it reads as if it is an intro to a much longer, more detailed piece that got truncated becuase it was veering off the pre-set editorial highway and risked hitting a lightpole of reality.
Yes more of that ‘see look here we aren’t bias’ from granny. However this type of article should fill granny everyday as this corrupt nasty gov’t has plenty that could be written up about it.
It’s like they give it up for some limited balance on weekends then back come oshillivan, Johnny wannabe key Armstrong and daudrey etc weekdays to go with their radio equivalents of Leighton, larry, mikey, etc to keep that constant pro NACT push in the MSM.
My feeling that Joyce is not the man to run run Mobie because he has not the expertise with all of his money-making ability coming from building a web of commercial radio is strengthened the more I road here. We can’t get through to a really experienced businessman – we are fobbed off with someone who has managed to find a niche where he could attach his money IV bag to his veins. Yet he has so much gravitas. Is this justified? I think, looking at the results, we are being hornswggled.
It was run on a Sunday, but one of the questions here can give us an idea of the demographics of people who visit stuff, and therefore the type of people that vote on their online polls:
Which of these groups does your total household income come into. Please include the income before tax from everyone in your household, from all sources
7% – Up to 20,000 a year 385 a week
13% – 20,001 to 40,000 a year 386 to 770 a week
25% – 40,001 – 70,000 a year 771 to 1345 a week
20% – 70,001 – 100,000
34% – More than 100,000
An overwhelming majority living on more than half of all NZanders. What a surprise. Do you think they’ll mention the demographically skewed sample, and its effect on the reliability of the results, next time they publish one of their polls, now that they have conclusive proof?
And an indictment on the intelligence and/or taste of the better off in reading the most shallow of the main msm
The idea of household income is interesting as there are many families where adult children earning low incomes are still resident with parents. 6 adults living in one household all earning minimum wage are over that magic $100K as a household. No-one is well off individually but by pooling resources everyone is managing, just. It is too easy to make all kinds of assumptions without enough data and to just have the total figure without knowing how many people are contributing to it renders any conclusions meaningless.
Actually 6 adults on minimum wage pooling their money completely freely would be better off than 2 adults on higher wages earning the same amount, since the people on minimum wage would be paying quite a bit less tax.
This isn’t taking into account the realities of running a household: with 6 people there’d be more cooking, cleaning and general chores required than in a 2 person household, however if we’re assuming 40 hrs/week for each individual then I don’t think their homelife would really be worse off at all in terms of being able to get the chores done.
Actually I just realised how stupid that comment was, I really wasn’t thinking:
With 3x the number of people you need 3x the amount of food. You’d likely need to run at least 3 cars, probably more like 4-5 for everyone to work. You’d also likely use much more electricity than 2 people. So all of that would likely gobble up any tax savings.
There are inconveniences but you can divide up the chores and organising a bit better – more like communal living. What you can’t have is 6 people living as fully separate independent units because in that scenario you are correct, many costs just multiply.
Someone who is not working full time devotes a couple of hours a day looking after the vege patch. You only have one car between the entire household (less practical in Auckland admittedly).
Showers limited to 5 minutes wet time and group cooking holds power costs down signficantly. You can’t have each person heating up their own bedroom with a spaceheater.
An insight into Tory thinking – from the UK but I’m sure it’s equally relevant here:
“The defence secretary, Philip Hammond, has warned that he will resist further cuts to the armed forces in George Osborne’s forthcoming spending review.
He told the Daily Telegraph that other Tory cabinet ministers believed the greatest burden of any cuts should fall on the welfare budget.
[…]
Hammond said the “first priority” for the government should be “defending the country and maintaining law and order” and that further defence cuts were not possible while meeting stated security objectives.”
Apart from the obvious inanity as to exactly who he thinks the UK needs defending from – needing multi-billion pound nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers to do it with – and the rather sinister suggestion that ‘maintaining law and order’ is ultimately a matter for the military, the idea that a Government exists merely to defend the borders leaving the citizenry within them free to make their own provision for food, shelter, health, education &tc as best they can and the devil take the hindmost is pure Laissez-faire thinking any Eighteenth Century Government would have been comfortable with.
Mind you, I expect the dozen or so readers of the Torygraph he was addressing were all nodding happily in the leather arm-chairs of their London Clubs chumbling ‘hear-hear’ into their brandy-and-sodas.
Thumbs down to the NZDF for their enabling of anti gay culture in our military.
