Ed Milibanf today visited Scotland to campaign with Jim Murphy and zed Balls for votes for Labour votes. They attacked the SNP as usual and repeated the old refrain that Scotland was too wee, too poor and too stupid to have a real say in Westminstet or to govern themselves.
Here is a post on that visit by a blogger in The Scotsman.
Karinish
10/04/2015 8:10 PM GDT
Yes, there they all were today: all these “proud Scots”, out and about in force, desperate to convince us that we are a beggar nation, entirely dependent on English subsidy, without which we would face doom and disaster on an epic scale: the same message we have had from them for over half a century.
No attempt to explain why 300 years of blessed Union, as they would have it, has left us in such a parlous state. No attempt to explain why Scotland, alone among European nations of similar size and, arguably, less gifted resource wise, should be unable to offer its citizens a decent standard of public service. No attempt to explain why the massive bonus of North Sea oil revenues has left us a beggar nation.
Current polling evidence, which one can only hope is maintained, suggests that Scots have had enough of this nonsense. If we are in a bad state, it can only mean that the Union is not, in fact, beneficial or that Scots suffer from some unexplained defect that prevents them from doing what other nations are able to. You won’t get any Unionist politician willing to tell us which it is.
It’s time to put a stop to this, once and for all. Only full fiscal autonomy and access to all our resources, without exception, will prove or disprove Unionist propaganda.
Even if the beggar nation message being put about were genuine, there is never any effort to map out a better future. Why not? They seem almost proud of our inadequacy. We can only assume that it is a situation that suits the Unionist parties and why wouldn’t it? The Tories and Labour are content with the buggins turn system and the Lib Dems don’t really want third party competition.
The sooner they get the shock of their lives, the better. If they don’t, Scotland can look forward to beggar nation status for evermore. What genuinely proud Scot would vote for that?
From the early 20th century apparently and means to promote or publicise.
Interesting how words have fashion cycles.
I am thrilled that the term “passionate” is almost out of use. It was word that was hijacked by the corporate world a few decades ago. They polluted it’s meaning. It may still be on some old, yet to be updated CV’s.
In the meantime, National’s favourite pollster and spinner David Farrar is spruiking a new poll of his own which purports to demonstrate that the newspapers, their columnists and editorial writers have turned on National.
Yesterday, politics lecturer Bryce Edwards — who really should add Statistics 101 to his arsenal — gave great credence to Farrar’s attempt to “measure the orientation of newspapers towards political parties and the Government”. Edwards claimed the results show political journalists have been overwhelmingly negative to National.
In fact, Farrar is simply playing from the Dirty Politics playbook.
@Adam
Not only morally bankrupt this mornings NZH article states:-
The Government’s interest bill was 7.9 per cent or $200 million higher than a year ago, reflecting a $4 billion increase in gross debt to $87.5 billion and a $3.5 billion increase to $63.5 billion in net debt which excludes the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, student loans and other advances.
Less than 5 million people owe $63.5 million ? amazing.
Genter was interviewed yesterday saying that the government had no economic management credibility after failing to get its books out of deficit.
This is a newsflash for all lefties: the main way this government can get out of deficit is by slashing social services and hiking up regressive taxes. In NZ’s position of being in a chronic current account deficit, our government MUST borrow billions every year back into the country, or NZ will nosedive into a severe recession.
Lefties who push for NZ govt books to go back into surplus, IMO, know not what they are asking for.
Any NZ government, so long as they are presiding over a significant current account deficit which is sending billions of NZD out of our local economy into offshore accounts.
By taking more money out of the NZ economy i.e. out of households, and out of businesses, than they spent into it. Hence the government runs a surplus – which they crow about – while the private sector (including households) runs a deficit.
Yes indeed – a right wing government is likely to achieve this surplus by cutting social spending and by increasing regressive taxation. A left wing government who believes in orthodox economic thinking also has got very little ideological space but to follow a similar prescription, albeit a bit more socially considerate and well balanced. But it still ends up being cuts to schools, universities and hospitals albeit not as deep as what a right wing government would do.
If we get the basic understandings right, we have a chance of getting the more complex stuff right too, otherwise we end up with Labour governments advocating for raising the Super age, keeping regressive GST high and other ridiculous right wing-like proposals.
I don’t see many lefties “pushing” for government surplus. What people like Julie Anne Genter are highlighting is that this National-led government explicitly campaigned on the idea that being “better economic managers” would mean getting out of deficit faster.
I’m usually against buying into rightwing framing on economic issues, but the simple fact is one of National’s easiest-to-point-out weaknesses is making economic promises they never fulfil.
We should be glad they don’t fulfil that promise. And the Greens shouldn’t be confirming that mistaken understanding of economics that public sector deficits are bad for the nation’s economy.
We should – though I think their spending could have been far better directed.
But the simple, terrible fact of political communication is that “National ran a decade of deficits which was actually a good idea given the global economic situation following the 2008 GFC” has nowhere near the same impact as “National promised surpluses and didn’t deliver. Ergo National aren’t the brilliant economic managers they pretend to be.”
The thing is, the impact of political PR is not my job and I don’t much care for it.
I do however care about Lefties realising that reinforcing the priorities of neoliberal economists amongst the general voting population is absolutely the wrong thing to do, increases economic ignorance, and will come back to bite us in the arse.
I don’t see many lefties “pushing” for government surplus.
Maybe not many on the Left but the Labour Party certainly has been and are quite proud of the fact that they ran so many years of surplus in the 2000s. This despite the fact that all private profit comes from the government running a deficit. It is this latter that makes it imperative that governments stop borrowing money and just create it as they need it.
“the simple fact is one of National’s easiest-to-point-out weaknesses is making economic promises they never fulfil.”
Yep. And the slightly more complex fact is that great care must be taken to make sure the message is clearly about the ethical failure of breaking the promise, without implying there would be an economic virtue in keeping the promise.
Absolutely. It’s difficult, but not impossible. And our current crop of MPs don’t always pull it off. At the same time, I think we on the sidelines could be more helpful by recognising the strategy in play instead of jumping straight to “Julie Anne Genter is an idiot who thinks surpluses are good.”
For Sans Cle information.
Using last Monday’s exchange rate the average weekly wage rate in Australia for the first quarter of 2015 was $A1130/week. The average in New Zealand, when converted to Australian dollars was $A1109/week. The difference hasn’t vanished, quite, but it is down to $21/week or just under 2%.
I’m not surprised the left have stopped talking about it. Not a very nice statistic for them to want to talk about is it?
The figures are those published by the Australian and New Zealand Governments. Google will find the information for you if you really want to check it. You will have to do a little bit to get them talking about the same time period as the timing of some of the published details varies a bit.
Short version: you’re not convinced you added everything up properly, so avoided providing your source links in the hope that people will believe what you say without checking it.
Short Version.
You don’t understand what you would need to do.
You are too lazy to bother checking it.
The explanation and referencing all the source numbers and the necessary calculations would take longer to detail than the results.
You would complain that it was to difficult for you to follow.
You wouldn’t accept the results anyway because they don’t tie in with your own doctrinaire beliefs do they?
I got the average income figures from two sources for New Zealand Income.
In June 2014 the average weekly income for private sector workers (including O/T) was given as being $1015/week at an hourly rate of $26.29. The average hourly rate was $28.23 so I estimated the overall average as being (1015/26.29)*28.23 or $1090/week.
Those number came from here, although they are sourced from the Stats Dept. http://www.enz.org/new-zealand-salaries.html
I then got the latest hourly rate I could find. This was for December 2014, and I have assumed that it hasn’t changed. That rate was $28.77 and comes from here. http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/LabourMarketStatistics_MRDec14qtr.aspx
Correcting for this increase gives an estimated average weekly income of (1090/28.23)*28.77 or $1111/week.
This converts to an Australian dollar amount of $A1109/week using the record Australian dollar exchange rate I quoted.
