant for other people of course, including the North Shore woman who stood up in the meeting and said she wanted the bridge crossing because she didn't want to use the ferry to transport her $11,000 e-bike because it might get damaged and she also had no guarantee that a ferry would be available when she got to the wharf so she might have to wait. (Apparently, timetables are not a thing on the Shore).
I also understand that processes may be more efficient in the central city in regards to community consultation and implementation. I live in Franklin, where after a typical AT consultation (where I was able to solicit and provide a large number of household responses) we were successful to be allocated a public transport service in a small community of rapid residential growth. Our local board representative, who represents us, but lives in another community that was unsuccessful due to the low response (and at that time, low growth pattern) publicly said how annoyed he was that our community got transport and his didn't. The consequent service offered – connecting up to the train station in town – started at 10.45am daily and ended at 4.45pm. Not suitable for daily commutes of workers or schoolchildren. What I consider a set up to fail scheme. Unfortunately, the residents of the community utilised it regardless, and I am happy to say it remains.
Those who know how the system works, make it work for them. Fair enough. They then assume that if anyone, anywhere else wants something, all they have to do is the same. But for those underrepresented, it is not knowledge or understanding or lack of wanting improvements, it is often lack of time, resources, experiences of not being heard in other forums.
I also think the focus of many local boards in areas of lower-income households have additional priorities that take precedence: access to healthcare, safety, crime etc. So, even the local board members elected in on three year terms, don't have the time to learn and advocate in transport and planning in the same way as others without those concerns.
But I have never spoken to anyone else who – quite rightly – looks to make improvements in their own neighbourhood and undertakes to consult and eventually present on a project – who takes the time to look around and say, "You know what? There are neighbourhoods that have a greater need for this money. Are we able to get this funding by using targeted rates and/or some other method?".
The system is not set up to address the inequality that already exists.
It functions effectively yes, but my perception is that it continues to contribute to the divided nature of Auckland communities, and the laughable concept of "liveable city" where there are so many deprived neighbourhoods.
(Sorry, moderators, just noticed the error in username – should be Molly)
I saw this in the ODT yesterday, which sparked some thoughts but I was a bit tired from my second jab to string them together. Seeing it this morning; republished on the RNZ website for a wider audience, I feel that I should try express my own counterview:
Ellison said a more commonly used title in the south was Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu, which encompassed both major land masses…
On the wider subject of changing the names of settlements and natural features, he said Ngāi Tahu had their own process to do similar work in the south, which was more gradual than what the Māori Party suggested.
Firstly, a huge caveat that as Ngāpuhi/ Ngāpākehā, my own hapū are outsiders to Te Waipounamu iwi politics ourselves, though there are some commonalities. And if you keep your eyes and ears open, you pick things up.
My initial reaction was mild amusement at the author of the piece using; Ngāi Tahu to describe Ōtākou marae kaumatua Edward Ellison, in an article arguing for listening to Te Waipounamu kōrero. There's a bit of a north/ south gradient on this; where the Ng is replaced by a K (eg Rūnanga becoming Rūnaka). Historical reasons trace back to the invasion of Kāti Māmoe lands by the northern Ngāi Tahu who, over decades of conquest and assimilation largely supplanted the existing political structure, but not exterminating the common people, thus eventually becoming the present day Kāi Tahu. Though I have even heard Kāti Tahu, way up in the southwest of Murihiku, so perhaps Ka'i Tahu would be a better spelling there (though that looks more Samoan than Māori!).
It is far more common to hear; Te ika a Māui, for the northeastern island of the Aotearoan archipelago, than Aotearoa. Sometimes you hear; Te waka a Māui & Te puka a Māui too, for; Te Waipounamu & Rakiura respectively, though it's not very common, especially for everyday usage where you want to be clearly understood. But I am rarely out at Ōtākou marae (last time would have been Puaka/Matariki a couple of years back), so I can not say for sure what the most prevalent terms are there.
But speaking of gradual process for name changing, a lot of takata Kāi Tahu, would argue that the process has been too slow. This was a mere 5 years ago:
Nigger Stream, near Arthur’s Pass, will now officially be named Pūkio Stream after a native grass (Carex Secta) found in the area.
Niggerhead, which is above Lake Sumner, will be called Tawhai Hill after a species of native Beech Tree found in the South Island.
Nigger Hill, to the east of Arthur’s Pass, will be renamed Kānuka Hills after a species of native tea tree that grows in the area.
Anyway, I am getting fairly long here, so I will just link to this Godferey piece from a month back, which covers much of what I would additionally say:
The early European explorers understood the power of naming, hence their international effort to remake the world in the English language.
Māori understand the same imperative, and enough Māori accept Aotearoa as the name for New Zealand that its historic fidelity no longer matters.
Been wondering when Te Waipounamu would come up. How many people in the North Island know what it means?
I liked Ellison’s style. Due given to TPM, pointing gently to the problems, standing in his own people’s power and their process without making a fuss about it.
Kai Tahu I know whakapapa to not only Kai Tahu but variously to iwi and hapu that predate Kai Tahu, the longer history of Te Waipounamu. I will be interested to hear what they have to say.
That the South Island is known by southern Māori as Te Waipounamu, & the North Island as Te Ika-a-Maui (with both having various other Māori names too) has always made me a bit leery about calling the whole country Aotearoa – The Land of The Long White Cloud I always understood was a reference to the North Island only.
When this topic would surface on another blog, I used to say, only half-jokingly, a better option might be to come with a hybrid
Māori+English word for our country.
My preference was for Kiwiland. The main reasons being that’s a combo word of both languages, & New Zealanders overseas, Māori & Pākehā have been collectively called Kiwis for what must be at least a century now.
However, Aotearoa seems to have now been accepted by various governments & by government departments like Internal Affairs, who’ve had this Māori name apearing on our passports for many years now.
Dunno what’s wrong with my broadband connection (to this site & others) this morning. Sites are agonisingly slow to connect & open, & even trying to type in the address & comments field here take an interminable anount of time.
I like Aozearoa as a hybrid word myself; Gezza, though it hasn't caught on at all. You should read Godferey's Guardian piece, he goes into some detail about the history of the use of Aotearoa (you could even argue that is just Northland as Kupe is reputed to have landed there; though accounts, as always, differ between iwi).
The hyphens make Te Ika-a-Māui, fairly cumbersome to write, but Te IkaaMāui just looks wrong. I have recently (in the past few years) heard it being referred to as Te Ikanui, though sometimes that seems to be just Auckland (the Big Fish, as pacific equivalent of the Big Apple?), and others the whole northeastern island. I guess that hybrid word is still evolving. I have also seen variations on simply translating New Zealand into Te Reo as something like; Whenua Hou-moana, which may or may not go anywhere. It is very difficult to predict future language usage.