I note they refused to answer reporters questions such as, “As per the inquiry recommendation, has the NZDF reviewed its policies for providing support to homosexual personnel? What came out of that? “, but the NZDF refused to answer on privacy grounds.
As always it’s a sad story when some dies in this way, a tragedy. I do have sympathy for the NZDF and the personnel involved, having faced a similar situation in a ‘normal’ workplace and how complex that was I would think that having it happen on a active forward patrol base in a war zone where you live 24 hours a day would be incredibly difficult for everyone.
Had Hughes not been singled out he may still be alive.
“… witch hunt…” is not going to bring him back. A healthy culture toward gay personnel is going to prevent a person from being bullied and treated with contempt.
I really love the way “witch hunt” has been appropriated by privileged groups to demonise any investigation of how their privilege harms other people. Because actual witch hunts were usually all about entrenched religious power structures maintaining their authority through fear and misogyny.
But I would say that as a neo-anarcho-Marxo-deconstructiono-fluffy-bunny-radical feminist-authoritarian-jiggery-pokery-noodle-head, wouldn’t I?
Herald declares welfare numbers “swell” under Bennett:
Quote:
When it comes to the worst DPB, sickness, and invalid
benefit numbers, these have all been since 2010 and under
Paula Bennett,” Ardern said. “Interestingly, the two highest
figures for the DPB were both after the introduction of
Bennett’s welfare reforms, which mostly targeted DPB
recipients by increasing their work obligations.”
Once her new welfare reforms go through, the benefit categories we have now will be reduced down to just three: supported living, job seeker, and sole-parent support. This will essentially make it impossible to compare the impact of the welfare reforms.
Ahhh, yes! The real reason to change computer systems, stationary (how many thousands is THAT going to cost?), and confuse the already befuddled frontline staff.
The story is a jack up by socialist Cindy http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/03/welfare_numbers.html
The moment I saw this story, I had a fair idea of what the actual data would show. Yes more people on those benefits between those two dates, but not a linear pattern. Of course Jan 2009 was as the GFC was in full force, and hence job losses occurring. Also the comparison stops 12 months ago. Why?
Letâs look at the actual data, in terms of increase or decrease each year. For DPB they are
⢠2008 +2,128
⢠2009 +9,007
⢠2010 +3,576
⢠2011 +1,365
⢠2012 -5,112
I think we now understand why Jacinda left the 2012 figures off. What I donât know if why the Herald on Sunday did.
Letâs do the same with Invalidâs Benefit numbers.
⢠2008 +3,419
⢠2009 +1,537
⢠2010 +67
⢠2011 -1,062
⢠2012 -472
And for those interested in the Unemployment Benefit.
⢠2008 +7,760
⢠2009 +35,820
⢠2010 +756
⢠2011 -7,120
⢠2012 -6,217
They all show the same thing. The increase in benefit numbers started in 2008 (under Labour) and worsened in 2009 as the Global Financial Crisis struck. Despite patchy economic growth since 2009, benefit numbers in all three categories have fallen in the last two years.
đ Ok, let me put it another way. It’s not the benefit numbers that bother me, it’s the size of the debt National has foisted on us all, which requires them to change the accounting to disguise the number of people who aren’t in full-time jobs.
Government stats are joke as an indicator of anything. Stats show crime is increasing. The number of police is increased. Stats then show overall crime has reduced. The number of police is cut. So…they want overall crime to go up again. Then they’ll increase the number of police again? Fark.
You choose to highlight 2 years out 5 years of figures, hardly smart,
DPB after 4 years of National Government = +10,864,
Invalids Benefit after 4 years of National = +4489,
Unemployment benefit after 4 years of National = +30,999,
After 4 years of this National Government just in those 3 category’s of Benefits it is +46,352 more reliant on just those 3 category’s of benefit,
Hardly a victory for National and when the Official information act request comes through you will find that all of those who these figures have shown to have moved off these 3 benefits are now either being paid the same amounts ‘to train’ or industry are being paid the same amounts to ’employ’ them,
In dollar terms for this National Government then NO difference in the expenditure what-so -ever, and simply using the figures by you to trey and tell the same sort of lie that Bennett has become accustomed to…
I knew that this was in the pipeline last year. I recommend that you take the time to read and understand what this means as it may be useful for you in your dealings with govt entities from this point.