The Australian average weekly earnings was sourced from here. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/wages
I rounded it to $1130. Again it is for the fourth quarter of 2014 and I have assumed it hasn’t changed.
There. It might not satisfy the strictest rules for econometric data collection but I don’t have months to spare and it won’t be too far out for a back of the envelope calculation.
It is, in a sense, something of a fake and I wouldn’t seriously try to argue for it being all good for people or that incomes are really the same in what they will buy.
Most of the improvement is due to the continued strengthening of the New Zealand dollar against the Australian one. In March 2011 the rate was 0.7269 and today it is 0.9813. I was putting a political argument and that is why I chose the highest value, that of the 4th April 2015 when it was 0.9977.
Now the Government is arguing, and I think justifiably, that the change vs the Australian dollar reflects the better economy we have compared to across the ditch.
However if you looked at the different incomes at PPP, rather than the market exchange rates, I don’t think they would look as close. At the market exchange rates I would guess that many locally produced goods are more expensive here than in OZ. Cars are one of the interesting exceptions. Cars still seem to cost much more over there than they do in New Zealand. It is because they still promote an indigenous car manufacturing sector. A lot of other locally produced things are cheaper though. They would cost similar amounts in both countries at a lower exchange rate than we have today.
Imported goods cost very similar amounts though so people’s money generally goes further at the current exchange rate level. Our unemployment rates, currently lower than Australia, don’t seem to be boosted by the supposed penalty to exporters of the exchange rate so I don’t think we would be any better by trying to force it down.
What I’m worried about is whether the dollar in particular is signifying that Aus and maybe China are “levelling down” compared with us, rather than NZ improving. And we rely on our exports. Because then there will be a lag and we’ll start getting even worse off with no reserves to get out of it again.
It would be nice to see the figuring you used – the relative income measures, what you estimated the exchange rate as, how each source was gathered (partial survey vs census). And that’s before we even start checking whether you
The explanation and referencing all the source numbers and the necessary calculations would take longer to detail than the results
protip: ctrl+c
The fact that you also said You will have to do a little bit to get them talking about the same time period as the timing of some of the published details varies a bit. strongly implies that the devil is in the details. I mean, I know that no national party supporter has ever cherry-picked data with the intention of misleading people, but with multiple data sources it can be a cow to replicate someone else’s methodology, even if you don’t have to google it.
In the US, the effect of large corporations manipulating the tax system to avoid paying their share by using off-shore tax havens, accelerated depreciation, single tax break — writing off the value of executive stock options for tax purposes is clearly illustrated
in the data in the Citizens For Justice article.
“This CTJ report illustrates how profitable Fortune 500 companies in a range of sectors of the U.S. economy have been remarkably successful in manipulating the tax system to avoid paying even a dime in tax on billions of dollars in U.S. profits. These 15 corporations’ tax situations shed light on the widespread nature of corporate tax avoidance. As a group, the 15 companies paid no federal income tax on $23 billion in profits in 2014, and they paid almost no federal income tax on $107 billion in profits over the past five years. All but two received federal tax rebates in 2014, and almost all paid exceedingly low rates over five years.
Just one of 15 big Co.s illustrates the trend:
2014 2010-14 Totals
$-millions US profit Fed Tax Rate US profit Fed Tax Rate
Time Warner 4,296 –26 –0.6% 21,069 3,09 14.7%
Not only that but he kept going on about a need for safe, non-addictive drug which we have several off already.
LSD, Ecstasy and cannabis all have extremely low health risks when used responsibly (and if it comes from a good, clean source and is unadulterated). It was a very strange interview.
Dunno, but it’s not an easy one to abuse like cannibus. If you have a full time job it is easy to smoke a joint every night but a lot tougher to abuse LSD or E nightly, or even weekly.
Not to mention that despite its illegality you can still quite easily obtain said substances. But the point I was making was more around Bowden insistence that he can make a non-addictive and non-harmful drug but we already have those so why would one be illegal and the other legal. And it was a fucking strange interview
There’s no such thing as a non-harmful drug, all drugs have side effects, the poison is in the dose etc.
I wouldn’t consider lsd easy to get, when compared to something like alcohol or cigarettes (prohibition is effective to an extent).
Abuse isn’t just how often you can take a drug, it’s also whether said drug is a good match for any individual. Lots of people shouldn’t take psychedelics, and those that do need to learn how to do so safely.
A lot would depend on how such a drug were decriminalised. I’ve been reading a bit about what’s happening in Colorado since cannabis was legal, lots of problems because dak is being marketed to expert users but is being used by newbies. Plus really stupid shit like selling cannabis in a candy bar and then kids eating them and ending up in a and e. Lots of overdosing. Main point being, there’s a lot of scope for the ignorance and stupidity of users, not to mention commerce, and that’s not even getting to the many people whose psyche’s aren’t suited to bring out of it.
I would never advocate for legalisation of LSD – just contrasting it with the unusual position we have in NZ of someone being able to bring a drug to market which has the same risk and addictive potential a LSD under this new law while LSD remains not just illegal but as illegal as Heroin and Cocaine.
Low risk as in zero physical harm potential (LSD is completely clean on the body) and non-addictive. As far mental health is concerned I think it is on par with cannabis…but don’t quote me on that.
I would be curious to know why anyone would consider LSD would be considered high risk to be honest.
The physiological impact of LSD is virtually nil. And books on illegal drugs of abuse regularly list its addictive potential as nil. The effect is entirely psychological. Accident or injury is certainly possible and has occurred, though that danger is nowhere near as bad as say, alcohol.
As far as psychological risk, those with pre-existing serious psychological conditions should steer clear. But even for them the danger of a psychotic episode is statistically less than cannabis or amphetamines. Otherwise a user who is well prepared should be fine.
Psychiatrists who specialized in LSD treatment in the first half of the 60s documented thousands of LSD sessions. They reported high success rates with alcoholism in particular, and found that in comfortable, friendly, supportive environments less than 1% had overly anxious or fearful reactions. Of that number, all were able to be calmed down, with supportive words. They declared it very safe. (The CIA scientists who at the same time were force-feeding it to unwitting subjects in an interrogation room while shining a light in their eyes and telling them they were going crazy and and that they were dying, came to very different conclusions.)
By any objective measure alcohol is a high risk drug, and LSD is a low risk drug. That is a statistical fact. So my question for you weka, is why would you doubt it?
I have met, and heard of people who used acid much too often in an addictive manner. But they are very rare, and usually have issues they are trying to hide from. For the vast majority, an acid trip is a heavy duty experience that requires some time to psychologically prepare for and to subsequently process – there’s no hurry to do it again. Terence McKenna, who was a well known high dose explorer, said that once or twice a year was enough for him. And also that for cannabis, more than once a week was overdoing it.
Plus the tolerance action is very different to other kinds of drugs. You would need to double the dose if you want to trip again within a few days.
Sadly, today the psychedelic drugs are lumped in with the dangerous narcotics as ‘intoxicants’. But that’s not how the shamanic cultures of old saw them. For them they were teachers, healers, sacred gifts from the gods. There was no ‘abuse’.
Unfortunately many young people do indeed take them as intoxicants, to get high and have a laugh. That is because of their ignorance based on received cultural stereotyping and misinformation regarding them. They are told it is an intoxicant, so that’s what they think it is. But when used responsibly, with respect, preparation, and proper intent, it can be a valuable, and very safe (but challenging), personal experience. As usual, the idiots ruin it for everyone. Legalization within the juvenile binge drinking mindset here in NZ for example, would be problematic I’m sure.
There is currently a new wave of research in these drugs regarding their value in treating amongst other things PTSD and drug addiction. There is healing here.
But hey, what would we want with a weirdo drug like that when we have something as awesomely toxic, dangerous, deadly, addictive and socially damaging as alcohol? Who else is getting drunk tonite?! Woo-hoo!
More to the point: is the question of whether or not the general public would use LSD responsibly a matter for the criminal justice system to deal with? I’ve yet to see a sensible argument for “Yes.”
