Another 60 jobs go in manufacturing as kiwi company Dynamic Controls closes its Chch plant. This announcement comes two days after high tech company Rakon also laid off a similar number of workers and adds to the 40,000 jobs lost in manufacturing under this dismal Government. It almost makes me pine for the days when the National Party weren’t just anti-worker but were actively pro-business.
And it’s Keys own favorite The Labour Household Survey. The one he uses as a club to beat all other claims down with. Now that’s been turned into Fish… Sorry No Tequila
Worst in 13 years when bungling bill english was last finance minister.
175,000 unemployed!
175,000
new jobs promised!
Difference 350,000
Bennetts promise of 40,000 fewer on benifits into jobs
Hollow promises from hollw shallow party!
A truck with two (!) trailers crashed on the Desert Road. Another truck crashed near Dunedin.
Oh lets have more trucks on our roads AND lets also let trucking companies write their own Warrants of Fitness.
And bigger trucks too don’t forget. Recently on some roads the weight limit has risen, I think, from 45 tonnes to 60 tonnes, and the length gone out.
Yeah, this lot are clever there’s no doubt ………………….
Unfortunately people will get killed because of their cleverness with these trucking industry changes. Killed dead. Dead. Killed. Like Pike River. Dead.
Don’t know all detail but increasing weight was brought up early in this government’s term and is now in place as I understand. I seem to recall there had been some changes prior to that too, under labour I guess.
I don’t really care who did it – the political philosophy behind these trucking industry changes has been a proven deadly failure at Pike River, as well as being behind finance company debacle and the leaky home monster. The philosophy needs amending quicksmart because these changes will lead to people being killed dead. It might be you. It might be me. If such an eventuality comes close to our bones then consequences will be brought to bear very personally to the politicians making these changes. I don’t know how the Pike River families keep themselves so calm. I would be knocking on Bill Birch’s door and Gerry Brownlee’s door. They did things which allowed these men to be killed dead. It is direct and personal.
Yeah, my comment wasn’t meant to infer any finger pointing. I’m just curious as to whether weight and length limits have been pushed out even further is all. And for the same reasons as yourself…it’s crap, dangerous and stupid and reflects a ‘de-human’ aspect of neoliberal market thinking.
Gerry Brownlee was talking about allowing for larger trucks to help with Chch but there was, IIRC, some discussion about allowing for bigger trucks in general. The Chch bit that Brownlee mentioned would, effectively, have become a trial period.
And Labour can build a strong case for reversing the changes.
And being well-prepared to counter-respond to any stupid trucking protest that tried to block up the main streets of the cities.
Yeah and the damage to roads is increasing with these heavy trucks and the cost of repair is continuing to go up as the rest of us road users have to put up with huge dips and more broken surfaces making the roads even more unsafe especially at night and in bad weather conditions when you can’t see those huge dips that lurch cars sideways out the lanes!
Papers obtained under the Official Information Act show that Ms Bennett was told by Ministry of Health officials that it did not support parents having their benefits cut if they didn’t stay up to date with Well Child checks.
“The Ministry was clear in its advice that introducing mandatory checks risked ‘undermining the effectiveness of the programme’ and that using sanctions in the way proposed by Ms Bennett ‘would have a negative impact on the health of sanctioned beneficiaries and their families’.
“The Ministry of Health also highlighted the fact that enrolments in the Well Child programme currently exceeds 95 per cent of the birth cohort each year and that the onus was actually on them to ‘do better to reach the families not currently receiving the full entitlement to well child checks by improving programme delivery’.
It makes sense that organisations responsible for delivering programmes should make those programmes accessible to the 95% of the target population enrolled in them.
5% not enrolled in the Well Child check programme. That means that those people are likely to be in a difficult position in their lives and could be offered a helping hand with transport, a mentor that assists but isn’t authoritarian and in your face. Encourage autonomy, that is a given but let the service be there when needed with an offer to cope with say monthly checks for the child and a social chat with the parents.
Yep Bennet don’t care. None of them give a rats arse for you, me, your or my children.
And you can probably imagine when there’s a disaster, the rich pricks who owns it only want to know one thing, How much is it going to cost us. they don’t care how many of us are killed as long as they make their money.