a Complimentary Sunday Roast (with Wontons along-side stuffed mushrooms)
from the box-
-“razor-wire insurers”
-“tractor” drags down the taxpayer highway (now that’s funny)”
-mundane -atemporal –lapsarian = a -sensible -lunar -orbit so buckle up and get comfortable:
(Addison, The renal tourniquet Campaign is trifling)
listened to Laidlaw this am before sallying forth;
immediately after 3pm last Wed Garner announces on Radio Live (dead) that the Supreme Court decision has upheld maori claim followed truck and trailer đ by a Herald reporter squawking the same tune…
Hahahahahaha / Holey Herald on Sunday Batman, KaPow!
so mind the Kaitangata Twitch, go Beyond The Occult, Wilson, sail after The Celestine Prophecy to God and The Evolving Universe, James (it’s The Power of Diversity, Barbara, or else)
God gave you style and gave you grace, now, put a smile on your face đ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnzXIYqkqS0
One Big Love (Tyndale was an Outlaw) Wycliffe a translator
and some desert from 1 3 17
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (does anybody here remember vera Lynn? how she said that we would meet again some sunny day…) Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue đ but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything (seed has to evolve somewhere). Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask (like the new Southern Star cycle he provided today, O Tautau’s the place to see) because we obey his commands (love the big G and your neighbour as yourself) and attempt to do what pleases him…
And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gives us (and the free lunch, very enjoyable thanks Majors).
-from the Padua of both Anthonys; Tempted? to see Pigs on The Wing! 10 Million crickets can’t be wrong by Jiminy.
There is ALWAYS a Redemption Song. I Remember You: Sebastian Bach.
Press Release from: Westmere Heritage Protection Association
Every wondered why Auckland house prices are going crazy or why you can’t even afford to buy in?
Here is the Real Oil.
I have just spoken to my contacts in the banking system and most of the properties in the (Auckland) including the Western Bays areas Ponsonby, St Mary’s Bay, Westmere, Grey Lynn and Point Chevalier are being purchased at inflated prices by two specific groups
1) Queen Street Speculators / Investors, land banking and renting the properties at high rates waiting for intensification to be instigated by the govt or council.
2) Asian Nationals (Chinese) on work or holiday permits!
What is skewing the lack of affordability of our inner city suburbs is that both these groups are buying Cash Up Front!
Ordinary home owner can not compete.
This in turn means that these people will want to capitialise on their investments and start to build multi story buildings or units to maximise their profits.
Tight controls are needed to:
To stop this sort of speculative behaviour we need to pass laws NOW to:
a) Ensure that people are NZ citizens before they can buy (which is the law in Australia see below)
b) Your first home is exempt from any tax, all other properties are subject to capitial gains and property taxes etc.
c) The law is changed so that Heritage Protection makes our inner suburbs unattractive for Developers to decimate.
We as a group are not against intensification in Brown-Fields areas, in fact we suggest it is the best way to restore our city ruined by uncontrolled industrial sprawl.
The reason we insist that the law is changed and action taken immediately is that The National government is under the influenced of the Speculator & Developer lobby and the RMA is being changed to benefit them, making the Council impotent to protect to our neighbourhoods
We encourage the Auckland Council to take the lead and curbing inappropriate develop, protect heritage and stop council officer making decisions that benefit the Speculators & Developers lobby. Re introduce the Character coalition proposal as part of the Unitary Plan.
The Australian have strict rules around who can buy a house and where and for what purpose! why don’t we?
Does anyone know of website for dealing with common right wing arguments?
Something that takes an approach like http://www.skepticalscience.com/ does for climate change.
I just had a look at the ACT party website and took a gander at their ‘principles’. If you didn’t know anything about them you’d almost think it sounded like a nice party! Here it is…
Principles
The principal object of the ACT Party is to promote an open, progressive and benevolent society in which individual New Zealanders are free to achieve their full potential.
To this end the ACT Party upholds the following principles:
that individuals are the rightful owners of their own lives and therefore have inherent rights and responsibilities; and
that the proper purpose of government is to protect such rights and not to assume such responsibilities.
According to our constitution, the ACT Party shall promote, develop and pursue policies and proposals which:
encourage individual choice and responsibility and the pursuit of excellence in all fields of human endeavour;
enhance living standards for all New Zealanders through sustainable economic growth and international competitiveness;
enhance choice and diversity, and raise standards of achievement in education;
ensure that all New Zealanders have access to quality health care and have security in retirement;
maintain social and economic support for those unable to help themselves and who are in genuine need of assistance;
provide for the nationâs security and the protection of individual lives and property;
explore and implement practical and innovative ways to protect the natural environment;
maintain sound economic management, including (but not limited to) a balanced government budget, price stability and a free and open market economy; and
limit the involvement of central and local government to those areas where collective action is a practical necessity.