@TheContrarian yes it was quite odd. Like how he kept talking about a totally safe non-addictive drug, but no comment about what kind of high it might produce. I.e., it sounded a lot like a ‘watch this space’ marketing ploy to me.
Anything that makes you feel good, and that’s surely the point of taking recreational drugs, can be addictive. Look at the countless hordes addicted to drooling on the couch watching endless hours of brainless TV. An activity now known to have an effect on the brain similar to narcotic sedation.
Any rehab worker knows that the physical part of a drug addiction, (tolerance/withdrawl), is nothing compared to the psychological part. So to claim the possibility of a drug can gets you high but cannot be addictive, is nonsensical.
“Psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland found that after just 30 seconds of watching television the brain begins to produce alpha waves, which indicates torpid (almost comatose) rates of activity. Alpha brain waves are associated with unfocused, overly receptive states of consciousness. A high frequency alpha waves does not occur normally when the eyes are open. In fact, Mulholland’s research implies that watching television is neurologically analogous to staring at a blank wall.
I should note that the goal of hypnotists is to induce slow brain wave states. Alpha waves are present during the “light hypnotic” state used by hypno-therapists for suggestion therapy.”
Without going into the impressive sounding scientific complexities of the issue, I can confirm the existence of the sedative effects of TV. My dear old late Mum could only watch television for a period of 5 minutes without falling into a deep slumber. We would have been happy to leave her in this vegetative state except that her voluminous snoring distracted us from our viewing. A brother, who learnt to mimic this historical circumstance with total accuracy, had to be banned from doing so for fear one of us would die laughing.
Addiction that involves distinct physiological pathways and thus withdrawal is a useful concept though, and I think it’s too much of a generalisation to say psychological addiction is worse. How much of both is due to the stress of drugs being illegal and addicts bring treated like shit by society?
Presumably Bowden is looking at drugs that don’t have obvious addictive pathways like opiates or alcohol.
I thought he was interesting, had some good ideas, but was too youth culture for me. The whole we can set up free clinics with specialists to help those with a tendency to addiction or abuse was either incredibly naive or marketing spin (albeit with good intentions). Lisa Owen’s questions were too reactionary (and she looked really tired)
“Addiction that involves distinct physiological pathways and thus withdrawal is a useful concept though, and I think it’s too much of a generalisation to say psychological addiction is worse. How much of both is due to the stress of drugs being illegal and addicts bring treated like shit by society?”
What I meant is that the psychological aspect of an addiction is tougher to beat than the physical withdrawal aspect.
Recovering alcoholics and opiate addicts typically speak of a moment of epiphany, when a sudden shift in self-perspective towards their addiction motivated them to quit successfully where previously they had failed. Note too, that these people often call themselves recovering addicts even after being sober for years.
It’s true that a serious drug addiction will physically alter reward pathways in the brain itself, and those changes remain long after the more obvious withdrawal symptoms are gone. But fighting against the temptation to relapse is still a psychological battle, particularly in times of stress.
First you get sober. Then somehow make it through withdrawal. Then comes the hard part. Sure the withdrawal stage can be tough, but at all stages the battle is psychological. It’s about accepting your problem, accepting the solution, motivation, willpower, and determination.
along with the problems their addiction has caused, the ex-addict also has to face the issues that caused them to spiral out of control in the first place.
it’s damn tough but living like a sober human is better than living in an unreal state, enslaved by a demonic force.
matt’s comments echo those of russell brand. drug abuse shouldn’t be a criminal issue it should be a health issue. i don’t know what decriminalisation would look like but presumably class A drugs would still be tightly controlled..
Last week I reported on a great strike in Ireland, as 6,000 Dunnes Stores workers struck for more (and more secure) hours, job security, better pay and union recognition.
The strike was a big success.
The employer, however, has responded with harassment, victimisation, intimidation.
MR probably won’t be back soon by the sound of it, but at least he won’t be prevented from doing so if he chooses. I haven’t heard from PU, but imagine he will be back tomorrow. Thanks for your daily support of this action, though this week has been a bit lower key. I was actually surprised how long it took other commenters to just ignore this picket-line and wait us out.
The; blog-commenter union, proposal seems to have been a failure. It might have been better to have gone with my original analogy of moderators being; Judge, Jury & Executioner, in their banning decisions. So that it might be an improvement if commenters could volunteer for jury-duty somewhere in the process. However, I thought that came to close to the; “telling us how to run our site”, ban mine.
So, I’ll stop the vigil tomorrow and return to occasional commenting. The lack of resolution for underlying issues is a bit problematic though. There’s nothing to stop some similar situation occurring again, and while I’ll probably join any action that results, I am unlikely to take the lead in publicizing it again. It seems the right thing to have done; noisy protests draw more attention than silent nonparticipation. But slogans and analogies hinder conversations as much as they aid expression.
I think the action was worth taking. It certainly drew people’s attention to the issues and grievances…and the fact that certain important contributors to this site were not happy and prepared to go on a boycott.
However I agree with you that nothing definitive has come out of this for conflict resolution. I admire your cool headed attempts at discussing the issues and conflict resolution…and your picket stance….It was a pleasure to join you on this online …lol
“It might have been better to have gone with my original analogy of moderators being; Judge, Jury & Executioner, in their banning decisions. So that it might be an improvement if commenters could volunteer for jury-duty somewhere in the process. However, I thought that came to close to the; “telling us how to run our site”, ban mine.”
The problem I have is that you wanted collective action but appeared to not be listening to what many people were saying. I think you really have no idea what it is that you are proposing and how that would work for the standard’s operational structure and the people running the place, and consequentally how that would affect the site. I commented a number of times on this and you didn’t engage, so it looks like you had this personal idea that you thought everyone else should support. That’s not unionism or working collectively.
And another shock to the system of Bill English and other National supporters regarding housing:
Mr. Crook and his family might be the extreme, but they are the new model of modern Canadian life – urban, minimal and connected to their community. He doesn’t see their lifestyle as cramped, or as a temporary phase, or second best to living in a detached house. Although living small is not for everyone, Mr. Crook says he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s so pleased with the arrangement that if someone gave him $1-million, he says he still wouldn’t buy a house. Instead, he would sock the money away.
That’s one thing. Not everyone wants to live in a detached house and I think most people would be more than happy to live in an apartment block.
Then there’s this:
The Center on Everyday Lives of Families at the University of California released a study that looked at the habits of 32 middle-class, double-income families. Over a four-year period, ethnographers studied how the families related to their living spaces during waking hours. They found that regardless of the size of house, the families spent nearly all their time in a space of around 400 sq. ft., almost exclusively in the kitchen, family room and dining room. The rest of the house was almost never used. The average backyard use by the children was only 40 minutes a week. Parents used the outdoor space 15 minutes a week. They discovered that while we crave abundant space, we rarely use it.
What’s the point of having all that space if you don’t use it?
Considering that they’re not making any more land and that we need to decrease the sprawl of our cities then we do need to consider the use of land and when it’s not used for anything or not. There’s also the idea that shared space would not only be used more but also improve community and socialisation to be considered.
Medium to high rise buildings with good parks are a better idea than everyone trying to have their own, barely used, bloody park.
Medium to high rise buildings with good parks are a better idea than everyone trying to have their own, barely used, bloody park.
In close proximity to city centres, yes. Auckland is one of the few places where people living near a city centre expect and demand to live in a house. Most of us don’t live in Auckland, however, and expect the downsides of living in small towns to have upsides in terms of square meterage.
Also: I’ve lived in apartments sans kids (no probs) and with kids (fucking royal pain in the arse). If you have kids, a house with garden wins hands-down every time.
Also: I’ve lived in apartments sans kids (no probs) and with kids (fucking royal pain in the arse). If you have kids, a house with garden wins hands-down every time.