I have been sent an email by a relative with Australian connections. This tells in an outraged tone about a Middle East mall owner who refused to allow the Anzac badges to be sold on his property. We don’t know the facts and it seems an example of trying to build prejudice over the internet. I guess this is how the anti feelings to any group that has been designated as contemptible can be spread. Half-truths, rumours, factual but isolated examples of behaviour deemed unacceptable. When did the sender stop beating his wife I wonder? Anyone can make up or magnify stuff and make trouble.
Didn’t know you could buy Anzac badges in the first place. And anyway – any retail outlet has a right to stock whatever the hell they want (within legal bounds). What if the guy was a pink coloured Australian who felt Anzac badges signified something of a glorification of war riding on supposed sentiments of remembrance?
That’s not denying your point about the internet promulgating bullshit and prejudice. Facebook is particularily pernicious in that respect (photo that could be from any context accompanied by an unverifiable text designed to get people all up in arms over whatever cause).
And the MSM does the same shit. youtube footage overlaid with ‘fitting’ commentary, for example all those reports pertaining to Syria where youtube images lacking identifying features reinforced somewhat spurious or dubioous ‘news’ claims being made in the voice overs.
Another favourite thing that right wing propagandist’s love to promote is elitism. They do this by trying to ensure the class structure of capitalism, which is characterized by the conflict between the haves and the have nots, does not change. Without the poor, the rich simply cannot stroke their egos and feel superior about their wealth. And as usual, the bigots believe thet best way to achieve this is to attack the poor…
Through some inexplicable lapse of sensiblity yesterday, I clicked a link through to Kiwiblog, where they were talking about the US election results as they came in. The theme in the comments was that the working class are a drain on our tax dollars. I’m not sure what kind of education you need to join that elite club, but I’m pretty sure that charter schools won’t fix the problem.
Bill English again tried to blame the global recession on the $500 million blowout yesterday, even though many other countries that were impacted the most are doing a hell of a lot better than New Zealand. National will no doubt try to duck and cover about the unemployment statistics as well, although their usual meme is that “it’s all Labours fault” is a more likely excuse to be given in the house today. Or perhaps they will simply deny there’s a problem, and resort to their “National has created jobs” blather. Personally I don’t think their outright lies and obfuscations are going to fix the problem of growing unemployment in New Zealand though… Only a competent government that has the interests of the people in mind when formulating policy could do that.
Well, whatever he says, it will be damage-control spin in the House today from English – there’s an indication in qu 2 for today’s Question Time:
TODD McCLAY to the Minister of Finance: What steps is the Government taking to support jobs as part of its programme to build a more productive and competitive economy?
It’s Thursday Karol, so as usual Key, English, Bennett, and a couple of others with sticky questions will not be there as usual. And as usual there will be No hold over of questions and it will be either Joyce or Brownlee’s bullshit as usual.
Yeah, nah, until people start asking questions like:
Who really runs NZ, and just how corrupted is this place, then waiting for the fallout of the question, can people begin to wrap their heads around whats going on!
Until then keep scratching around wondering why the theatrics decend into deeper problems for our country!
Oh, if only the people would start demanding answers to the current hard questions! Will apathy continue still? Some responses I have so far seen to the latest slump in the economy and the terrible unemployment news, make it sound as though these matters are actually good news for the country!!
Yeah! There’s also the fact that National has borrowed New Zealand into a huge financial hole, and as a result of ratings agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor’s downgrading New Zealand’s credit ratings last year, we started paying more interest on those extensive government debts.
There’s been complete and utter financial incompetence from National on many levels.
New Zealand’s unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to a 13-year high as the pool of jobs shrank for a second straight quarter with a flat labour market in Auckland and fewer full-time workers. The kiwi dollar tumbled about half a US cent.
The unemployment rate rose half a percentage point to 7.3 per cent in the September quarter, the highest level since June 1999, according to Statistics New Zealand’s household labour force survey.
Economists surveyed by Reuters were picking a 0.1 percentage point fall to 6.7 per cent.
The economists prove themselves wrong – again. Wonder if this will get them to start questioning the theory that they hold so close to their hearts? NAH, not going to happen.