I will read that Guardian piece now, Forget now. The bb connection was so slow most of this morning I’d given up on the internet.
Seems to be working fine again now.
Funny you should mention the too-long NI name. I feel the same way. I’d have liked them just to be called, colloquially, Te Ika (or Teika) , & Pounamu.
Rakiura is already just Rakiura to me, altho if someone asks “Where?”, I’ll reply “Stewart Island”.
Yes that Guardian article is eminently readable. The writer has a nice, easy & engaging writing style. I did find it interesting & I have come to the same conclusion about Aotearoa being now the most commonly accepted Māori country-name word for the whole of New Zealand.
One of my former hesitations about it was the likliehood that many English-speaking visitors might mispronounce it as Ayo tee ah rower, instead of Ow tear roar.
I was going on long enough already, so I did gloss over the whole Waitaha issue; Weka. Essentially, Kāti Māmoe did the same thing as Ngāi Tahu later did; of settling Te Waipounamu from the north by war and marriage, Before then, there were many iwi, of which Waitaha is the best known with oral histories (fragmented and partially lost now) going back to around 1000 BCE in which they claimed to have discovered the southern islands including; Te Waipounamu, Rakiura, and ngā Moutere Tītī. Though the earliest tales are more legendary than history.
The specific Waitaha iwi (as opposed to Waitaha as a generic term for all pre-Māmoe Te Waipounamu inhabitants) was located primarily around the Waitaki river. To this day, some there will call themselves Kaitaha rather than Kāi Tahu, though not so much around outsiders, especially the Ngāi Tahu descended rangatira. Canterbury Kāi Tahu have also somewhat appropriated the name to refer to their own province (and thus bolster their mana within the iwi) for example; Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha (Canterbury University), is in Ōtautahi, not Oamaru.
It's not easy to compress a thousand years of still debated and controversial poorly documented history/ archeology into a couple of paragraphs, and wasn't entirely on topic – so I left it out. It is interesting though.
But more important is the present politics in Te Tai Tonga electorate, which you best believe that any kaumatua worth the title will be hip deep in. The present TTTonga MP is Labour's Rino Tirakatene following the 1996 campaign-trail death of his father (RT senior) and heir apparent to the Tirakatene political dynasty. RT beat Katene o Te Pāti Māoriin 2011 and has held the TTTonga seat ever since (though not as long as his Grandfather or Aunt yet).
However, in 2020 RT's (still large majority) win in TTTonga found TPR's Tākuta Ferris in second place (Green Party's ex-coleader Turei being 2nd in 2017). With the gap between Tirakatene-Sullivan and RT being over a decade long, the name Tirakatene is no longer quite as synonymous with Southern Māori MP as it used to be. Especially if TTTonga urban Māori voters start seeing a resurgent TPM as being more representative of their needs than the Labour party.
So a bit of quiet knobbling of a campaign generating favourable publicity for TRP by Te Waipounamu marae leaders is not to be taken without a grain of salt.
Something that's perhaps apt to get lost in any likely hullaballoo over the suggestion to rename English cities, towns & place names is that not all those places necessarily had he ingoa Māori (a Māori name)nin the first place.
Just as Māori often named places & prominent landmarks after their ancestors, or a significant characteristic of the area (eg Kaikōura), the English, Irish, Scots & other later settlers did so too.
There were several small Māori settlements & villages in & around what is now Wellington City & its coastal environs when the Pākehā settlers first began arriving.
The main Pākehā settlement was originally called Port Nicholson, from where the area now known as Pōneke has most likely derived as a loan word. None of those original Māori settlements amounted to the sizeable city of Wellington which built and named subsequently.
I would therefore argue that Wellington should remain the name of our capital city. However, I have no problem with accepting the name Te Whanganui-a-Tara (the Great Harbour of Tara) because Tara, a Northern tribes great sailor, explorer & rangatira found it spent some time there.
Repeat of my comment on one of yesterday's threads:
Narcissists never reflect on what they say or write. They have the ability to block off all memory of their failures and misdiagnosis. It enables them to continue to misguide people with their false reckons…
Anyone who has been on the receiving end of a full blown narcissist will know how destructive they are. The police have an obligation to isolate Tamaki before he further undermines the vaccination programme.
Leo Molloy and Brian Tamaki belong to the same bike club? They both organised this and should be called out for not upholding an over riding health order.
The Police have at times not helped the Government by standing back too much. Both men and their committee should have been told 'Do this and you will be fined as you are defying the Director of Health." Now they should be served.
There is a growing meme that we are being locked down to give the Government huge powers. When the Police do not enforce health orders, what hope is there for compliance from those in society who think their freedoms overide all else?
Or folk who believe their version of religion is the one, and the Old Testament verses direct their behaviour through a self appointed Apostle.
Leo Molloy ended up in court previously for ignoring lock down rules, so this was a huge "so there" from him imo.
N.B. Both these men should pay back any Government assistance they have claimed!
We either have health orders or we don't in a pandemic. The police should enforce the rules where it is patently obvious people intend to break them. Those involved in organising this should face fines at the very least, to help pay for any resulting testing and tracing.
Or at least they should be given a serve by all of us doing as I am.. calling them out as selfish ignorant egomaniacs who could not wait one more week.
The Police are trying to keep people reasonable in their behaviours, but that is bound to fail with unreasonable people, and increases the liklihood of further protests.
This has been a big Police failure in my opinion. It has made a mockery of the rules right when we are likely to beat this again. That would not suit some agendas though would it? Poto Williams was also missing in action here.
Brian and Leo.. Pay back any Covid assistance!!!!!
Leo Molloy is a former arsehole racehorse jockey turned former arsehole veterinarian turned arsehole publican and arsehole restaurateur. In other words, the perfect host for the clientele he attracts to his establishment at the Viaduct Basin. I had the misfortune of encountering him a couple of times in his veterinary student days.
If you really want to know more, here's a profile. But trust me, that knowledge won't enrich your life in any way. Possibly the telling of it might, tho.
As I recall, Ardern also said the Raglan case was unvaccinated and that three household contacts who were vaccinated have not yet developed symptoms. Test results not mentioned, probably not back yet. Comforting to hear that vaccination appears to protect close contacts from the delta strain.
I'm impatient for a booster shot and hoping Brian and Leo will have a road to Damascus moment.
Thank you Patricia (4.4). Agree wholeheartedly with your comments.