That’s what the “good parks” are for and as they’ll be playing with more people than you get in a detached house they’ll get better socialisation as well. I’d say that the adults supervising the kids would also get better socialisation.
Detached housing has, IMO, helped increase the isolation and disengagement that we see nowadays.
Do you have kids Draco? Because believe me, as the father of a 18 month old daughter, living in an apartment would be fucking nightmare. It’s a hell of a lot easier and more efficient to open the door to the backyard instead of packing lunch, nappies, pram and associated paraphernalia for a quick trip to the park while spending the entire time running around after them in an open space.
Basically, if you don’t have a child you can’t speak dick on the subject.
And yet the article that started all this was about a family of 7 living in an apartment. Two adults and five children with the adults there claiming that it’s all wonderful and a lot easier.
@PM – agree. I fucking hate apartment living and use my outdoor space often for BBQ’s, gardening, lounging and reading etc.
I did the apartment thing once and hated it with a passion. I was also a bit of a menace to the neighbours with my loud techno and late night habits. I’m much more suited to stand-alone housing.
Yeah me too. In fact I hate socialising inside, especially in other peoples’ houses with all their shit everywhere and it’s always too warm. Fuck that.
I was also a bit of a menace to the neighbours with my loud techno and late night habits.
Considering the loud parties that I’ve been to and the neighbours have I don’t think that makes any difference. In other words, your loud techno music is irritating the neighbours anyway 😛
So when some Green leader candidates can’t asnwer some quetsions about exact inflation rates they are mocked for 2 days. When Groser offers a pre prepared answer that turns out to be wrong, it is a gaffe?
Now it might not have been a lie (not a proveable one) , but it was more than a gafee, it was completely wrong from the Minister who ought to know. Incompetent? Disinterested to find the right answer?
Had my new Tui billboard banner out on the street today at a VERY busy intersection:
Ak CCO$
= less rates
& more democracy yeah right
Auckland Council (CORPORATE) Controlled Organisations (CCOs) have been the mechanism for the corporate takeover of the Auckland region.
This John Key led National Coalition Government back in 2009 used the Rogernomic$ blitzkrieg technique of railroading through Parliament the underpinning Auckland $upercity (for the 1%) legislation, thus depriving citizens and ratepayers our lawful right to a BINDING poll.
However – do not ask me to have a frontal lobotomy.
The FACT is that it was arguably the most important recommendation of the LABOUR Government appointed Royal Commission on Auckland Regional Governance – that major infrastructure and trading functions be undertaken by Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs).
Although no CCO had ever been subjected to a ‘cost-benefit’ analysis.
FACT.
I know because I asked, and have the OIA replies to prove this.
Is Phil Goff going to campaign as a 2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate to abolish ALL CCOs?
(I am.)
If not – nothing will fundamentally change for the majority of Auckland citizens and ratepayers …..
It’s a sad case of them being completely unprotected. How we still have a law that lets people commercially fish for a threatened native eel I don’t know.. But there must be countless losses of longfins every week through fishing. There’s also the water quality problem now from farming too, so they’re up against it.
Mate that photo made me feel sick to my guts ffs this makes my blood boil. This species should be fully protected and treated as the taonga it is, end of story.
Abbott Govt to save millions of dollars in upcoming budget by cutting child benefit from people who opt not to vaccinate their children. The benefits are worth up to $2100 per child. Pretty low to use vaccination status to discriminate against children.
”Under changes that could save more than $50 million a year, Social Services Minister Scott Morrison is preparing to scrap a “conscientious objection” provision which allows anti-vaccination parents to still claim welfare benefits including childcare assistance and Family Tax Benefit A.
”Many pro-vaccination groups and doctors are expected to welcome the policy as a way of further encouraging people to vaccinate their children, but other immunisation policy experts argue it would not lift immunisation rates and would discourage discussions about vaccination with doctors.”
It’s always about exercising control and power over the disadvantaged. I suspect that we won’t hear admirers of the orthodox establishment complaining about Abbott’s move to hurt children.
I agree in general but get the feeling in this case it’s driven by cost cutting. I don’t follow Australian politics that closely, but the Govt had huge problems passing health measures (like GP charges) in the last budget, so it could be interesting to see what happens with this, especially if independents are needed to pass the budget.
Hmmm.
Many conditions on the vaccination schedule in NZ have increased transmission and harm in lower socioeconomic conditions (i.e. overcrowding and other detrimental conditions). So in order to punish parents who refuse to vaccinate (which, in principle, I lean towards favouring) Abbott will lower the socioeconimic conditions of unvaccinated children.
And I suspect the motive is purely to find an excuse to lower direct costs of welfare payments, and ignore the longer term increases in costs caused by both vaccine-preventable conditions and general poverty.
Thanks Murphey, I had heard this change had been mooted but wasn’t aware it had moved this far ahead. Dangerous stuff.
The Australian move seems like opportunistic leveraging off the recent vaccine debate but the Californian bill is a fundamental shift and removal of patient rights.
I would see the Australian situation being used as a ‘softening up’ exercise by attacking a small and vulnerable group and then seeking to widen the scope
Paula Bennett floated the same tactic in NZ a few years ago
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
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 ...
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. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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Sheesh!
Must be doing something right to get mentioned two mornings in a row on the Paul Henry show?
Sometimes your worst enemy can be your best friend?
(Sort of thing …)
Pity about the factual accuracy on yesterday’s piece regarding my rates case with Auckland Council.
Picking on the WRONG woman Paul Henry ….
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
He is very repetitive Penny
Ed Milibanf today visited Scotland to campaign with Jim Murphy and zed Balls for votes for Labour votes. They attacked the SNP as usual and repeated the old refrain that Scotland was too wee, too poor and too stupid to have a real say in Westminstet or to govern themselves.
Here is a post on that visit by a blogger in The Scotsman.
Karinish
10/04/2015 8:10 PM GDT
Yes, there they all were today: all these “proud Scots”, out and about in force, desperate to convince us that we are a beggar nation, entirely dependent on English subsidy, without which we would face doom and disaster on an epic scale: the same message we have had from them for over half a century.
No attempt to explain why 300 years of blessed Union, as they would have it, has left us in such a parlous state. No attempt to explain why Scotland, alone among European nations of similar size and, arguably, less gifted resource wise, should be unable to offer its citizens a decent standard of public service. No attempt to explain why the massive bonus of North Sea oil revenues has left us a beggar nation.
Current polling evidence, which one can only hope is maintained, suggests that Scots have had enough of this nonsense. If we are in a bad state, it can only mean that the Union is not, in fact, beneficial or that Scots suffer from some unexplained defect that prevents them from doing what other nations are able to. You won’t get any Unionist politician willing to tell us which it is.
It’s time to put a stop to this, once and for all. Only full fiscal autonomy and access to all our resources, without exception, will prove or disprove Unionist propaganda.
Even if the beggar nation message being put about were genuine, there is never any effort to map out a better future. Why not? They seem almost proud of our inadequacy. We can only assume that it is a situation that suits the Unionist parties and why wouldn’t it? The Tories and Labour are content with the buggins turn system and the Lib Dems don’t really want third party competition.
The sooner they get the shock of their lives, the better. If they don’t, Scotland can look forward to beggar nation status for evermore. What genuinely proud Scot would vote for that?
Fran O’Sullivan practically confirms that CampbellLive demotion is indeed politically motivated http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11430860
That’s a good article.
(Is spruiking the current verb du jour?)
That word is suddenly everywhere. I don’t what it means so had to look it up:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/spruik
From the early 20th century apparently and means to promote or publicise.
Interesting how words have fashion cycles.
I am thrilled that the term “passionate” is almost out of use. It was word that was hijacked by the corporate world a few decades ago. They polluted it’s meaning. It may still be on some old, yet to be updated CV’s.
Then they came for John Campbell. And what did you say?
Next, they go for ….
Quoting article:
My bold.
The word “mortgage” comes from the old French which means “death pledge”
So that explains this government – A death pledge for the next generation. Morally bankrupt, the Key government.