Just in case it’s important LPrent, the timing on this site is wrong at the moment. Commenters are commenting later than the actual time, according to the time stated on the comments.
As an example – the comment above says 9.23pm. It is 9.08pm right now.
Ummm. That is a problem. The time is taken off the server time at time of insertion in the database and adjusted to timezone.
I haven’t set up a NTP client so it picks the time of a timer server. So the real time clock at the server is drifting too far. I will fix tomorrow night.
Lolz, 9.32pm to be precise, noticed that reading the post on welfare, bit of a head-scratch, check the time on the phone, wonder if it isn’t the end of daylight saving,
Hmmm them computers are messin with our time now, pretty soon they will make it feel like we don’t know what day it is,
Hekia Parata and John Key.
I watched the movie “Game Change” which follows John McCain’s2008 Presisential campaign from his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate to his ultimate defeat by Obama. A great movie.
Pailin and the McCain/Palin relationship have many parallels with Parata and her relationship with Key.
This morning on Radio NZ this USA woman was interesting. She has been thoughtful and politically aware since a young age. She said that she considers the USA to be a pluralism of wealthy groups not a democracy.
10-11am: Feature interview – Cisco Systems co-founder and Jane Austen expert Sandy Lerner
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Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that âNew Zealandâs economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerfulâ. They also believe that âNew Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerfulâ. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
âYou talking about me?âThe neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hallâs âGlide Timeâ caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Our two-tiered system for veteransâ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veteransâ affairs spokesperson Greg OâConnor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxonâs management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
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 yearâs 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, Labourâs 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 countryâs 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 Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a âget out of jail freeâ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
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 Zealandâs good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National governmentâs 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. ...
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 TÄmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Governmentâs democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Governmentâs proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change thatâs great for the planet and great for consumers after her memberâs bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the countryâs books after Teanau Tuionoâs membersâ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his memberâs bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Todayâs advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Governmentâs newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealandâs urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
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. Â 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. âOur 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 Zealandâs hydrogen future, with the opening of the countryâs first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. âI 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 Zealandâs own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealandâs 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. âThe report shows that New Zealandâs emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,â Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where heâll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Governmentâs work to restore law and order. âAttending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealandâs human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the worldâs largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. âThe reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealandâs wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin  NgÄ mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho  Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today.  I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. âOur Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealandâs overseas missions.  âOur diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealandâs interests around the world,â Mr Peters says.  âI am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. Â âOver 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. âIt is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. âOur coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
âChina remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,â Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.  Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. âRecently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachersâ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.  âThe Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. âScience, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During todayâs meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. âThe Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in TaupĹ as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the TaupĹ International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. âAnticipation for the ITM TaupĹ Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. âThe coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. âThis project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sectorâs productivity,â Mr Jones says. âThe project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Governmentâs plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. âBenefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Governmentâs commitment to doubling New Zealandâs renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealandâs latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. âOur Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. âNew Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Governmentâs intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. âThe introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Todayâs announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Governmentâs plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. âInflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sectorâs role in the export-led recovery of the economy. âI am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Governmentâs support for the revitalisation the sector.  "New Zealandâs wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. âThe inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
PĹneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealandâs complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the RĂĄkĂłczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).SĂĄndor HegedĹąs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesnât really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didnât really want to, because of a war they didnât ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the publicâs democratic right to have âa fair sayâ and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard â in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
Iâm on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Heraâs help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener youâre likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
âNever again - No AUKUSâ was the message of the wreath laid at this morningâs national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now sheâs very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice â both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high schoolâs head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble. Â Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhireâs 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.  My World War I Poem  Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging.  Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihanâs gorgeous and sad debut KĹhine, Noelle McCarthyâs memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend NgÄhuia te ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australiaâs University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourneâs Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australiaâs inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and itâs now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this weekâs Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealandâs coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Leeâs spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammageâs Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australiaâs forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmersâs third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief â beyond the tax cuts â although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Leeâs recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmannâs defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Leeâs âforensicâ and ânuancedâ application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Itâs one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayersâ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of âsix decades of treacheryâ over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazineâs 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish Iâd writtenIf I wish Iâd written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
âThree Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.â ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunalâs report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallaceâs debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that heâs always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe itâs something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. Sheâs ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whÄnau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says âoutlook not greatâ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoffâs morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, itâs not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The âfinancial sustainability targetâ, which was âallocatedâ to Waitaha, is consistent with whatâs happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous governmentâs affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: Whatâs KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertsonâs valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didnât know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race heâd dreamed ...