After they are completely decimated in 2014 and then in 2018 there will be nothing left to govern so that will be when they get back in. AND thats all they deserve. They are nothing but a bunch of self serving, wallet watching, bottom feeders. And that is the LABOUR FRONT bench except one. All blindly following Captain Stutterbum.
The Prime Minister is blaming Auckland for skewing a national survey which puts unemployment at its highest in 13 years.
Statistics New Zealand released the results of their Household Labour Force Survey this morning, showing 13,000 more unemployed people than three months ago and a total of 175,000 without jobs.
But John Key says the data is at odds with the Government’s own “anecdotal” evidence and says the Government has created 57,000 new jobs over the last 12-18 months.
So, Key’s gut feeling is that the numbers are wrong and that it’s all Auckland’s fault anyway.
Seriously, how the fuck does he think he can get away with BatBullShit?
If the survey was focussed on Auckland, then hey…isn’t Auckland the economic ‘powerhouse’ of NZ? And so if Auckaland is in the shit, then what about elsewhere? Oh, that’s right. Anecdotally overhearing people on the bus saying they will find out next week if they still have a job (printer) and knowing damned full well that early childhood is being gutted of qualified staff to make way for min. wage entrants. And as I sit here thinking it through, is it worth mentioning that I’m struggling to think of anyone I know from around here who has a full time job?
Draco – the problem is that he goes on and on getting away with it! Now Key talks about “anecdotal” evidence. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do people really buy into statements like that? Look up the meaning of “anecdote” – my dictionary defines it as “short usually amusing account of an incident” (in the Greek “unpublished” – meaning what we hear is only the sick scrambling within Key’s own mind) Well, he was short alright and amusing only in a highly bizarre kind of way. Fancy selecting this word, “anecdotes” in responding to the facts of unemployment!
If you haven’t seen those posts then a quick recap, all across the developed world we have seen stats showing that traffic and total distances travelled by people have not only stalled but fallen.
So, traffic volumes are falling across the world including NZ and
So I was looking through some other numbers yesterday and noticed a similar trend. In this case the numbers were the annual registration of new cars. These record the new registration of vehicles including those which are used imports. The numbers peaked in about 2005 and since have plummeted back to ~1995 levels.
Now it appears that we’re even buying less cars. National, of course, keep building new roads. Considering this data the question that comes to mind is: Who are they building them for?
For John Key to drive to his Omaha Beach beach house. And for all those John Key wannabe’s to drive their boats and flash cars to all them beaches and catch snappers. And for the ladies to drive to the country beach cafe and read the local real estate mag.
Who are they building these roads for? Well, Northland’s permanent population hasn’t grown in about the last twenty years so it isn’t for them. And Northland’s economy certainly hasn’t grown like that either so it isn’t for the economic activity. So that leaves all of that extra traffic basically coming out of Auckland for purposes other than either the people who live in Northland or the economic activity. Which leaves beaches.
The video below made my eyes leak a little. He is speaking with a panel on an American politcal show, dicussing among other things our MMP system and NZ’s view of American foreign policy at the time (Iraq war, East Timor)To hear him speak in such a wise, warm and down to earth way at this very point in time when it feels like we have shit raining down us really sums in my mind how much we have lost.
Unemployment reaches a thirteen-year record and Labour’s spokespotato on employment, the utterly, utterly useless Su’a William Sio, has nothing to say relating to his portfolio. Is he leaving it up to Shearer to issue another flimsy and banal “e-newsletter” to allow him to feel that his job has been done, albeit by another hopeless inadequate… or has he genuinely not even been aware that he should be DOING HIS FUCKING JOB?
That man should be making headlines, he should be embarrassing his opponent, he should be in the television studios, but no, he’s not. If he can stir himself out of bed, he’s campaigning to restrict basic human rights.
When the Hell is it going to get through to these guys?
Now assuming for the sake of argument that Shearer is a “nice guy” (which I doubt), he shouldn’t be. Since he hasn’t inspired any loyalty and verve in his front bench, they should damn well fear him and more specifically, they should fear his disapproval… but they don’t. He’s useless as a leader of a political party and they’re troughers, seeing the party as something that serves them, not something that serves the people with them as representatives.
Macmillan, Davidson and Nordemeyer figured it out for ourselves, right here in NZ, and the Savage Govt delivered it, starting with a Christmas bonus for every unemployed and poverty stricken person in NZ.