@Adam
Not only morally bankrupt this mornings NZH article states:-
The Government’s interest bill was 7.9 per cent or $200 million higher than a year ago, reflecting a $4 billion increase in gross debt to $87.5 billion and a $3.5 billion increase to $63.5 billion in net debt which excludes the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, student loans and other advances.
Less than 5 million people owe $63.5 million ? amazing.
Don’t worry about that. It’s small change. Instead, worry about private sector and household debt. Which in 2010 was several times higher at $315B.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/reviews-consultation/savingsworkinggroup/finalreport/19.htm
Genter was interviewed yesterday saying that the government had no economic management credibility after failing to get its books out of deficit.
This is a newsflash for all lefties: the main way this government can get out of deficit is by slashing social services and hiking up regressive taxes. In NZ’s position of being in a chronic current account deficit, our government MUST borrow billions every year back into the country, or NZ will nosedive into a severe recession.
Lefties who push for NZ govt books to go back into surplus, IMO, know not what they are asking for.
Do you mean this govt, or any NZ govt?
Any NZ government, so long as they are presiding over a significant current account deficit which is sending billions of NZD out of our local economy into offshore accounts.
How did various Labour govts get out of deficit?
By taking more money out of the NZ economy i.e. out of households, and out of businesses, than they spent into it. Hence the government runs a surplus – which they crow about – while the private sector (including households) runs a deficit.
was that by taxation and cutting social spending?
btw, thanks for answering what probably seem like very basic questions. I’m finding this pretty helpful.
Yes indeed – a right wing government is likely to achieve this surplus by cutting social spending and by increasing regressive taxation. A left wing government who believes in orthodox economic thinking also has got very little ideological space but to follow a similar prescription, albeit a bit more socially considerate and well balanced. But it still ends up being cuts to schools, universities and hospitals albeit not as deep as what a right wing government would do.
If we get the basic understandings right, we have a chance of getting the more complex stuff right too, otherwise we end up with Labour governments advocating for raising the Super age, keeping regressive GST high and other ridiculous right wing-like proposals.
+1
Lefties do not push for government books to go into surplus. Only righties do this but some righties pretend to be leftie when it suits them.
+1
orthodox financial indoctrination has seeped in everywhere
I don’t see many lefties “pushing” for government surplus. What people like Julie Anne Genter are highlighting is that this National-led government explicitly campaigned on the idea that being “better economic managers” would mean getting out of deficit faster.
I’m usually against buying into rightwing framing on economic issues, but the simple fact is one of National’s easiest-to-point-out weaknesses is making economic promises they never fulfil.
We should be glad they don’t fulfil that promise. And the Greens shouldn’t be confirming that mistaken understanding of economics that public sector deficits are bad for the nation’s economy.
We should be glad they don’t fulfil that promise.
We should – though I think their spending could have been far better directed.
But the simple, terrible fact of political communication is that “National ran a decade of deficits which was actually a good idea given the global economic situation following the 2008 GFC” has nowhere near the same impact as “National promised surpluses and didn’t deliver. Ergo National aren’t the brilliant economic managers they pretend to be.”
The thing is, the impact of political PR is not my job and I don’t much care for it.
I do however care about Lefties realising that reinforcing the priorities of neoliberal economists amongst the general voting population is absolutely the wrong thing to do, increases economic ignorance, and will come back to bite us in the arse.
Maybe not many on the Left but the Labour Party certainly has been and are quite proud of the fact that they ran so many years of surplus in the 2000s. This despite the fact that all private profit comes from the government running a deficit. It is this latter that makes it imperative that governments stop borrowing money and just create it as they need it.
Perhaps that is why they say nothing about this.
“the simple fact is one of National’s easiest-to-point-out weaknesses is making economic promises they never fulfil.”
Yep. And the slightly more complex fact is that great care must be taken to make sure the message is clearly about the ethical failure of breaking the promise, without implying there would be an economic virtue in keeping the promise.
Indeed, felix. That is very intelligent advice.
Absolutely. It’s difficult, but not impossible. And our current crop of MPs don’t always pull it off. At the same time, I think we on the sidelines could be more helpful by recognising the strategy in play instead of jumping straight to “Julie Anne Genter is an idiot who thinks surpluses are good.”
Agree. She and Meteria are pointing out the hypocrisy in National’s claim, the dishonesty not the integrity of the goal.
Yep totes. I definitely don’t mean to imply anything like that about Genter, she’s awesome.
No, that was more a response to CR’s comments about Genter “reinforcing neoliberal ideas”.
Agreed, and remember the rhetoric about catching up to Australian income standards (or was it living standards?). All abuzz a few years ago.
For Sans Cle information.
Using last Monday’s exchange rate the average weekly wage rate in Australia for the first quarter of 2015 was $A1130/week. The average in New Zealand, when converted to Australian dollars was $A1109/week. The difference hasn’t vanished, quite, but it is down to $21/week or just under 2%.
I’m not surprised the left have stopped talking about it. Not a very nice statistic for them to want to talk about is it?
The figures are those published by the Australian and New Zealand Governments. Google will find the information for you if you really want to check it. You will have to do a little bit to get them talking about the same time period as the timing of some of the published details varies a bit.
Short version: you’re not convinced you added everything up properly, so avoided providing your source links in the hope that people will believe what you say without checking it.
Good luck with that.
Short Version.
You don’t understand what you would need to do.
You are too lazy to bother checking it.
The explanation and referencing all the source numbers and the necessary calculations would take longer to detail than the results.
You would complain that it was to difficult for you to follow.
You wouldn’t accept the results anyway because they don’t tie in with your own doctrinaire beliefs do they?
I think I’d just like to see them, thanks. So far all you’ve shown is that you know how to type.
Alright, just for you I will sketch out the reasoning.
The exchange rate used was 0.9978. It is reported here
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11428614
I got the average income figures from two sources for New Zealand Income.
In June 2014 the average weekly income for private sector workers (including O/T) was given as being $1015/week at an hourly rate of $26.29. The average hourly rate was $28.23 so I estimated the overall average as being (1015/26.29)*28.23 or $1090/week.
Those number came from here, although they are sourced from the Stats Dept.
http://www.enz.org/new-zealand-salaries.html
I then got the latest hourly rate I could find. This was for December 2014, and I have assumed that it hasn’t changed. That rate was $28.77 and comes from here.
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/LabourMarketStatistics_MRDec14qtr.aspx
Correcting for this increase gives an estimated average weekly income of (1090/28.23)*28.77 or $1111/week.
This converts to an Australian dollar amount of $A1109/week using the record Australian dollar exchange rate I quoted.
The Australian average weekly earnings was sourced from here.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/wages
I rounded it to $1130. Again it is for the fourth quarter of 2014 and I have assumed it hasn’t changed.
There. It might not satisfy the strictest rules for econometric data collection but I don’t have months to spare and it won’t be too far out for a back of the envelope calculation.
well, it all depends on the average hours worked to get that average weekly income, doesn’t it.
Seriously, if you’re correct, why isn’t national braying from the rooftops that they’ve actually done something key promised?
It is, in a sense, something of a fake and I wouldn’t seriously try to argue for it being all good for people or that incomes are really the same in what they will buy.
Most of the improvement is due to the continued strengthening of the New Zealand dollar against the Australian one. In March 2011 the rate was 0.7269 and today it is 0.9813. I was putting a political argument and that is why I chose the highest value, that of the 4th April 2015 when it was 0.9977.
Now the Government is arguing, and I think justifiably, that the change vs the Australian dollar reflects the better economy we have compared to across the ditch.
However if you looked at the different incomes at PPP, rather than the market exchange rates, I don’t think they would look as close. At the market exchange rates I would guess that many locally produced goods are more expensive here than in OZ. Cars are one of the interesting exceptions. Cars still seem to cost much more over there than they do in New Zealand. It is because they still promote an indigenous car manufacturing sector. A lot of other locally produced things are cheaper though. They would cost similar amounts in both countries at a lower exchange rate than we have today.