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The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist NgÄhuia te AwekĹtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
Bernard Hickey nails “the Government’s lack of consistency and adherence to coherent strategy and its bias for doing deals with mates.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10868783
it reads as if it is an intro to a much longer, more detailed piece that got truncated becuase it was veering off the pre-set editorial highway and risked hitting a lightpole of reality.
Yes more of that ‘see look here we aren’t bias’ from granny. However this type of article should fill granny everyday as this corrupt nasty gov’t has plenty that could be written up about it.
It’s like they give it up for some limited balance on weekends then back come oshillivan, Johnny wannabe key Armstrong and daudrey etc weekdays to go with their radio equivalents of Leighton, larry, mikey, etc to keep that constant pro NACT push in the MSM.
My feeling that Joyce is not the man to run run Mobie because he has not the expertise with all of his money-making ability coming from building a web of commercial radio is strengthened the more I road here. We can’t get through to a really experienced businessman – we are fobbed off with someone who has managed to find a niche where he could attach his money IV bag to his veins. Yet he has so much gravitas. Is this justified? I think, looking at the results, we are being hornswggled.
This ‘alternative census’ run on Stuff last week has the results published:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8373937/Alternative-census-what-you-told-us
It was run on a Sunday, but one of the questions here can give us an idea of the demographics of people who visit stuff, and therefore the type of people that vote on their online polls:
Ta Lanthanide.
An overwhelming majority living on more than half of all NZanders. What a surprise. Do you think they’ll mention the demographically skewed sample, and its effect on the reliability of the results, next time they publish one of their polls, now that they have conclusive proof?
And an indictment on the intelligence and/or taste of the better off in reading the most shallow of the main msm
Note – the question said “household income”. The median household income in NZ is currently in the low $60K pa range IIRC
Is there an embarrassed tag?
Will pay more attention in future.
Well it’s still true, since its’ 54% over $70k, so if the median is $60k something then it’s still higher than that.
The idea of household income is interesting as there are many families where adult children earning low incomes are still resident with parents. 6 adults living in one household all earning minimum wage are over that magic $100K as a household. No-one is well off individually but by pooling resources everyone is managing, just. It is too easy to make all kinds of assumptions without enough data and to just have the total figure without knowing how many people are contributing to it renders any conclusions meaningless.
Actually 6 adults on minimum wage pooling their money completely freely would be better off than 2 adults on higher wages earning the same amount, since the people on minimum wage would be paying quite a bit less tax.
This isn’t taking into account the realities of running a household: with 6 people there’d be more cooking, cleaning and general chores required than in a 2 person household, however if we’re assuming 40 hrs/week for each individual then I don’t think their homelife would really be worse off at all in terms of being able to get the chores done.
Actually I just realised how stupid that comment was, I really wasn’t thinking:
With 3x the number of people you need 3x the amount of food. You’d likely need to run at least 3 cars, probably more like 4-5 for everyone to work. You’d also likely use much more electricity than 2 people. So all of that would likely gobble up any tax savings.
There are inconveniences but you can divide up the chores and organising a bit better – more like communal living. What you can’t have is 6 people living as fully separate independent units because in that scenario you are correct, many costs just multiply.
Someone who is not working full time devotes a couple of hours a day looking after the vege patch. You only have one car between the entire household (less practical in Auckland admittedly).
Showers limited to 5 minutes wet time and group cooking holds power costs down signficantly. You can’t have each person heating up their own bedroom with a spaceheater.
And everyone puts in $10/week to run the still…
đ
An insight into Tory thinking – from the UK but I’m sure it’s equally relevant here:
“The defence secretary, Philip Hammond, has warned that he will resist further cuts to the armed forces in George Osborne’s forthcoming spending review.
He told the Daily Telegraph that other Tory cabinet ministers believed the greatest burden of any cuts should fall on the welfare budget.
[…]
Hammond said the “first priority” for the government should be “defending the country and maintaining law and order” and that further defence cuts were not possible while meeting stated security objectives.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/02/defence-secretary-resist-cuts
Apart from the obvious inanity as to exactly who he thinks the UK needs defending from – needing multi-billion pound nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers to do it with – and the rather sinister suggestion that ‘maintaining law and order’ is ultimately a matter for the military, the idea that a Government exists merely to defend the borders leaving the citizenry within them free to make their own provision for food, shelter, health, education &tc as best they can and the devil take the hindmost is pure Laissez-faire thinking any Eighteenth Century Government would have been comfortable with.