A brief reminder of the history of the ‘new deal’ by Trish Kahle and a stark reminder of what we are up against, and how much nastier things are set to become for the working class. If the above link doesn’t work, it’s from Steve Cowan’s “Against the Current” blog.
One of the disadvantages this time around is the ever burgeoning surveillance industry which will be a major weapon in the arsenal of the elite and their enforcers. The prisons are already being built to “house” those able to organise effective disssent. And thanks in part to the welfare state the government already has a mountain of personal information to use against anyone putting their head above the parapet.
….”After a decade of right-wing reaction and working class retreat, crisis led to an explosion–but I’m not talking about the revolutionary explosion of the Arab Spring, or the occupation of the Wisconsin state capitol by union members and their allies, or Occupy Wall Street. I’m talking about 1930.
A reporter for the New York World described March 6, a day that began with President Hoover claiming employment would rise and ended with more than 500,000 people in the streets of 25 US cities, like this: “Women struck in the face with blackjacks, boys beaten by gangs of seven and eight policemen, and an old man backed into a doorway and knocked down time after time…. One of [the women] fought savagely howling curses…. A detective ran up and while the policemen held her crashed his blackjack into her face three times before a man dragged her away.“………..
…….Much like the people who formed unemployed councils in the early years of the 1930s, the American working class finds itself in a barely contained free-fall. Living standards, which had been in decline since the 1970s, took a nose dive after the 2008 economic crash. Around the world, poor and working people have been blamed for a crisis they didn’t cause. And instead of making the banks and multinational corporations that caused the crisis pay for it, the ruling class–the 1%, as it were–are ramming through austerity packages around the globe, causing their profits to spike while wages, benefits, and real employment numbers continue to drop. Now, to add insult to injury, American politicians, Democrat and Republican, have put the social welfare policies on which millions of American rely on the block to receive the budget axe. The same policies for which women were beaten by policemen in the streets of New York, for which tenants defied eviction orders, for which unemployed people and workers were shot at by gun thugs are being stripped away. Critically, not only will these austerity measures not fix the financial crisis, they will create a social catastrophe.
But if there’s one lesson we can learn from the struggles of the 1930s that culminated in, among other things, Social Security, the cornerstone of the too-meager American social safety net, it’s this: FDR might have signed the SSA into law, but it was the people like us–the workers, the farmers, the unemployed–who created it….”
As I said before they will need to be voted out in the biggest bloodletting ever. Then Maybe in 2018 they can rebuild, and try to pay for all the fuck ups and money pouring overseas. Because everything has been sold. And The fact that national sold the assets is not the biggest obscenity here, it’s the fact that Labour didn’t even lift a finger to stop them.
With these shock unemployment stats, Labour have just been handed a loaded political shotgun, yet the whole front bench seems to be content to sit and watch as Shearer peers down the barrel and tries to remove specks of dust with his tongue.
English actor/comedian, Clive Dunn has died aged 92. Most famous for his role as Corporal Jones in that classic of classics “Dad’s Army”. His most famous line “don’t panic”, at which point he always panicked. I think he was the last one of that wonderful 1970s TV comedy left alive. Apparently also a great Labour stalwart. RIP Clive Dunn.
Must be the last of the Dad’s Army crew too. Sad. I recommend that everyone try to track down at least an episode of that. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp would be worth one’s while too. Here’s to bumbling decency that actually makes its way through!
Key’s slip of the tongue for today, on Checkpoint, with regards to the increased unemployment rate and NACT’s economic plan: “we not going to change tact”.
nah, fuck that noise. GOP runs around with “put the white back in the whitehouse ” T-shirts and they can suck on a sack full of dicks for a while as far as I’m concerned.
faark. Over at kiwiblog they’ve pretty much decided that the Democrats are the real racists because they let all the damn Mexicans in, and they Mexicans are so racist they vote with the blacks, for the black, to steal all the white peoples money! Mercy!
If the dems do start going through electoral rolls stripping out white names or robocalling white neighborhoods telling them the election has been postponed, we’ll talk about the same sticks.