As far as I'm concerned, the police failed the people of Auckland yesterday, not only once, but twice. Apart from being seen to do nothing at the Tamaki protests, they were absent (apart from two police cars), during a wild motorcycle ride through the main streets of Auckland's CBD yesterday afternoon, with motorbikes not only taking over the main road, going through red traffic lights, but also riding on footpaths, while adults and children waited to cross the road. Some riders were not wearing protective headgear, while others rode on two wheels!
Why isn't the NZ police force protecting this country's citizens? Massive failures on their part in two very public incidences, both in Auckland.
You must understand that the sum total of all the gangs in NZ are probably better armed and organised than police and army combined. For as long as they remain divided you're probably safe.
Perhaps the powers that be are ignoring him. Don't know how useful that will be.
It is interesting that the newly infected in hospital appear to be the unvaccinated, and perhaps they did not want to over shadow that by drawing attention to him, as events have overtaken things with the Raglan and Hamilton East being involved with new cases.
I still feel Robertson would be within his rights to ask for a refund to cover the Policing and any fallout.
Weekly testing is required. Enforcing when unvaccinated no travel out of a level 3 zone would minimise the spread. The reality is that some people will not get vaccinated at all.
Raglan; I think surfing, Huntly; I think coal fired electricity. Do you have any basis for your assumption gangs were involved; Pataua4life? The list of locations of interest outside Auckland just looks like the truckers route to and from Palmerston North. Also:
One case is in Raglan and the other is in Hamilton East…
The Ministry said the Raglan case is currently self-isolating and will be moved to a quarantine facility. They were tested on 1 October after feeling unwell and their infectious period is determined to be from 27 September.
This person has three household contacts who are also isolating.
The second case is a known contact of the Raglan case and was also tested after becoming unwell.
The only times I've been to Hamilton East, I was visiting whanau at the university. It didn't strike me as having a large gang presence. Though that was a while ago now.
You can almost be "100% sure this spread is gang related?"
I can be almost 100% sure that you are taking a wild guess and actually have nothing to go on for the assumption.
I am 100% sure you are simply using the opportunity of covid reaching Hamilton East and Raglan to try to make some pathetic point about the government. Using Mike Hosking's signature ending gives the comment the stamp it deserves.
Bullshit. Raglan's gang population is all Mongrel Mob and they don't tend to get on very well with the dominant gangs in Huntly. I can be 100% sure that Pataua4life is full of shit.
That's one PoV, and it's your right (and privilege) to alter comments and/or moderate accordingly.
I hold a different PoV, and can only speculate as to why our views differ. Regardless of one's PoV, being truly blind to skin colour remains an uncommon form of colour blindness to this day, imho.
Rereading: Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin One day in 1964 John Howard Griffin, a 44-year-old Texan journalist and novelist, was standing by the side of the road in Mississippi with a flat tyre. He saw a group of men approaching him. Griffin assumed the men were heading over to assist him but instead they dragged him away from his car and proceeded to beat him violently with chains before leaving him for dead. It took Griffin five months to recover from the assault.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I moved your comment to OM because it’s off topic, and there’s enough going on that fast thread already. The whiteness thing is a conversation for another place, and perhaps another day, but feel free to continue to explire it in OM.
Thanks weka, all good – imho 'skin colour privilege' is a matter of fact, and it amazes and confuses me that (some) intelligent people feel the need to deny this.
Is 'white privilege' really a divisive term? [28 June 2021] This shows a failure in the proper communication of the meaning of the term “white privilege”. As many have pointed out, it does not mean white people are not disadvantaged, their lives are not hard, or they have not suffered, it just means their skin colour is not an impediment in their lives.
The relevance of ‘white privilege‘ to the “Who are these angry Aucklanders?” post may elude some, but there have been several examples of ‘COVID anger’ directed at Auckland minorities. Admittedly focused more on cultural practices/habits than skin colour, but they can be so devilishly difficult to disentangle.
A look at the issue of natural (by infection) immunity and vaccination immunity.
Some nations with 80% vaccination have effective 90% immunity because of infection (whether past infection or that currently going through their schools).
With lock down going on, it's time to look at support for small business on rent costs.
Last year arbitration was all Winston Peters would agree to, but it's the large businesses that can afford the legal costs.
What about
Level 4 – the tenant pays 25%, the landlord receives 33% – the government provides 8% (4% gratis and 4% as an interest free loan the business pays back).
Level 3 – the tenant pays 33%, the landlord receives 50% – the government provides (8% gratis and 8% as an interest free loan)
Level 2 – the tenant pays 50%, the landlord receives 66% – the government provides 8% gratis and 8% as an interest free loan)
Of course essential businesses that operate at Level 4 not included, nor those "office" staff firms that still earn income by having people work at home.
Apart from limiting government assistance to small businesses only, another way to limit cost on government is to have the total rent paid be 25%, 33% or 50% in the cases of larger commerical landlord firms.
Many owners of commercial properties are stuck in loans. So essentially the government must / should provide legal framework that would allow a landlord to be able to wipe some of the rent without risking his own repayments to the bank.
Another legal framework that will be needed is one that allows people to get out of leases that are kaputt forever. It can't be considered good practice that these people sell their homes to pay a lease for a business that due to no fault of their own can't be run anymore. If they can get out of these leases, they then have a chance to move on and do / start something else more suited to these interesting times we are living in.
Bankruptcy brings a lot of other things with it, so personally would not ever go for it.
The point is that these people who got stuck – say travel agencies – have long leases left. If you lease a business in a busy fringe you don't do that for a year or two, some leases are very long. Also, there is the re-lease, how long will it take for a property to find new takers? So essentially everyone who must drop out will try to buy themselves out of the lease. I.e. offer a certain amount a year or two of full lease and hope it is enough and will be accepted.
Now they did not do anything to deserve to lose their business, a pandemic is a pandemic, what can you do. But they should also not left in limbo, trying to deal with it on their own and without much success.
We must get used to 'for lease' signs when we venture out in the future.
Most smaller leases will have personal guarantees which make company structures or bankruptcy to avoid lease liabilities tricky. Pretty much pay up and the landlord wins.
….allow a landlord to be able to wipe some of the rent without risking his own repayments to the bank.
….the government must / should provide legal framework that would allow a landlord to be able to wipe ALL of the rent without risking his own repayments to the bank.
In 1914 and again in 1931 the government did exactly that.
…..by 1931, it was clear that further intervention was necessary to prevent widespread foreclosures and mortgagee sales…..
….Although mortgage relief was frequently discussed at some length by contemporary commentators, and by some historians in the 1950s and 1960s, it has been relegated to a few lines at most in more recent works.’