Imported goods cost very similar amounts though so people’s money generally goes further at the current exchange rate level. Our unemployment rates, currently lower than Australia, don’t seem to be boosted by the supposed penalty to exporters of the exchange rate so I don’t think we would be any better by trying to force it down.
What I’m worried about is whether the dollar in particular is signifying that Aus and maybe China are “levelling down” compared with us, rather than NZ improving. And we rely on our exports. Because then there will be a lag and we’ll start getting even worse off with no reserves to get out of it again.
It would be nice to see the figuring you used – the relative income measures, what you estimated the exchange rate as, how each source was gathered (partial survey vs census). And that’s before we even start checking whether you
The explanation and referencing all the source numbers and the necessary calculations would take longer to detail than the results
protip: ctrl+c
The fact that you also said You will have to do a little bit to get them talking about the same time period as the timing of some of the published details varies a bit. strongly implies that the devil is in the details. I mean, I know that no national party supporter has ever cherry-picked data with the intention of misleading people, but with multiple data sources it can be a cow to replicate someone else’s methodology, even if you don’t have to google it.
In the US, the effect of large corporations manipulating the tax system to avoid paying their share by using off-shore tax havens, accelerated depreciation, single tax break — writing off the value of executive stock options for tax purposes is clearly illustrated
in the data in the Citizens For Justice article.
“This CTJ report illustrates how profitable Fortune 500 companies in a range of sectors of the U.S. economy have been remarkably successful in manipulating the tax system to avoid paying even a dime in tax on billions of dollars in U.S. profits. These 15 corporations’ tax situations shed light on the widespread nature of corporate tax avoidance. As a group, the 15 companies paid no federal income tax on $23 billion in profits in 2014, and they paid almost no federal income tax on $107 billion in profits over the past five years. All but two received federal tax rebates in 2014, and almost all paid exceedingly low rates over five years.
Just one of 15 big Co.s illustrates the trend:
2014 2010-14 Totals
$-millions US profit Fed Tax Rate US profit Fed Tax Rate
Time Warner 4,296 –26 –0.6% 21,069 3,09 14.7%
http://ctj.org/pdf/15corporations0315.pdf
No wonder the public service, schools, etc are struggling.
Anyone else watching Matt Bowden on The Nation? What a fucking mess – talking complete shit
Wouldn’t need shit like that going near the market if cannabis was decriminalised.
Not only that but he kept going on about a need for safe, non-addictive drug which we have several off already.
LSD, Ecstasy and cannabis all have extremely low health risks when used responsibly (and if it comes from a good, clean source and is unadulterated). It was a very strange interview.
Are you suggesting that the general public would use LSD responsibly if it were decriminalised?
Dunno, but it’s not an easy one to abuse like cannibus. If you have a full time job it is easy to smoke a joint every night but a lot tougher to abuse LSD or E nightly, or even weekly.
Not to mention that despite its illegality you can still quite easily obtain said substances. But the point I was making was more around Bowden insistence that he can make a non-addictive and non-harmful drug but we already have those so why would one be illegal and the other legal. And it was a fucking strange interview
Interesting to think through making lsd legal.
There’s no such thing as a non-harmful drug, all drugs have side effects, the poison is in the dose etc.
I wouldn’t consider lsd easy to get, when compared to something like alcohol or cigarettes (prohibition is effective to an extent).
Abuse isn’t just how often you can take a drug, it’s also whether said drug is a good match for any individual. Lots of people shouldn’t take psychedelics, and those that do need to learn how to do so safely.
A lot would depend on how such a drug were decriminalised. I’ve been reading a bit about what’s happening in Colorado since cannabis was legal, lots of problems because dak is being marketed to expert users but is being used by newbies. Plus really stupid shit like selling cannabis in a candy bar and then kids eating them and ending up in a and e. Lots of overdosing. Main point being, there’s a lot of scope for the ignorance and stupidity of users, not to mention commerce, and that’s not even getting to the many people whose psyche’s aren’t suited to bring out of it.
Haven’t seen the interview though 🙂
i bet phils head is exploding right now that he cant comment…
I know I shouldn’t but I was thinking the same thing 😉
I would never advocate for legalisation of LSD – just contrasting it with the unusual position we have in NZ of someone being able to bring a drug to market which has the same risk and addictive potential a LSD under this new law while LSD remains not just illegal but as illegal as Heroin and Cocaine.
Sure, although I’m not sure why you consider LSD to be a low risk drug.
We don’t know what kind of drug Bowden wants to make do we? (didn’t listen all the way to the end).
But yeah, there’s all sorts of weird anomalies in drug laws.
Low risk as in zero physical harm potential (LSD is completely clean on the body) and non-addictive. As far mental health is concerned I think it is on par with cannabis…but don’t quote me on that.
I would be curious to know why anyone would consider LSD would be considered high risk to be honest.
I cannot help but draw your attention to the weird story of Tusko the elephant that overdosed on LSD http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/05/30/science-vault-how-much-lsd-doe-1/
The physiological impact of LSD is virtually nil. And books on illegal drugs of abuse regularly list its addictive potential as nil. The effect is entirely psychological. Accident or injury is certainly possible and has occurred, though that danger is nowhere near as bad as say, alcohol.
As far as psychological risk, those with pre-existing serious psychological conditions should steer clear. But even for them the danger of a psychotic episode is statistically less than cannabis or amphetamines. Otherwise a user who is well prepared should be fine.
Psychiatrists who specialized in LSD treatment in the first half of the 60s documented thousands of LSD sessions. They reported high success rates with alcoholism in particular, and found that in comfortable, friendly, supportive environments less than 1% had overly anxious or fearful reactions. Of that number, all were able to be calmed down, with supportive words. They declared it very safe. (The CIA scientists who at the same time were force-feeding it to unwitting subjects in an interrogation room while shining a light in their eyes and telling them they were going crazy and and that they were dying, came to very different conclusions.)
By any objective measure alcohol is a high risk drug, and LSD is a low risk drug. That is a statistical fact. So my question for you weka, is why would you doubt it?
I have met, and heard of people who used acid much too often in an addictive manner. But they are very rare, and usually have issues they are trying to hide from. For the vast majority, an acid trip is a heavy duty experience that requires some time to psychologically prepare for and to subsequently process – there’s no hurry to do it again. Terence McKenna, who was a well known high dose explorer, said that once or twice a year was enough for him. And also that for cannabis, more than once a week was overdoing it.
Plus the tolerance action is very different to other kinds of drugs. You would need to double the dose if you want to trip again within a few days.
Sadly, today the psychedelic drugs are lumped in with the dangerous narcotics as ‘intoxicants’. But that’s not how the shamanic cultures of old saw them. For them they were teachers, healers, sacred gifts from the gods. There was no ‘abuse’.
Unfortunately many young people do indeed take them as intoxicants, to get high and have a laugh. That is because of their ignorance based on received cultural stereotyping and misinformation regarding them. They are told it is an intoxicant, so that’s what they think it is. But when used responsibly, with respect, preparation, and proper intent, it can be a valuable, and very safe (but challenging), personal experience. As usual, the idiots ruin it for everyone. Legalization within the juvenile binge drinking mindset here in NZ for example, would be problematic I’m sure.
There is currently a new wave of research in these drugs regarding their value in treating amongst other things PTSD and drug addiction. There is healing here.
But hey, what would we want with a weirdo drug like that when we have something as awesomely toxic, dangerous, deadly, addictive and socially damaging as alcohol? Who else is getting drunk tonite?! Woo-hoo!
More to the point: is the question of whether or not the general public would use LSD responsibly a matter for the criminal justice system to deal with? I’ve yet to see a sensible argument for “Yes.”