Mind you, I expect the dozen or so readers of the Torygraph he was addressing were all nodding happily in the leather arm-chairs of their London Clubs chumbling ‘hear-hear’ into their brandy-and-sodas.
Ah well. Leopards and spots.
Thumbs down to the NZDF for their enabling of anti gay culture in our military.
I note they refused to answer reporters questions such as, “As per the inquiry recommendation, has the NZDF reviewed its policies for providing support to homosexual personnel? What came out of that? “, but the NZDF refused to answer on privacy grounds.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8374534/Gay-war-heros-tragic-death
Ironic that the Oz defence forces made history yesterday by challenging anti-gay prejudice in a very, very public way:
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/after-35-years-mardi-gras-still-breaks-down-barriers-20130302-2fd2y.html
As always it’s a sad story when some dies in this way, a tragedy. I do have sympathy for the NZDF and the personnel involved, having faced a similar situation in a ‘normal’ workplace and how complex that was I would think that having it happen on a active forward patrol base in a war zone where you live 24 hours a day would be incredibly difficult for everyone.
Being vulnerable in an environment which has a negative culture toward gay personnel makes those in charge culpable.
The witch hunt has started…
Had Hughes not been singled out he may still be alive.
“… witch hunt…” is not going to bring him back. A healthy culture toward gay personnel is going to prevent a person from being bullied and treated with contempt.
I applaud the way the SST reported it. They gave it front page and handled it fairly responsibly and sensitively.
Albi you’re mirror
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusade
I really love the way “witch hunt” has been appropriated by privileged groups to demonise any investigation of how their privilege harms other people. Because actual witch hunts were usually all about entrenched religious power structures maintaining their authority through fear and misogyny.
But I would say that as a neo-anarcho-Marxo-deconstructiono-fluffy-bunny-radical feminist-authoritarian-jiggery-pokery-noodle-head, wouldn’t I?
philologists are you’re friend ’til The Birth of Tragedy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gay_Science
Herald declares welfare numbers “swell” under Bennett:
Quote:
When it comes to the worst DPB, sickness, and invalid
benefit numbers, these have all been since 2010 and under
Paula Bennett,” Ardern said. “Interestingly, the two highest
figures for the DPB were both after the introduction of
Bennett’s welfare reforms, which mostly targeted DPB
recipients by increasing their work obligations.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10868816
Quote:
Once her new welfare reforms go through, the benefit categories we have now will be reduced down to just three: supported living, job seeker, and sole-parent support. This will essentially make it impossible to compare the impact of the welfare reforms.
Ahhh, yes! The real reason to change computer systems, stationary (how many thousands is THAT going to cost?), and confuse the already befuddled frontline staff.
The story is a jack up by socialist Cindy
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/03/welfare_numbers.html
The moment I saw this story, I had a fair idea of what the actual data would show. Yes more people on those benefits between those two dates, but not a linear pattern. Of course Jan 2009 was as the GFC was in full force, and hence job losses occurring. Also the comparison stops 12 months ago. Why?
Letâs look at the actual data, in terms of increase or decrease each year. For DPB they are
⢠2008 +2,128
⢠2009 +9,007
⢠2010 +3,576
⢠2011 +1,365
⢠2012 -5,112
I think we now understand why Jacinda left the 2012 figures off. What I donât know if why the Herald on Sunday did.
Letâs do the same with Invalidâs Benefit numbers.
⢠2008 +3,419
⢠2009 +1,537
⢠2010 +67
⢠2011 -1,062
⢠2012 -472
And for those interested in the Unemployment Benefit.
⢠2008 +7,760
⢠2009 +35,820
⢠2010 +756
⢠2011 -7,120
⢠2012 -6,217
They all show the same thing. The increase in benefit numbers started in 2008 (under Labour) and worsened in 2009 as the Global Financial Crisis struck. Despite patchy economic growth since 2009, benefit numbers in all three categories have fallen in the last two years.
It’s not the benefit numbers that bother me it’s the size of the debt National has foisted on us all.
People who work an hour a week are clearly not unemployed though, right?
đ Ok, let me put it another way. It’s not the benefit numbers that bother me, it’s the size of the debt National has foisted on us all, which requires them to change the accounting to disguise the number of people who aren’t in full-time jobs.