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
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While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, 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. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
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On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
Why Wilkinson should resign as Minister of Conservation as well.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/7920646/Wilkinson-shuns-farm-runoff-control-appeal
Could then become the Minister for Federated Farmers
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4569111/Ministers-step-in-on-DOC-lease
Worst Minister of Labour ever? Worst Minister of Conservation ever? Would have to run both close.
Feral related farmers
Crisis, what crisis?
Another 60 jobs go in manufacturing as kiwi company Dynamic Controls closes its Chch plant. This announcement comes two days after high tech company Rakon also laid off a similar number of workers and adds to the 40,000 jobs lost in manufacturing under this dismal Government. It almost makes me pine for the days when the National Party weren’t just anti-worker but were actively pro-business.
Just who do the Nats represent these days?
And unemployment to 7.3%
And it’s Keys own favorite The Labour Household Survey. The one he uses as a club to beat all other claims down with. Now that’s been turned into Fish… Sorry No Tequila
Worst in 13 years when bungling bill english was last finance minister.
175,000 unemployed!
175,000
new jobs promised!
Difference 350,000
Bennetts promise of 40,000 fewer on benifits into jobs
Hollow promises from hollw shallow party!
Who do Labour represent is a better question!
Its always been clear who the Nats represent, at least they are somewhat honest about it!
Imagine if the real figures were published!
Shearer and his puppeteers represent their own careers.
A truck with two (!) trailers crashed on the Desert Road. Another truck crashed near Dunedin.
Oh lets have more trucks on our roads AND lets also let trucking companies write their own Warrants of Fitness.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7921868/Search-for-driver-after-truck-crash
And bigger trucks too don’t forget. Recently on some roads the weight limit has risen, I think, from 45 tonnes to 60 tonnes, and the length gone out.
Yeah, this lot are clever there’s no doubt ………………….
Unfortunately people will get killed because of their cleverness with these trucking industry changes. Killed dead. Dead. Killed. Like Pike River. Dead.
Is that an increase in tonnage and length over and above those allowed for by the last Labour led government?
Don’t know all detail but increasing weight was brought up early in this government’s term and is now in place as I understand. I seem to recall there had been some changes prior to that too, under labour I guess.
I don’t really care who did it – the political philosophy behind these trucking industry changes has been a proven deadly failure at Pike River, as well as being behind finance company debacle and the leaky home monster. The philosophy needs amending quicksmart because these changes will lead to people being killed dead. It might be you. It might be me. If such an eventuality comes close to our bones then consequences will be brought to bear very personally to the politicians making these changes. I don’t know how the Pike River families keep themselves so calm. I would be knocking on Bill Birch’s door and Gerry Brownlee’s door. They did things which allowed these men to be killed dead. It is direct and personal.
Yeah, my comment wasn’t meant to infer any finger pointing. I’m just curious as to whether weight and length limits have been pushed out even further is all. And for the same reasons as yourself…it’s crap, dangerous and stupid and reflects a ‘de-human’ aspect of neoliberal market thinking.
Gerry Brownlee was talking about allowing for larger trucks to help with Chch but there was, IIRC, some discussion about allowing for bigger trucks in general. The Chch bit that Brownlee mentioned would, effectively, have become a trial period.
National brought in the legislation bill!
And Labour can build a strong case for reversing the changes.
And being well-prepared to counter-respond to any stupid trucking protest that tried to block up the main streets of the cities.
umm aahh yeahh … w… a… i … t… i… n… g…
tried = tries
(was thinking back to a few years back … ugh)
Yeah and the damage to roads is increasing with these heavy trucks and the cost of repair is continuing to go up as the rest of us road users have to put up with huge dips and more broken surfaces making the roads even more unsafe especially at night and in bad weather conditions when you can’t see those huge dips that lurch cars sideways out the lanes!
Nice work Jacinda Adern
It makes sense that organisations responsible for delivering programmes should make those programmes accessible to the 95% of the target population enrolled in them.
5% not enrolled in the Well Child check programme. That means that those people are likely to be in a difficult position in their lives and could be offered a helping hand with transport, a mentor that assists but isn’t authoritarian and in your face. Encourage autonomy, that is a given but let the service be there when needed with an offer to cope with say monthly checks for the child and a social chat with the parents.
Yep Bennet don’t care. None of them give a rats arse for you, me, your or my children.