@TheContrarian yes it was quite odd. Like how he kept talking about a totally safe non-addictive drug, but no comment about what kind of high it might produce. I.e., it sounded a lot like a ‘watch this space’ marketing ploy to me.
Anything that makes you feel good, and that’s surely the point of taking recreational drugs, can be addictive. Look at the countless hordes addicted to drooling on the couch watching endless hours of brainless TV. An activity now known to have an effect on the brain similar to narcotic sedation.
Any rehab worker knows that the physical part of a drug addiction, (tolerance/withdrawl), is nothing compared to the psychological part. So to claim the possibility of a drug can gets you high but cannot be addictive, is nonsensical.
e mike. would love to read about the sedation impact of tv… got any links saved?
Here’s one. And here.
“Psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland found that after just 30 seconds of watching television the brain begins to produce alpha waves, which indicates torpid (almost comatose) rates of activity. Alpha brain waves are associated with unfocused, overly receptive states of consciousness. A high frequency alpha waves does not occur normally when the eyes are open. In fact, Mulholland’s research implies that watching television is neurologically analogous to staring at a blank wall.
I should note that the goal of hypnotists is to induce slow brain wave states. Alpha waves are present during the “light hypnotic” state used by hypno-therapists for suggestion therapy.”
Thanks e mike.
Without going into the impressive sounding scientific complexities of the issue, I can confirm the existence of the sedative effects of TV. My dear old late Mum could only watch television for a period of 5 minutes without falling into a deep slumber. We would have been happy to leave her in this vegetative state except that her voluminous snoring distracted us from our viewing. A brother, who learnt to mimic this historical circumstance with total accuracy, had to be banned from doing so for fear one of us would die laughing.
Addiction that involves distinct physiological pathways and thus withdrawal is a useful concept though, and I think it’s too much of a generalisation to say psychological addiction is worse. How much of both is due to the stress of drugs being illegal and addicts bring treated like shit by society?
Presumably Bowden is looking at drugs that don’t have obvious addictive pathways like opiates or alcohol.
I thought he was interesting, had some good ideas, but was too youth culture for me. The whole we can set up free clinics with specialists to help those with a tendency to addiction or abuse was either incredibly naive or marketing spin (albeit with good intentions). Lisa Owen’s questions were too reactionary (and she looked really tired)
“Addiction that involves distinct physiological pathways and thus withdrawal is a useful concept though, and I think it’s too much of a generalisation to say psychological addiction is worse. How much of both is due to the stress of drugs being illegal and addicts bring treated like shit by society?”
What I meant is that the psychological aspect of an addiction is tougher to beat than the physical withdrawal aspect.
Nicotine is considered the most addictive drug of all. Yet the physical withdrawal symptoms of going cold turkey last less than a week, and are not half as bad as a decent cold. “The most important component for full nicotine cessation is willpower.” Not patches.
Recovering alcoholics and opiate addicts typically speak of a moment of epiphany, when a sudden shift in self-perspective towards their addiction motivated them to quit successfully where previously they had failed. Note too, that these people often call themselves recovering addicts even after being sober for years.
It’s true that a serious drug addiction will physically alter reward pathways in the brain itself, and those changes remain long after the more obvious withdrawal symptoms are gone. But fighting against the temptation to relapse is still a psychological battle, particularly in times of stress.
First you get sober. Then somehow make it through withdrawal. Then comes the hard part. Sure the withdrawal stage can be tough, but at all stages the battle is psychological. It’s about accepting your problem, accepting the solution, motivation, willpower, and determination.
good comments.
along with the problems their addiction has caused, the ex-addict also has to face the issues that caused them to spiral out of control in the first place.
it’s damn tough but living like a sober human is better than living in an unreal state, enslaved by a demonic force.
matt’s comments echo those of russell brand. drug abuse shouldn’t be a criminal issue it should be a health issue. i don’t know what decriminalisation would look like but presumably class A drugs would still be tightly controlled..
you know that morphine = heroin right? the difference as to whether someone becomes addicted, is the social world in which the user lives.
Cheers ropata. The criminal status of drug use is one of the clearest examples of our collective irrationality and myth based policy.
Last week I reported on a great strike in Ireland, as 6,000 Dunnes Stores workers struck for more (and more secure) hours, job security, better pay and union recognition.
The strike was a big success.
The employer, however, has responded with harassment, victimisation, intimidation.
Here’s my update: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/after-the-strike-dunnes-stores-tries-punishing-and-victimising-workers/
ireland: a right wing paradise. burt and fisiani would love it
1 final day remaining until the scheduled return of; the last of the Rawsharkans.
You mean Phil?
yeah the place is not the same without Philip Ure and Murray the Rawshark…some of the best commentators
+100 Parsupial…look forward to Murray Rawshark returning and Philip Ure
Chooky
MR probably won’t be back soon by the sound of it, but at least he won’t be prevented from doing so if he chooses. I haven’t heard from PU, but imagine he will be back tomorrow. Thanks for your daily support of this action, though this week has been a bit lower key. I was actually surprised how long it took other commenters to just ignore this picket-line and wait us out.
The; blog-commenter union, proposal seems to have been a failure. It might have been better to have gone with my original analogy of moderators being; Judge, Jury & Executioner, in their banning decisions. So that it might be an improvement if commenters could volunteer for jury-duty somewhere in the process. However, I thought that came to close to the; “telling us how to run our site”, ban mine.
So, I’ll stop the vigil tomorrow and return to occasional commenting. The lack of resolution for underlying issues is a bit problematic though. There’s nothing to stop some similar situation occurring again, and while I’ll probably join any action that results, I am unlikely to take the lead in publicizing it again. It seems the right thing to have done; noisy protests draw more attention than silent nonparticipation. But slogans and analogies hinder conversations as much as they aid expression.
Hi Parsupial
I think the action was worth taking. It certainly drew people’s attention to the issues and grievances…and the fact that certain important contributors to this site were not happy and prepared to go on a boycott.
However I agree with you that nothing definitive has come out of this for conflict resolution. I admire your cool headed attempts at discussing the issues and conflict resolution…and your picket stance….It was a pleasure to join you on this online …lol
I too will return to occasional commenting
Kia ora, best wishes, haere pai, go well,
Cheers Chookster
Does silence = disinterest? I think not.
People will have refined their views and strategies and next time it might play out better.
Not sure there was ever a suggestion he would be “prevented” from returning after the 2 week ban ended? That phrasing is a little mischievous.
“It might have been better to have gone with my original analogy of moderators being; Judge, Jury & Executioner, in their banning decisions. So that it might be an improvement if commenters could volunteer for jury-duty somewhere in the process. However, I thought that came to close to the; “telling us how to run our site”, ban mine.”
The problem I have is that you wanted collective action but appeared to not be listening to what many people were saying. I think you really have no idea what it is that you are proposing and how that would work for the standard’s operational structure and the people running the place, and consequentally how that would affect the site. I commented a number of times on this and you didn’t engage, so it looks like you had this personal idea that you thought everyone else should support. That’s not unionism or working collectively.
And another shock to the system of Bill English and other National supporters regarding housing:
That’s one thing. Not everyone wants to live in a detached house and I think most people would be more than happy to live in an apartment block.
Then there’s this:
What’s the point of having all that space if you don’t use it?
You do use it. You just don’t use it as often as some twats at UCal think is justified. Fuck ’em.
Considering that they’re not making any more land and that we need to decrease the sprawl of our cities then we do need to consider the use of land and when it’s not used for anything or not. There’s also the idea that shared space would not only be used more but also improve community and socialisation to be considered.
Medium to high rise buildings with good parks are a better idea than everyone trying to have their own, barely used, bloody park.
The Chinese are making more land in the South China Sea 🙂
Medium to high rise buildings with good parks are a better idea than everyone trying to have their own, barely used, bloody park.
In close proximity to city centres, yes. Auckland is one of the few places where people living near a city centre expect and demand to live in a house. Most of us don’t live in Auckland, however, and expect the downsides of living in small towns to have upsides in terms of square meterage.