…..This Act also extended to lessees [renters] the same protection
that had been granted to mortgagors,
The modification of mortgage conditions was not new in New Zealand. A ‘mortgage moratorium’ had been imposed as a war measure in 1914,
Brian Tamaki has led a protest demanding no more lockdowns. Tamaki is tapping into the hardhship that lockdowns cause.
Only a full mortgage and rent moratorium can ease the hardship that lockdowns cause SMEs and family households.
If past government could do it once, (and in fact did it twice). Why can't the current government?
It is not like the big mostly Australian owned banks who take $3.5 billion out of our economy every year can't afford it.
Why is everyone else's income effectively slashed in lockdown but their's is not?
Under level the 4 lockdown in Auckland, elimination was close to being achieved before it was lifted early before it had finished its job. The lockdown was lifted early before it had done its job, because of the political pressures and the hardships caused at the flax roots of society.
Caving in to the Brian Tamakis of this world and to the National Party and various other right wing lobbies, The Prime Minister has said there will be no return to level 4 lockdown. Right Wing commentators and pundits have celebrated this announcement, as the end of the government's 'elimination strategy'.
The government in reply have denied this. The reality is, until we reach at least 90% vaccination coverage, to save lives and protect our health system from being overwhelmed, Full Level 4 Lockdown which has been our most effective measure to date, must remain part of the tool kit.
If hospitalisations and deaths start to rise, and a return to level 4 becomes necessary. A full mortgage and rental moratorium for the period of the lockdown, is in my opinion, the only way to make another major lockdown stick.
We need to share the pain with those who can most afford it.
I think there are a lot of lessons we can learn from Portugal
With 85% of the population vaccinated, Portugal is running out of people to jab.
And rather than go for booster shots, the surprisingly humane submarine captain, placed in charge of the vaccine roll-out who appears on TV in his military fatigues, is more concerned with getting the vaccine to unvaccinated former Portuguese colonies.
What a Guy.
We need someone like that here. Someone who can see the bigger picture. That it is not just about us, but it is also about that part of the world that we owe a duty of care to. In our case the smaller Pacific nations in our region.
Now that employers have got their demand to lift restrictons on bringing in temporary migrant workers from the Pacific Islands. An outbreak here could be spread back home with devastating results. Especially in countries that don’t have the same level of health infrastructure we have here.
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – 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 ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
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 ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
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 arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
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 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 ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
The NZQA proposal released to staff today would involve a net loss of 35 roles. There are 66 roles being disestablished with 13 of those currently vacant, and 31 new roles proposed, said Fleur Fitzsimons Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga ...
Alex Casey talks to Loren Taylor, the writer, director and star of new film The Moon is Upside Down, about assembling her dream ensemble cast, toilet paper pads and turning literal dreams into reality. There’s a moment in The Moon is Upside Down where frazzled anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) gets ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassy Dittman, Senior Lecturer/Head of Course (Undergraduate Psychology), Research Fellow, Manna Institute, CQUniversity Australia With winter sports swinging into action, adults around the country have volunteered or been volunteered by others (humorously known as being “volun-told”) to coach junior sports teams. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University richardernestyap/Shutterstock Parents are often advised to burp their babies after feeding them. Some people think burping after feeding is important to reduce or prevent discomfort crying, or to ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
As the government tries to get the country back on track with a school phone ban, Tara Ward has an idea for where they should turn their attention to next.New Zealand students returned to school on Monday morning, but their cellphones did not. The government’s new phone ban began ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 2 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
For their small fan club.
Here’s me adopted triplet grandpooklets at 9 am one sunny morning, 8 January 2019.
Little River is up on the blocks. Big Bruv Shadow (born a week before the other two) is doing fine; bold as brass (I reckoned he’s a boy).
But River’s “twin” Summer is already growing bigger & despite my entreaties to the adults to “Feed River, feed River” the little one seems to get ignored at times.
I worried just a tad about the runty one, as ya do, when ya a grandparent. But she did ok in the end. All made it to young adult pukeko.
https://i.imgur.com/GMiRUC6.gif
Your little family of pukeko and the rest have seen you through the lockdowns and given real pleasure, and filming their progress joy.
Opposite us we have a natural park with trees and a stream on its boundary and a wet area which has been protected. It is a designated dog walking park, and we would watch the various breeds joy in running free on the grassy area. The birds would take to the trees and when the visitors were gone, they would all appear again. There is always something happening.
The most rewarding part of it has been gaining the trust of the Whanau Pook pukekos, Patricia. That's been videoed with a 2 megapixel vidcam in an old Sony Ericsson 3G mobile.
I'm right above them, looking down on them leaning the vidcam over the fence.
But with each new "batch" of pooklets, Bluey gets his trustmeter set to zero by Nature. Doesn't matter how long he's known & trusted me, 3 years by then, if I went thru the gate & approached these pooklets, this young he'd attack me.
Kia ora Gezza. I'm still a fan of your wildlife videos and I'm glad you've found a new home for them.
😀 Hey, Snowy 👋🏼
Really good to see you. ❤️ ☘ 🐧
David Slack from More Than A Feilding <subslack@substack.com>
“It really was quite a dazzling kind of inverted political wizardry to get bike riding cast as an act of smug entitled indulgence, and a driver’s love for their double cab ute as tortured victimhood.”
<<<<From the moment they unveiled the drawing it felt like a Diva’s sweep of the arm: OK you mewling grizzling cyclists, you want a bridge?? Here's a bridge!! Here's the most bridge a bike bridge ever had. How lavish do you eternally moaning guts-achers want it? How about this lavish? Hey, no, don't get up we've got some more lavish to trowel all over youse.
LOL! Now let's see what hard working New Zealanders think of your dopey Greta delusions. Sure would be a shame if this over-the-top bullshit got your dopey climate crisis ideas tanked.>>>>
Once again, even suggesting this bridge was a priority in regards to climate change for Auckland when there are large swathes of non-inner city Aucklanders with abysmal, unaffordable or non-existent transport alternatives after decades of bad town and transport planning is a stretch.
Addressing that transport inequality should be the priority in terms of climate change mitigation. That's a complex issue that's not going to get simpler by being ignored.
In the RLTP 2021-20131, most the public transport improvements occur in the south.
https://at.govt.nz/media/1986141/final-regional-land-transport-plan-2021-2031-web-version.pdf
Beyond the completion of CRL that is increasingly the case.
No one has ignored climate change as an issue for transport in Auckland and it's just stupid to say that it has been.
The Waitemata Bridge was not on the horizon of projects that people opposed in the actual budget consultation. The big ones that tends of thousands of people opposed in the actual consultation that the Minister was supposed to rely on for his prioritisation were Mill Road and Penlink. Penlink survived and Mill Road didn't.