And you can probably imagine when there’s a disaster, the rich pricks who owns it only want to know one thing, How much is it going to cost us. they don’t care how many of us are killed as long as they make their money.
I have been sent an email by a relative with Australian connections. This tells in an outraged tone about a Middle East mall owner who refused to allow the Anzac badges to be sold on his property. We don’t know the facts and it seems an example of trying to build prejudice over the internet. I guess this is how the anti feelings to any group that has been designated as contemptible can be spread. Half-truths, rumours, factual but isolated examples of behaviour deemed unacceptable. When did the sender stop beating his wife I wonder? Anyone can make up or magnify stuff and make trouble.
Didn’t know you could buy Anzac badges in the first place. And anyway – any retail outlet has a right to stock whatever the hell they want (within legal bounds). What if the guy was a pink coloured Australian who felt Anzac badges signified something of a glorification of war riding on supposed sentiments of remembrance?
That’s not denying your point about the internet promulgating bullshit and prejudice. Facebook is particularily pernicious in that respect (photo that could be from any context accompanied by an unverifiable text designed to get people all up in arms over whatever cause).
And the MSM does the same shit. youtube footage overlaid with ‘fitting’ commentary, for example all those reports pertaining to Syria where youtube images lacking identifying features reinforced somewhat spurious or dubioous ‘news’ claims being made in the voice overs.
Karl du Fresne bigot
Another favourite thing that right wing propagandist’s love to promote is elitism. They do this by trying to ensure the class structure of capitalism, which is characterized by the conflict between the haves and the have nots, does not change. Without the poor, the rich simply cannot stroke their egos and feel superior about their wealth. And as usual, the bigots believe thet best way to achieve this is to attack the poor…
Through some inexplicable lapse of sensiblity yesterday, I clicked a link through to Kiwiblog, where they were talking about the US election results as they came in. The theme in the comments was that the working class are a drain on our tax dollars. I’m not sure what kind of education you need to join that elite club, but I’m pretty sure that charter schools won’t fix the problem.
god bless their little socks…
Life in NZ just goes from one depressing statistic to another. Especially when i am attending to twitter. David Cunliffe has just tweeted:
And Bomber has tweeted just a short while ago:
When will we get an opposition with traction amongst more ordinary Kiwis?
And Scoop tweeted the link to the Press Release with the latest depressing stats:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1211/S00308/household-labour-force-survey-september-2012-qtr-key-facts.htm
Bill English again tried to blame the global recession on the $500 million blowout yesterday, even though many other countries that were impacted the most are doing a hell of a lot better than New Zealand. National will no doubt try to duck and cover about the unemployment statistics as well, although their usual meme is that “it’s all Labours fault” is a more likely excuse to be given in the house today. Or perhaps they will simply deny there’s a problem, and resort to their “National has created jobs” blather. Personally I don’t think their outright lies and obfuscations are going to fix the problem of growing unemployment in New Zealand though… Only a competent government that has the interests of the people in mind when formulating policy could do that.
Well, whatever he says, it will be damage-control spin in the House today from English – there’s an indication in qu 2 for today’s Question Time:
It’s Thursday Karol, so as usual Key, English, Bennett, and a couple of others with sticky questions will not be there as usual. And as usual there will be No hold over of questions and it will be either Joyce or Brownlee’s bullshit as usual.
Yeah, nah, until people start asking questions like:
Who really runs NZ, and just how corrupted is this place, then waiting for the fallout of the question, can people begin to wrap their heads around whats going on!
Until then keep scratching around wondering why the theatrics decend into deeper problems for our country!
Oh, if only the people would start demanding answers to the current hard questions! Will apathy continue still? Some responses I have so far seen to the latest slump in the economy and the terrible unemployment news, make it sound as though these matters are actually good news for the country!!
One would expect Mr Joyce to be up on his Shakespeare! If so, how has he overlooked the words “”comparisons are odorous”?
Of course he’ll blame that. He certainly won’t be taking responsibility for the fact that the blow-out is a direct consequence of his government cutting taxes for the rich.
Yeah! There’s also the fact that National has borrowed New Zealand into a huge financial hole, and as a result of ratings agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor’s downgrading New Zealand’s credit ratings last year, we started paying more interest on those extensive government debts.