Also: I’ve lived in apartments sans kids (no probs) and with kids (fucking royal pain in the arse). If you have kids, a house with garden wins hands-down every time.
That’s what the “good parks” are for and as they’ll be playing with more people than you get in a detached house they’ll get better socialisation as well. I’d say that the adults supervising the kids would also get better socialisation.
Detached housing has, IMO, helped increase the isolation and disengagement that we see nowadays.
Do you have kids Draco? Because believe me, as the father of a 18 month old daughter, living in an apartment would be fucking nightmare. It’s a hell of a lot easier and more efficient to open the door to the backyard instead of packing lunch, nappies, pram and associated paraphernalia for a quick trip to the park while spending the entire time running around after them in an open space.
Basically, if you don’t have a child you can’t speak dick on the subject.
And yet the article that started all this was about a family of 7 living in an apartment. Two adults and five children with the adults there claiming that it’s all wonderful and a lot easier.
Good for them.
@PM – agree. I fucking hate apartment living and use my outdoor space often for BBQ’s, gardening, lounging and reading etc.
I did the apartment thing once and hated it with a passion. I was also a bit of a menace to the neighbours with my loud techno and late night habits. I’m much more suited to stand-alone housing.
Yeah me too. In fact I hate socialising inside, especially in other peoples’ houses with all their shit everywhere and it’s always too warm. Fuck that.
Considering the loud parties that I’ve been to and the neighbours have I don’t think that makes any difference. In other words, your loud techno music is irritating the neighbours anyway 😛
Probably. Artists like Drumcell and Jeff Mills are not to everyone’s taste…but fuck those people
Your neighbours should think themselves lucky. Mine are liable to get dosed with The Residents and Pere Ubu when they least expect it.
edit: They might be getting a bit of Drumcell for brekkie though…
Drumcell is my hands down favourite currently. Nice vicious techno – not fast mind you, just dark.
good point. I mean how long in the toilet? 30-60 secs on average? Doesnt mean it is irrelevant
In the old days you didn’t waste housing space on it, though. That’s what the out house was for 😛
And each household only needed one.
the romans and greeks had flushing toilets and long drops… shitting in company equalises everyone in the end…
as it were…
There’s an excellent reason why nobody builds outhouses any more – it’s because no bastard likes them. Such things are aptly described as “progress.”
Don’t know why you think an outhouse uses less space (or materials) than a loo in the house.
Eight years and these pricks haven’t been punished.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2ecb0b94550640c68bb85bd11c182a1e/ex-blackwater-guards-seek-sentencing-delay-cite-new-info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_Baghdad_shootings
Tim Groser caught our telling porkies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11430894
RNZ reports it as just a gaffe.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/270925/minister's-tree-planting-gaffe
So when some Green leader candidates can’t asnwer some quetsions about exact inflation rates they are mocked for 2 days. When Groser offers a pre prepared answer that turns out to be wrong, it is a gaffe?
Now it might not have been a lie (not a proveable one) , but it was more than a gafee, it was completely wrong from the Minister who ought to know. Incompetent? Disinterested to find the right answer?
Climate Change
In California
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11430042
In Canada
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/many-of-the-vast-glaciers-in-western-canada-could-almost-disappear-by-end-of-the-century-10158511.html
And in New Zealand, we fiddle while Rome burns….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=11430894
Had my new Tui billboard banner out on the street today at a VERY busy intersection:
Ak CCO$
= less rates
& more democracy yeah right
Auckland Council (CORPORATE) Controlled Organisations (CCOs) have been the mechanism for the corporate takeover of the Auckland region.
This John Key led National Coalition Government back in 2009 used the Rogernomic$ blitzkrieg technique of railroading through Parliament the underpinning Auckland $upercity (for the 1%) legislation, thus depriving citizens and ratepayers our lawful right to a BINDING poll.
However – do not ask me to have a frontal lobotomy.
The FACT is that it was arguably the most important recommendation of the LABOUR Government appointed Royal Commission on Auckland Regional Governance – that major infrastructure and trading functions be undertaken by Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs).
Although no CCO had ever been subjected to a ‘cost-benefit’ analysis.
FACT.
I know because I asked, and have the OIA replies to prove this.
Is Phil Goff going to campaign as a 2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate to abolish ALL CCOs?
(I am.)
If not – nothing will fundamentally change for the majority of Auckland citizens and ratepayers …..
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Looks like the first big cold blast of the season is on its way. Snow on Monday I think.
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=171.32,-37.51,512
Going incandescent over the actions of these fools.
Te Runanga o Arowhenua chairman John Henry said hearing the pair had killed the 1.4-metre eel with two spears was “a very sad occasion”.
“We would prefer they left them alone.”
Henry believed the eel was likely a breeding female and might have been about 90 years old.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/67633815/eeler-apologises-for-killing-14m-longfin-eel-in-opihi-lagoon
http://www.longfineel.co.nz/
It’s a sad case of them being completely unprotected. How we still have a law that lets people commercially fish for a threatened native eel I don’t know.. But there must be countless losses of longfins every week through fishing. There’s also the water quality problem now from farming too, so they’re up against it.
Mate that photo made me feel sick to my guts ffs this makes my blood boil. This species should be fully protected and treated as the taonga it is, end of story.
Abbott Govt to save millions of dollars in upcoming budget by cutting child benefit from people who opt not to vaccinate their children. The benefits are worth up to $2100 per child. Pretty low to use vaccination status to discriminate against children.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-government-to-announce-antivaccination-parents-will-lose-benefits-20150411-1mie6x.html
”Under changes that could save more than $50 million a year, Social Services Minister Scott Morrison is preparing to scrap a “conscientious objection” provision which allows anti-vaccination parents to still claim welfare benefits including childcare assistance and Family Tax Benefit A.
”Many pro-vaccination groups and doctors are expected to welcome the policy as a way of further encouraging people to vaccinate their children, but other immunisation policy experts argue it would not lift immunisation rates and would discourage discussions about vaccination with doctors.”
It’s always about exercising control and power over the disadvantaged. I suspect that we won’t hear admirers of the orthodox establishment complaining about Abbott’s move to hurt children.
I agree in general but get the feeling in this case it’s driven by cost cutting. I don’t follow Australian politics that closely, but the Govt had huge problems passing health measures (like GP charges) in the last budget, so it could be interesting to see what happens with this, especially if independents are needed to pass the budget.
Australia recently announced that it is investing $1B plus in two additional US made military C-17 Globemasters.
Imperial vassal states have clear spending priorities, and its not on the poor.
Hmmm.
Many conditions on the vaccination schedule in NZ have increased transmission and harm in lower socioeconomic conditions (i.e. overcrowding and other detrimental conditions). So in order to punish parents who refuse to vaccinate (which, in principle, I lean towards favouring) Abbott will lower the socioeconimic conditions of unvaccinated children.
And I suspect the motive is purely to find an excuse to lower direct costs of welfare payments, and ignore the longer term increases in costs caused by both vaccine-preventable conditions and general poverty.
Seems a bit fucked in the head, really.
Appears to fit with efforts in the USA
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/09/us-usa-california-vaccine-idUSKBN0N00A420150409?feedType=RSS&feedName=scienceNews
“The personal belief exemption is now putting other school children and people in our community in danger.”
Thanks Murphey, I had heard this change had been mooted but wasn’t aware it had moved this far ahead. Dangerous stuff.
The Australian move seems like opportunistic leveraging off the recent vaccine debate but the Californian bill is a fundamental shift and removal of patient rights.
I would see the Australian situation being used as a ‘softening up’ exercise by attacking a small and vulnerable group and then seeking to widen the scope
Paula Bennett floated the same tactic in NZ a few years ago
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10805358
It was then taken off the table
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8470697/Compulsory-beneficiary-jabs-axed
I would anticipate the ‘debate’ being reintroduced in NZ again in a very near time frame