That the Minister is still stuffing around with the NLTP rather than actually following what was consulted on shows that he just doesn't support cycling. The cycling projects that will be completed in Auckland in the next decade are largely well underway already – and they are in the south of CBD except for New Lynn to Avondale.
Just a cursory look through the RLTP will show you all of this in the detail you so clearly need.
I am on the AT list for consultation and keep track of local projects out south.
The AT consultation process that informs them of support and aids in prioritisation is flawed. The demographics of those responding is unlikely to reflect the access and affordability issues of badly served and lower income households. Non participation is not a fault of AT, but their failure to recognise it and mitigate that bias is.
"More than a third of Aucklanders live within 500 metres of a frequent public transport service, yet the majority of us still choose to use our private motor vehicle for most of our trips" – that's a pitiful amount to justify the following :
Guess which households will be hit by those congestion or road pricing charges? The ones who have to live in areas poorly served by public transport services because of housing unaffordability, and who have no other option but to use the car for commuting, often over long distances. They are already the ones hit hardest by the Auckland fuel tax, and also those unlikely to have transport costs to work paid for by their employer. The continual financial hits on the lowest income households by the failure to address these connecting policies and effects will continue unless AT recognises them.
I strongly support their walkable neighbourhoods and cycleways initiatives, but consider there should be a recognised difference between recreational community facilities, and those that actually are commuter alternative transport options, that do enable people to get out of cars for essential trips.
In terms of climate change mitigation, AT needs to look at poorly served communities and do their own research, to figure out how to serve them and not rely on consultation to identify those possible projects. Climate action must include climate justice or climate equity.
If AT was serious about climate change then only those commuter centred projects for badly served 2/3 of the Auckland population would be undertaken until equality of access was markedly improved.
That doesn't mean that "recreational" projects are stopped or postponed, just that funding needs to come from existing alternative methods, such as developers or local ratepayer targeted rates. If 75% of local ratepayers support the project, which is likely because it will not only enhance their community, but most likely improve their capital values, then the project can be funded and go ahead.
AT consultation is of course a legal requirement under NLTP. They demonstrate at the front who engaged and why. Disability groups and disadvantaged groups all get a focus and they are assisted in this by the Council.
AT, Council, and Kainga Ora put in extensive engagement into disadvantaged areas outside of that.
AT already did a major access improvement for PT with their implementation of high frequency buses on key routes. They can't have zero fares unless the government funds them to do so, due to the PTOM model which government has chosen not to change.
Gen Zero, Greater Auckland and others with a climate focus all put in detailed submissions, and they usually get a significant chunk of hearing time.
AT already do climate change mitigation projects. Their most recent was jacking up Tamaki Drive by a metre since it's been regularly flooded and cut off. Complementing that of course was the cycling routes under construction all the way from Glen Innes through to the CBD.
I know this, Ad.
Been there, participated in consultation. Friends that I met are still involved, and working on projects.
I see the demographics at the workshops and presentations, and I also know the technique of going to the same identied representatives to gather the views of tangata whenua.
One of my close friends, a vocal and enthusiastic participant in the 'protest' ride over the bridge, also used climate change as a reason for the project. Despite the fact that his use of the bridge – which he would undertake because of the pure enjoyment of the experience – would require a car-ride of 40km each way to get there. He meant for other people of course, including the North Shore woman who stood up in the meeting and said she wanted the bridge crossing because she didn't want to use the ferry to transport her $11,000 e-bike because it might get damaged and she also had no guarantee that a ferry would be available when she got to the wharf so she might have to wait. (Apparently, timetables are not a thing on the Shore).
I also understand that processes may be more efficient in the central city in regards to community consultation and implementation. I live in Franklin, where after a typical AT consultation (where I was able to solicit and provide a large number of household responses) we were successful to be allocated a public transport service in a small community of rapid residential growth. Our local board representative, who represents us, but lives in another community that was unsuccessful due to the low response (and at that time, low growth pattern) publicly said how annoyed he was that our community got transport and his didn't. The consequent service offered – connecting up to the train station in town – started at 10.45am daily and ended at 4.45pm. Not suitable for daily commutes of workers or schoolchildren. What I consider a set up to fail scheme. Unfortunately, the residents of the community utilised it regardless, and I am happy to say it remains.
Those who know how the system works, make it work for them. Fair enough. They then assume that if anyone, anywhere else wants something, all they have to do is the same. But for those underrepresented, it is not knowledge or understanding or lack of wanting improvements, it is often lack of time, resources, experiences of not being heard in other forums.
I also think the focus of many local boards in areas of lower-income households have additional priorities that take precedence: access to healthcare, safety, crime etc. So, even the local board members elected in on three year terms, don't have the time to learn and advocate in transport and planning in the same way as others without those concerns.
But I have never spoken to anyone else who – quite rightly – looks to make improvements in their own neighbourhood and undertakes to consult and eventually present on a project – who takes the time to look around and say, "You know what? There are neighbourhoods that have a greater need for this money. Are we able to get this funding by using targeted rates and/or some other method?".
The system is not set up to address the inequality that already exists.
It functions effectively yes, but my perception is that it continues to contribute to the divided nature of Auckland communities, and the laughable concept of "liveable city" where there are so many deprived neighbourhoods.
(Sorry, moderators, just noticed the error in username – should be Molly)
I saw this in the ODT yesterday, which sparked some thoughts but I was a bit tired from my second jab to string them together. Seeing it this morning; republished on the RNZ website for a wider audience, I feel that I should try express my own counterview:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/452781/ngai-tahu-leader-let-s-not-rush-name-change
Firstly, a huge caveat that as Ngāpuhi/ Ngāpākehā, my own hapū are outsiders to Te Waipounamu iwi politics ourselves, though there are some commonalities. And if you keep your eyes and ears open, you pick things up.
My initial reaction was mild amusement at the author of the piece using; Ngāi Tahu to describe Ōtākou marae kaumatua Edward Ellison, in an article arguing for listening to Te Waipounamu kōrero. There's a bit of a north/ south gradient on this; where the Ng is replaced by a K (eg Rūnanga becoming Rūnaka). Historical reasons trace back to the invasion of Kāti Māmoe lands by the northern Ngāi Tahu who, over decades of conquest and assimilation largely supplanted the existing political structure, but not exterminating the common people, thus eventually becoming the present day Kāi Tahu. Though I have even heard Kāti Tahu, way up in the southwest of Murihiku, so perhaps Ka'i Tahu would be a better spelling there (though that looks more Samoan than Māori!).