There’s been complete and utter financial incompetence from National on many levels.
Great link btw DTB, well worth reading.
Hah, snap
And the NZHerald version:
The economists prove themselves wrong – again. Wonder if this will get them to start questioning the theory that they hold so close to their hearts? NAH, not going to happen.
Not good and uni is winding down and school leavers; unemployment will rise further.
It’ll be ok they can get jobs in Australia. Well, for a little while longer.
The 1% mums and dads don’t care because they have already got their kids summer jobs stitched up at their own or their mates’ workplaces.
After they are completely decimated in 2014 and then in 2018 there will be nothing left to govern so that will be when they get back in. AND thats all they deserve. They are nothing but a bunch of self serving, wallet watching, bottom feeders. And that is the LABOUR FRONT bench except one. All blindly following Captain Stutterbum.
To follow, even blindly, you have to exhibit signs of animation.
Captain Stutterbum does a good job for them to keep their bums on taxpayers’ paid seats and offices.
Key dismisses unemployment concerns
So, Key’s gut feeling is that the numbers are wrong and that it’s all Auckland’s fault anyway.
Seriously, how the fuck does he think he can get away with
BatBullShit?Its difficult to be surprised given what comes out his mouth, but this quotes should see him moved on!
Oh and perhaps a little fiddle with the numbers in time for December!
If the survey was focussed on Auckland, then hey…isn’t Auckland the economic ‘powerhouse’ of NZ? And so if Auckaland is in the shit, then what about elsewhere? Oh, that’s right. Anecdotally overhearing people on the bus saying they will find out next week if they still have a job (printer) and knowing damned full well that early childhood is being gutted of qualified staff to make way for min. wage entrants. And as I sit here thinking it through, is it worth mentioning that I’m struggling to think of anyone I know from around here who has a full time job?
Draco – the problem is that he goes on and on getting away with it! Now Key talks about “anecdotal” evidence. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do people really buy into statements like that? Look up the meaning of “anecdote” – my dictionary defines it as “short usually amusing account of an incident” (in the Greek “unpublished” – meaning what we hear is only the sick scrambling within Key’s own mind) Well, he was short alright and amusing only in a highly bizarre kind of way. Fancy selecting this word, “anecdotes” in responding to the facts of unemployment!
The Great Reset
So, traffic volumes are falling across the world including NZ and
Now it appears that we’re even buying less cars. National, of course, keep building new roads. Considering this data the question that comes to mind is: Who are they building them for?
“Who are they building them for?”
For John Key to drive to his Omaha Beach beach house. And for all those John Key wannabe’s to drive their boats and flash cars to all them beaches and catch snappers. And for the ladies to drive to the country beach cafe and read the local real estate mag.
Who are they building these roads for? Well, Northland’s permanent population hasn’t grown in about the last twenty years so it isn’t for them. And Northland’s economy certainly hasn’t grown like that either so it isn’t for the economic activity. So that leaves all of that extra traffic basically coming out of Auckland for purposes other than either the people who live in Northland or the economic activity. Which leaves beaches.
It’s for the beaches Draco.
Anyone know how to turn off sound on a single webpage? (it’s an online game that I want to leave open). Safari.
Today is the anniversary of Rod Donald’s death.
The video below made my eyes leak a little. He is speaking with a panel on an American politcal show, dicussing among other things our MMP system and NZ’s view of American foreign policy at the time (Iraq war, East Timor)To hear him speak in such a wise, warm and down to earth way at this very point in time when it feels like we have shit raining down us really sums in my mind how much we have lost.
http://blog.greens.org.nz/?p=25863
Donald was a massive loss for NZ. Thinking about what he might have brought to NZ politics in the last 7 years, very sad.
We are all drowning in keyshit.
Unemployment reaches a thirteen-year record and Labour’s spokespotato on employment, the utterly, utterly useless Su’a William Sio, has nothing to say relating to his portfolio. Is he leaving it up to Shearer to issue another flimsy and banal “e-newsletter” to allow him to feel that his job has been done, albeit by another hopeless inadequate… or has he genuinely not even been aware that he should be DOING HIS FUCKING JOB?
That man should be making headlines, he should be embarrassing his opponent, he should be in the television studios, but no, he’s not. If he can stir himself out of bed, he’s campaigning to restrict basic human rights.