Government stats are joke as an indicator of anything. Stats show crime is increasing. The number of police is increased. Stats then show overall crime has reduced. The number of police is cut. So…they want overall crime to go up again. Then they’ll increase the number of police again? Fark.
You choose to highlight 2 years out 5 years of figures, hardly smart,
DPB after 4 years of National Government = +10,864,
Invalids Benefit after 4 years of National = +4489,
Unemployment benefit after 4 years of National = +30,999,
After 4 years of this National Government just in those 3 category’s of Benefits it is +46,352 more reliant on just those 3 category’s of benefit,
Hardly a victory for National and when the Official information act request comes through you will find that all of those who these figures have shown to have moved off these 3 benefits are now either being paid the same amounts ‘to train’ or industry are being paid the same amounts to ’employ’ them,
In dollar terms for this National Government then NO difference in the expenditure what-so -ever, and simply using the figures by you to trey and tell the same sort of lie that Bennett has become accustomed to…
Is Jacinda saying that she’d be better at denying people benefits than Paula has been? I wish she’d learn to think before Mallard opens her mouth.
Can some sort of legal review be held on the grounds that “… coroner Gordon Matenga declined to open an inquest into the death.”
I would like to know what policy is in place for those who are on a deployment when there is a risk of self harm?
The sergeant was not medically quailified and the fact that the soidier was checked for a weapon tells me that the soldier was known to be upset.
I knew that this was in the pipeline last year. I recommend that you take the time to read and understand what this means as it may be useful for you in your dealings with govt entities from this point.
http://wakeup-world.com/2013/02/18/all-corporations-banks-and-governments-lawfully-foreclosed-by-oppt/
You are now essentially at the start of the path to freedom and a better world.
thats an interesting PP
All talk, no commitment! http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2013/03/breaking-promises-to-children.html
a Complimentary Sunday Roast (with Wontons along-side stuffed mushrooms)
from the box-
-“razor-wire insurers”
-“tractor” drags down the taxpayer highway (now that’s funny)”
-mundane -atemporal –lapsarian = a -sensible -lunar -orbit so buckle up and get comfortable:
(Addison, The renal tourniquet Campaign is trifling)
listened to Laidlaw this am before sallying forth;
immediately after 3pm last Wed Garner announces on Radio Live (dead) that the Supreme Court decision has upheld maori claim followed truck and trailer đ by a Herald reporter squawking the same tune…
Hahahahahaha / Holey Herald on Sunday Batman, KaPow!
so mind the Kaitangata Twitch, go Beyond The Occult, Wilson, sail after The Celestine Prophecy to God and The Evolving Universe, James (it’s The Power of Diversity, Barbara, or else)
God gave you style and gave you grace, now, put a smile on your face đ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnzXIYqkqS0
One Big Love (Tyndale was an Outlaw) Wycliffe a translator
and some desert from 1 3 17
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (does anybody here remember vera Lynn? how she said that we would meet again some sunny day…) Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue đ but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything (seed has to evolve somewhere). Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask (like the new Southern Star cycle he provided today, O Tautau’s the place to see) because we obey his commands (love the big G and your neighbour as yourself) and attempt to do what pleases him…
And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gives us (and the free lunch, very enjoyable thanks Majors).
-from the Padua of both Anthonys; Tempted? to see Pigs on The Wing! 10 Million crickets can’t be wrong by Jiminy.
There is ALWAYS a Redemption Song. I Remember You: Sebastian Bach.
Somethings going on that you know RT. Would someone plse assess?
3 March 2013
Press Release from: Westmere Heritage Protection Association
Every wondered why Auckland house prices are going crazy or why you can’t even afford to buy in?
Here is the Real Oil.
I have just spoken to my contacts in the banking system and most of the properties in the (Auckland) including the Western Bays areas Ponsonby, St Mary’s Bay, Westmere, Grey Lynn and Point Chevalier are being purchased at inflated prices by two specific groups
1) Queen Street Speculators / Investors, land banking and renting the properties at high rates waiting for intensification to be instigated by the govt or council.
2) Asian Nationals (Chinese) on work or holiday permits!
What is skewing the lack of affordability of our inner city suburbs is that both these groups are buying Cash Up Front!
Ordinary home owner can not compete.
This in turn means that these people will want to capitialise on their investments and start to build multi story buildings or units to maximise their profits.