It is far more common to hear; Te ika a Māui, for the northeastern island of the Aotearoan archipelago, than Aotearoa. Sometimes you hear; Te waka a Māui & Te puka a Māui too, for; Te Waipounamu & Rakiura respectively, though it's not very common, especially for everyday usage where you want to be clearly understood. But I am rarely out at Ōtākou marae (last time would have been Puaka/Matariki a couple of years back), so I can not say for sure what the most prevalent terms are there.
But speaking of gradual process for name changing, a lot of takata Kāi Tahu, would argue that the process has been too slow. This was a mere 5 years ago:
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/decisions-made-north-canterbury-place-names
Anyway, I am getting fairly long here, so I will just link to this Godferey piece from a month back, which covers much of what I would additionally say:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/29/a-neat-trick-critics-aim-to-shift-aotearoa-debate-but-historical-fidelity-no-longer-matters
Interesting and thought provoking, thanks.
Been wondering when Te Waipounamu would come up. How many people in the North Island know what it means?
I liked Ellison’s style. Due given to TPM, pointing gently to the problems, standing in his own people’s power and their process without making a fuss about it.
Kai Tahu I know whakapapa to not only Kai Tahu but variously to iwi and hapu that predate Kai Tahu, the longer history of Te Waipounamu. I will be interested to hear what they have to say.
That the South Island is known by southern Māori as Te Waipounamu, & the North Island as Te Ika-a-Maui (with both having various other Māori names too) has always made me a bit leery about calling the whole country Aotearoa – The Land of The Long White Cloud I always understood was a reference to the North Island only.
When this topic would surface on another blog, I used to say, only half-jokingly, a better option might be to come with a hybrid
Māori+English word for our country.
My preference was for Kiwiland. The main reasons being that’s a combo word of both languages, & New Zealanders overseas, Māori & Pākehā have been collectively called Kiwis for what must be at least a century now.
However, Aotearoa seems to have now been accepted by various governments & by government departments like Internal Affairs, who’ve had this Māori name apearing on our passports for many years now.
Dunno what’s wrong with my broadband connection (to this site & others) this morning. Sites are agonisingly slow to connect & open, & even trying to type in the address & comments field here take an interminable anount of time.
I like Aozearoa as a hybrid word myself; Gezza, though it hasn't caught on at all. You should read Godferey's Guardian piece, he goes into some detail about the history of the use of Aotearoa (you could even argue that is just Northland as Kupe is reputed to have landed there; though accounts, as always, differ between iwi).
The hyphens make Te Ika-a-Māui, fairly cumbersome to write, but Te IkaaMāui just looks wrong. I have recently (in the past few years) heard it being referred to as Te Ikanui, though sometimes that seems to be just Auckland (the Big Fish, as pacific equivalent of the Big Apple?), and others the whole northeastern island. I guess that hybrid word is still evolving. I have also seen variations on simply translating New Zealand into Te Reo as something like; Whenua Hou-moana, which may or may not go anywhere. It is very difficult to predict future language usage.
I will read that Guardian piece now, Forget now. The bb connection was so slow most of this morning I’d given up on the internet.
Seems to be working fine again now.
Funny you should mention the too-long NI name. I feel the same way. I’d have liked them just to be called, colloquially, Te Ika (or Teika) , & Pounamu.
Rakiura is already just Rakiura to me, altho if someone asks “Where?”, I’ll reply “Stewart Island”.
Yes that Guardian article is eminently readable. The writer has a nice, easy & engaging writing style. I did find it interesting & I have come to the same conclusion about Aotearoa being now the most commonly accepted Māori country-name word for the whole of New Zealand.
One of my former hesitations about it was the likliehood that many English-speaking visitors might mispronounce it as Ayo tee ah rower, instead of Ow tear roar.
I was going on long enough already, so I did gloss over the whole Waitaha issue; Weka. Essentially, Kāti Māmoe did the same thing as Ngāi Tahu later did; of settling Te Waipounamu from the north by war and marriage, Before then, there were many iwi, of which Waitaha is the best known with oral histories (fragmented and partially lost now) going back to around 1000 BCE in which they claimed to have discovered the southern islands including; Te Waipounamu, Rakiura, and ngā Moutere Tītī. Though the earliest tales are more legendary than history.
The specific Waitaha iwi (as opposed to Waitaha as a generic term for all pre-Māmoe Te Waipounamu inhabitants) was located primarily around the Waitaki river. To this day, some there will call themselves Kaitaha rather than Kāi Tahu, though not so much around outsiders, especially the Ngāi Tahu descended rangatira. Canterbury Kāi Tahu have also somewhat appropriated the name to refer to their own province (and thus bolster their mana within the iwi) for example; Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha (Canterbury University), is in Ōtautahi, not Oamaru.
It's not easy to compress a thousand years of still debated and controversial poorly documented history/ archeology into a couple of paragraphs, and wasn't entirely on topic – so I left it out. It is interesting though.
But more important is the present politics in Te Tai Tonga electorate, which you best believe that any kaumatua worth the title will be hip deep in. The present TTTonga MP is Labour's Rino Tirakatene following the 1996 campaign-trail death of his father (RT senior) and heir apparent to the Tirakatene political dynasty. RT beat Katene o Te Pāti Māori in 2011 and has held the TTTonga seat ever since (though not as long as his Grandfather or Aunt yet).
However, in 2020 RT's (still large majority) win in TTTonga found TPR's Tākuta Ferris in second place (Green Party's ex-coleader Turei being 2nd in 2017). With the gap between Tirakatene-Sullivan and RT being over a decade long, the name Tirakatene is no longer quite as synonymous with Southern Māori MP as it used to be. Especially if TTTonga urban Māori voters start seeing a resurgent TPM as being more representative of their needs than the Labour party.
https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2020/electorate-details-71.html
So a bit of quiet knobbling of a campaign generating favourable publicity for TRP by Te Waipounamu marae leaders is not to be taken without a grain of salt.
Something that's perhaps apt to get lost in any likely hullaballoo over the suggestion to rename English cities, towns & place names is that not all those places necessarily had he ingoa Māori (a Māori name)nin the first place.
Just as Māori often named places & prominent landmarks after their ancestors, or a significant characteristic of the area (eg Kaikōura), the English, Irish, Scots & other later settlers did so too.
There were several small Māori settlements & villages in & around what is now Wellington City & its coastal environs when the Pākehā settlers first began arriving.
The main Pākehā settlement was originally called Port Nicholson, from where the area now known as Pōneke has most likely derived as a loan word. None of those original Māori settlements amounted to the sizeable city of Wellington which built and named subsequently.