When the Hell is it going to get through to these guys?
Now assuming for the sake of argument that Shearer is a “nice guy” (which I doubt), he shouldn’t be. Since he hasn’t inspired any loyalty and verve in his front bench, they should damn well fear him and more specifically, they should fear his disapproval… but they don’t. He’s useless as a leader of a political party and they’re troughers, seeing the party as something that serves them, not something that serves the people with them as representatives.
Yup. Welcome to somewhere we’d all rather not be.
Got it in one. We are paying these guys $150k+ per year- for what?
Just possibly, some fresh ideas on how to engage the unemployed thousands on useful community work…. you know, like FDR and the CCC in the New Deal?
DoC are having budgets cut all over the country – a good place to start?
forget the US New Deal.
Macmillan, Davidson and Nordemeyer figured it out for ourselves, right here in NZ, and the Savage Govt delivered it, starting with a Christmas bonus for every unemployed and poverty stricken person in NZ.
http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/an-election-day-history-lesson.html
A brief reminder of the history of the ‘new deal’ by Trish Kahle and a stark reminder of what we are up against, and how much nastier things are set to become for the working class. If the above link doesn’t work, it’s from Steve Cowan’s “Against the Current” blog.
One of the disadvantages this time around is the ever burgeoning surveillance industry which will be a major weapon in the arsenal of the elite and their enforcers. The prisons are already being built to “house” those able to organise effective disssent. And thanks in part to the welfare state the government already has a mountain of personal information to use against anyone putting their head above the parapet.
As I said before they will need to be voted out in the biggest bloodletting ever. Then Maybe in 2018 they can rebuild, and try to pay for all the fuck ups and money pouring overseas. Because everything has been sold. And The fact that national sold the assets is not the biggest obscenity here, it’s the fact that Labour didn’t even lift a finger to stop them.
Ah yeah, I’m hard pressed to see alternatives currently.
With these shock unemployment stats, Labour have just been handed a loaded political shotgun, yet the whole front bench seems to be content to sit and watch as Shearer peers down the barrel and tries to remove specks of dust with his tongue.
English actor/comedian, Clive Dunn has died aged 92. Most famous for his role as Corporal Jones in that classic of classics “Dad’s Army”. His most famous line “don’t panic”, at which point he always panicked. I think he was the last one of that wonderful 1970s TV comedy left alive. Apparently also a great Labour stalwart. RIP Clive Dunn.
http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/dad-s-army-star-clive-dunn-dies-video-5204921
Must be the last of the Dad’s Army crew too. Sad. I recommend that everyone try to track down at least an episode of that. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp would be worth one’s while too. Here’s to bumbling decency that actually makes its way through!
… as opposed to bungling banality.
Key’s slip of the tongue for today, on Checkpoint, with regards to the increased unemployment rate and NACT’s economic plan: “we not going to change tact”.
😆
Yep, you’re right, weka. It’s here.
heh
http://whitepeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com/
🙁
How sad.
http://gawker.com/5958673/unhinged-conservative-youtuber-goes-on-priceless-drunken-hyper+rant-over-obama-victory
lol – I love a good rant and that was well up there although I could only bother for 5 minutes. I’d like to make one of those one day.
racist arrogance that looks like
nah, fuck that noise. GOP runs around with “put the white back in the whitehouse ” T-shirts and they can suck on a sack full of dicks for a while as far as I’m concerned.
faark. Over at kiwiblog they’ve pretty much decided that the Democrats are the real racists because they let all the damn Mexicans in, and they Mexicans are so racist they vote with the blacks, for the black, to steal all the white peoples money! Mercy!
ok fair enough.
beat them with their own stick i suppose
It’s nothing like the stick they use v.
If the dems do start going through electoral rolls stripping out white names or robocalling white neighborhoods telling them the election has been postponed, we’ll talk about the same sticks.
what would jesus do though?
What that guy they did that Necromantic PR spell on way back in 30+- AD?
Gurgle-cough ….
They drank his blood and worshiped his death for 2000+ years M8! …..
“what would jesus do though?”
The black Jesus or the white Jesus?
Rock up to the Southern Baptist Convention with a TV crew and a can o’ whuppass?