Tight controls are needed to:
To stop this sort of speculative behaviour we need to pass laws NOW to:
a) Ensure that people are NZ citizens before they can buy (which is the law in Australia see below)
b) Your first home is exempt from any tax, all other properties are subject to capitial gains and property taxes etc.
c) The law is changed so that Heritage Protection makes our inner suburbs unattractive for Developers to decimate.
We as a group are not against intensification in Brown-Fields areas, in fact we suggest it is the best way to restore our city ruined by uncontrolled industrial sprawl.
The reason we insist that the law is changed and action taken immediately is that The National government is under the influenced of the Speculator & Developer lobby and the RMA is being changed to benefit them, making the Council impotent to protect to our neighbourhoods
We encourage the Auckland Council to take the lead and curbing inappropriate develop, protect heritage and stop council officer making decisions that benefit the Speculators & Developers lobby. Re introduce the Character coalition proposal as part of the Unitary Plan.
The Australian have strict rules around who can buy a house and where and for what purpose! why don’t we?
http://www.firb.gov.au/content/publications/buying_a_home.pdf
Regards
Lisa Prager
Co-ordinator
Westmere Heritage Protection Association
_____________________________________________________________________________
Forwarded in the public interest by Penny Bright.
So you are not against intensification unless it is in your inner-city suburb. There’s a word for that.
Not citizens penny. Permanent residents are enough. Even if you don’t meet that criteria you can still apply to purchase and it’s otter granted.
Does anyone know of website for dealing with common right wing arguments?
Something that takes an approach like http://www.skepticalscience.com/ does for climate change.
Try the Act Party website if they still have one.
I just had a look at the ACT party website and took a gander at their ‘principles’. If you didn’t know anything about them you’d almost think it sounded like a nice party! Here it is…
Principles
The principal object of the ACT Party is to promote an open, progressive and benevolent society in which individual New Zealanders are free to achieve their full potential.
To this end the ACT Party upholds the following principles:
that individuals are the rightful owners of their own lives and therefore have inherent rights and responsibilities; and
that the proper purpose of government is to protect such rights and not to assume such responsibilities.
According to our constitution, the ACT Party shall promote, develop and pursue policies and proposals which:
encourage individual choice and responsibility and the pursuit of excellence in all fields of human endeavour;
enhance living standards for all New Zealanders through sustainable economic growth and international competitiveness;
enhance choice and diversity, and raise standards of achievement in education;
ensure that all New Zealanders have access to quality health care and have security in retirement;
maintain social and economic support for those unable to help themselves and who are in genuine need of assistance;
provide for the nationâs security and the protection of individual lives and property;
explore and implement practical and innovative ways to protect the natural environment;
maintain sound economic management, including (but not limited to) a balanced government budget, price stability and a free and open market economy; and
limit the involvement of central and local government to those areas where collective action is a practical necessity.
These guys sound great!
Lol I to looked at the site to see what a party to the right had to say. I really don’t know what right wing and left wing is anymore.
You may already have seen this but here ya go:
http://deepclimate.org/2009/08/01/meet-alan-gibbs-builder-of-amphibious-humvees-and-climate-science-coalitions/
No I haven’t seen that before. It’s always nice to get fresh info on the particulars of ACT’s crookedness. Thanks, Jim.
Just in case it’s important LPrent, the timing on this site is wrong at the moment. Commenters are commenting later than the actual time, according to the time stated on the comments.
As an example – the comment above says 9.23pm. It is 9.08pm right now.
Ummm. That is a problem. The time is taken off the server time at time of insertion in the database and adjusted to timezone.
I haven’t set up a NTP client so it picks the time of a timer server. So the real time clock at the server is drifting too far. I will fix tomorrow night.
Lolz, 9.32pm to be precise, noticed that reading the post on welfare, bit of a head-scratch, check the time on the phone, wonder if it isn’t the end of daylight saving,
Hmmm them computers are messin with our time now, pretty soon they will make it feel like we don’t know what day it is,
i tho have a cunning plan, i don’t…
http://www.hbo.com/movies/game-change/index.html
Hekia Parata and John Key.
I watched the movie “Game Change” which follows John McCain’s2008 Presisential campaign from his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate to his ultimate defeat by Obama. A great movie.
Pailin and the McCain/Palin relationship have many parallels with Parata and her relationship with Key.
This morning on Radio NZ this USA woman was interesting. She has been thoughtful and politically aware since a young age. She said that she considers the USA to be a pluralism of wealthy groups not a democracy.
10-11am: Feature interview – Cisco Systems co-founder and Jane Austen expert Sandy Lerner
on the rise
Auckland house prices
Aussie climate on “steroids”