I would therefore argue that Wellington should remain the name of our capital city. However, I have no problem with accepting the name Te Whanganui-a-Tara (the Great Harbour of Tara) because Tara, a Northern tribes great sailor, explorer & rangatira found it spent some time there.
Brian Tamaki should be arrested immediatly.
What an idiot undoing the hard work of millions of NZers.
He should pay for the damage he has caused if that means stripping all his assets so be it.
The govt and people of NZ have lost 100's of millions to keep covid out undone by a nut job narcissist.
Totally agree, and now he's planning more of the same, we should not be pandering to this nutjob, it's beyond comprehension.
Repeat of my comment on one of yesterday's threads:
Narcissists never reflect on what they say or write. They have the ability to block off all memory of their failures and misdiagnosis. It enables them to continue to misguide people with their false reckons…
Anyone who has been on the receiving end of a full blown narcissist will know how destructive they are. The police have an obligation to isolate Tamaki before he further undermines the vaccination programme.
Perhaps the police should spray them with a dye so they can be recognised in the wild.
And so hospitals can triage them to a tent in the car park if they need treatment
Leo Molloy and Brian Tamaki belong to the same bike club? They both organised this and should be called out for not upholding an over riding health order.
The Police have at times not helped the Government by standing back too much. Both men and their committee should have been told 'Do this and you will be fined as you are defying the Director of Health." Now they should be served.
There is a growing meme that we are being locked down to give the Government huge powers. When the Police do not enforce health orders, what hope is there for compliance from those in society who think their freedoms overide all else?
Or folk who believe their version of religion is the one, and the Old Testament verses direct their behaviour through a self appointed Apostle.
Leo Molloy ended up in court previously for ignoring lock down rules, so this was a huge "so there" from him imo.
N.B. Both these men should pay back any Government assistance they have claimed!
We either have health orders or we don't in a pandemic. The police should enforce the rules where it is patently obvious people intend to break them. Those involved in organising this should face fines at the very least, to help pay for any resulting testing and tracing.
Or at least they should be given a serve by all of us doing as I am.. calling them out as selfish ignorant egomaniacs who could not wait one more week.
The Police are trying to keep people reasonable in their behaviours, but that is bound to fail with unreasonable people, and increases the liklihood of further protests.
This has been a big Police failure in my opinion. It has made a mockery of the rules right when we are likely to beat this again. That would not suit some agendas though would it? Poto Williams was also missing in action here.
Brian and Leo.. Pay back any Covid assistance!!!!!
Damn straight!
Watching that dangerous bloody dkhead Tamaki on One News at 6 I couldn’t believe the police hadn’t arrested the beggar!
Who is Leo Molloy? The name means nothing to me.
Ardern says that it's an operational matter for police, but that the investigation is ongoing:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300421687/live-33-new-community-covid19-cases-32-in-auckland-1-in-waikato
Leo Molloy is a former arsehole racehorse jockey turned former arsehole veterinarian turned arsehole publican and arsehole restaurateur. In other words, the perfect host for the clientele he attracts to his establishment at the Viaduct Basin. I had the misfortune of encountering him a couple of times in his veterinary student days.
If you really want to know more, here's a profile. But trust me, that knowledge won't enrich your life in any way. Possibly the telling of it might, tho.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2019/06/meet-leo-molloy-the-angriest-man-in-the-viaduct.html
Thanks for that, Tamaki is in his bike group.
As I recall, Ardern also said the Raglan case was unvaccinated and that three household contacts who were vaccinated have not yet developed symptoms. Test results not mentioned, probably not back yet. Comforting to hear that vaccination appears to protect close contacts from the delta strain.
I'm impatient for a booster shot and hoping Brian and Leo will have a road to Damascus moment.
Thank you Patricia (4.4). Agree wholeheartedly with your comments.
As far as I'm concerned, the police failed the people of Auckland yesterday, not only once, but twice. Apart from being seen to do nothing at the Tamaki protests, they were absent (apart from two police cars), during a wild motorcycle ride through the main streets of Auckland's CBD yesterday afternoon, with motorbikes not only taking over the main road, going through red traffic lights, but also riding on footpaths, while adults and children waited to cross the road. Some riders were not wearing protective headgear, while others rode on two wheels!
Why isn't the NZ police force protecting this country's citizens? Massive failures on their part in two very public incidences, both in Auckland.
You must understand that the sum total of all the gangs in NZ are probably better armed and organised than police and army combined. For as long as they remain divided you're probably safe.
The Molloy and Tamaki bike gang members are not well armed.
He's not the only one.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300420894/mourners-at-large-funeral-procession-in-aucklands-henderson-reminded-of-level-3-rules
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/lockdown-breach-more-than-50-seen-lining-auckland-street-for-tangi/
Perhaps the powers that be are ignoring him. Don't know how useful that will be.
It is interesting that the newly infected in hospital appear to be the unvaccinated, and perhaps they did not want to over shadow that by drawing attention to him, as events have overtaken things with the Raglan and Hamilton East being involved with new cases.
I still feel Robertson would be within his rights to ask for a refund to cover the Policing and any fallout.
The truckie that was infectious in Palmie was apparently also unvaccinated.
How the fuck is it still happening that we have a closed internal border to control covid, yet we are allowing unvaccinated people to cross it?
Weekly testing is required. Enforcing when unvaccinated no travel out of a level 3 zone would minimise the spread. The reality is that some people will not get vaccinated at all.
Look at the places of interest in the Waikato.
Raglan, Huntly etc.
Given that the PM has been reluctant to give any details I can almost be 100% sure this spread is gang related.
Give them 2.75 mil, let them keep their guns and what do we get for it. Covid for everyone. Happy days
Raglan; I think surfing, Huntly; I think coal fired electricity. Do you have any basis for your assumption gangs were involved; Pataua4life? The list of locations of interest outside Auckland just looks like the truckers route to and from Palmerston North. Also:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/452806/two-new-covid-19-community-cases-reported-in-waikato
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/contact-tracing-covid-19/covid-19-contact-tracing-locations-interest
The only times I've been to Hamilton East, I was visiting whanau at the university. It didn't strike me as having a large gang presence. Though that was a while ago now.
Ham East is studentville, Raglan full of yuppies & small farm lifestylers, who knows wtf p4life is on about.
Huntly West has many problems resulting from poverty.
The Raglan area is by no means comparable to Pauanui.
Hamilton East has a few areas of lower socio-economic conditions.
Thirty five years of Rogernomics. Spot the connection.
You can almost be "100% sure this spread is gang related?"
I can be almost 100% sure that you are taking a wild guess and actually have nothing to go on for the assumption.
I am 100% sure you are simply using the opportunity of covid reaching Hamilton East and Raglan to try to make some pathetic point about the government. Using Mike Hosking's signature ending gives the comment the stamp it deserves.
Bullshit. Raglan's gang population is all Mongrel Mob and they don't tend to get on very well with the dominant gangs in Huntly. I can be 100% sure that Pataua4life is full of shit.
That's one PoV, and it's your right (and privilege) to alter comments and/or moderate accordingly.
I hold a different PoV, and can only speculate as to why our views differ. Regardless of one's PoV, being truly blind to skin colour remains an uncommon form of colour blindness to this day, imho.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I moved your comment to OM because it’s off topic, and there’s enough going on that fast thread already. The whiteness thing is a conversation for another place, and perhaps another day, but feel free to continue to explire it in OM.
Thanks weka, all good – imho 'skin colour privilege' is a matter of fact, and it amazes and confuses me that (some) intelligent people feel the need to deny this.
The relevance of ‘white privilege‘ to the “Who are these angry Aucklanders?” post may elude some, but there have been several examples of ‘COVID anger’ directed at Auckland minorities. Admittedly focused more on cultural practices/habits than skin colour, but they can be so devilishly difficult to disentangle.
15 year old dies of COVID in 4 days.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-58772671
A fortnight after recovering from covid an un-vaccinated 20 year old was killed by a sinus infection.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article254580002.html
Anyone done an art auction live?
Webbs is doing their ceramics one at the moment – the tension is still there with it all online.
The Juice Media consider the Australien government AUKUS move.
A look at the issue of natural (by infection) immunity and vaccination immunity.
Some nations with 80% vaccination have effective 90% immunity because of infection (whether past infection or that currently going through their schools).
With lock down going on, it's time to look at support for small business on rent costs.
Last year arbitration was all Winston Peters would agree to, but it's the large businesses that can afford the legal costs.
What about
Level 4 – the tenant pays 25%, the landlord receives 33% – the government provides 8% (4% gratis and 4% as an interest free loan the business pays back).
Level 3 – the tenant pays 33%, the landlord receives 50% – the government provides (8% gratis and 8% as an interest free loan)
Level 2 – the tenant pays 50%, the landlord receives 66% – the government provides 8% gratis and 8% as an interest free loan)
Of course essential businesses that operate at Level 4 not included, nor those "office" staff firms that still earn income by having people work at home.
Apart from limiting government assistance to small businesses only, another way to limit cost on government is to have the total rent paid be 25%, 33% or 50% in the cases of larger commerical landlord firms.
Maybe look at rent holidays.
Many owners of commercial properties are stuck in loans. So essentially the government must / should provide legal framework that would allow a landlord to be able to wipe some of the rent without risking his own repayments to the bank.
Another legal framework that will be needed is one that allows people to get out of leases that are kaputt forever. It can't be considered good practice that these people sell their homes to pay a lease for a business that due to no fault of their own can't be run anymore. If they can get out of these leases, they then have a chance to move on and do / start something else more suited to these interesting times we are living in.
Last year arbitration was all Winston Peters would agree to,
but it's the large businesses that can afford the legal costs.This covers the basic direction to the arbitration.
https://hobec.co.nz/news-resources/2020/april/update-the-adls-lease-and-epidemics
There were mortgage holidays for residential property owners and their landlords last year.
Is it not possible for a business to declare bankruptcy because it cannot operate and void any future rent liability as per the lease?
Bankruptcy brings a lot of other things with it, so personally would not ever go for it.
The point is that these people who got stuck – say travel agencies – have long leases left. If you lease a business in a busy fringe you don't do that for a year or two, some leases are very long. Also, there is the re-lease, how long will it take for a property to find new takers? So essentially everyone who must drop out will try to buy themselves out of the lease. I.e. offer a certain amount a year or two of full lease and hope it is enough and will be accepted.
Now they did not do anything to deserve to lose their business, a pandemic is a pandemic, what can you do. But they should also not left in limbo, trying to deal with it on their own and without much success.
We must get used to 'for lease' signs when we venture out in the future.
Most smaller leases will have personal guarantees which make company structures or bankruptcy to avoid lease liabilities tricky. Pretty much pay up and the landlord wins.
….the government must / should provide legal framework that would allow a landlord to be able to wipe ALL of the rent without risking his own repayments to the bank.
In 1914 and again in 1931 the government did exactly that.
Brian Tamaki has led a protest demanding no more lockdowns. Tamaki is tapping into the hardhship that lockdowns cause.
Only a full mortgage and rent moratorium can ease the hardship that lockdowns cause SMEs and family households.
If past government could do it once, (and in fact did it twice). Why can't the current government?
It is not like the big mostly Australian owned banks who take $3.5 billion out of our economy every year can't afford it.
Why is everyone else's income effectively slashed in lockdown but their's is not?
Under level the 4 lockdown in Auckland, elimination was close to being achieved before it was lifted early before it had finished its job. The lockdown was lifted early before it had done its job, because of the political pressures and the hardships caused at the flax roots of society.
Caving in to the Brian Tamakis of this world and to the National Party and various other right wing lobbies, The Prime Minister has said there will be no return to level 4 lockdown. Right Wing commentators and pundits have celebrated this announcement, as the end of the government's 'elimination strategy'.
The government in reply have denied this. The reality is, until we reach at least 90% vaccination coverage, to save lives and protect our health system from being overwhelmed, Full Level 4 Lockdown which has been our most effective measure to date, must remain part of the tool kit.
If hospitalisations and deaths start to rise, and a return to level 4 becomes necessary. A full mortgage and rental moratorium for the period of the lockdown, is in my opinion, the only way to make another major lockdown stick.
We need to share the pain with those who can most afford it.
An interesting read:
I think there are a lot of lessons we can learn from Portugal
With 85% of the population vaccinated, Portugal is running out of people to jab.
And rather than go for booster shots, the surprisingly humane submarine captain, placed in charge of the vaccine roll-out who appears on TV in his military fatigues, is more concerned with getting the vaccine to unvaccinated former Portuguese colonies.
What a Guy.
We need someone like that here. Someone who can see the bigger picture. That it is not just about us, but it is also about that part of the world that we owe a duty of care to. In our case the smaller Pacific nations in our region.
Now that employers have got their demand to lift restrictons on bringing in temporary migrant workers from the Pacific Islands. An outbreak here could be spread back home with devastating results. Especially in countries that don’t have the same level of health infrastructure we have here.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300421229/covid19-portugal-is-running-out-of-people-to-vaccinate-so-what-comes-next