The Apartheid state of Israel is the largest right wing hate movement… it kills on a war crime scale.. and it's reaching out
the fact that far-right European governments and parties today are growing ever closer to Israel shows a “convergence of fascist and neo-Nazi groups with hardliner Zionists.”
As a worrying UK example of this, anti-Muslim fascist leader Tommy Robinson’s recent trip to Israel and funding by anti-Palestinian groups.
I'm linking to a 5 minute doco that tells us information NZ should know about the sub humane christchurh shooter … as the title shows his name … I have spaced gap ( h ttp ), undo that if / when you copy and paste it.
The information is important as it raises things we should be guarding against …. and are perhaps blind to.
We should at least look at things like ' the shooter claims that ethno nationalists like himself are concentrated in the European armed forces and national police forces' … may be relevant to why his filthy great big red flags were ignored in our preventable terrorist tragedy.
And it identifies … The phrases and words …. 'Invaders' language …. … tRump or our National Party .. that grows and feeds …. this hate mindset for votes .
we need to see the scale of what has been growing on around us .. and we have been blind to.it
I hope the moderators here amend my back-space link block …and allow the title to be seen. I know the shooters name just like I know Martyn Bryants name … both of which I associate with men who would chase little children .. to shoot them.
We are adults, I think we could be helping to forget … before we have even learned.
@reason, too right, and of course what do the guard dog defenders of liberal status quo like the Guardian and NYTimes do in the face of this out right racist war..double down on their relentless smearing and disinformation on the two politicians (Corbyn, Sanders) who have had decades fighting racism..most so called MSM ‘liberal’ media is public enemy number one, you want some real fake or misconstrued and misleading news..look no further than your daily MSM liberal news sources…that is news in fact.
There are degrees of cruelty. Imprisoning families for a few days (capture and release) is one thing – seperating children from their families without the ability to reunite them, putting large groups of children in wire netting cells without the means to keep them sanitary is quite another.
" U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee had found that migrants in Rio Grande Valley facilities were hungry, with some eating only “sandwiches of two pieces of dry bread and one slice of ham.” They were thirsty, with up to 20 migrants sharing the same cup to drink from the water cooler. They were embarrassed to use a toilet in front of 50 other people and they couldn’t take a shower or brush their teeth or even wash their hands with soap and dry them with a towel, the judge found. At night, they couldn’t sleep. The lights were left on, as they shivered beneath an aluminum blanket on the concrete floor, the judge found. "
Yep – it's deliberate use of cruelty as a deterrent. Something the Ockers have been doing for a while now. It's likely to become the 'go to' strategy in the face of CC-driven food shortages increasing refugee flows – and it will fuel the rise of the far right everywhere. As the resource (food, water) competition tightens, a similar strategy of containment will be deployed against unwanted internal populations as well.
It's uncomfortable to contemplate to say the least. AB I see you as being correct.
And if anyone doubts the depths we could descend to, and our neighbours across the ditch, just note that we have the example of extermination of Jews, gypsies, imperfect people (not shining Aryan types), and the dehumanising of many in WW2. This by a nation that had been the basis of Protestant Christianity, had highly educated and sophisticated people, and was far from being a simple society that was locked into eternal wars and vendettas tribe to tribe.
Educated, sophisticated people, who have abandoned standards of behaviour such as respect for all humans, for kindness and status to animals, and support for human community and sharing, are rife.
What devil's brew will they come up with, in their welter of power. The maxim of Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely' is daily proven.
Jump from one Big Power to another – can any be seen to be aiming at good standards in all their dealings. China and Falun Gong? USA we know about. UK conducting public dismemberment of their long-held welfare policies and government responsibility.
How we may have to cope with it – I thought of A Smugglers Song a poem by Rudyard Kipling, he wasn't just a poohbah Brit.
IF you wake at midnight, and hear a horse's feet,
Don't go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street,
Them that ask no questions isn't told a lie.
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by. …
'If You do as you've been told, 'likely there's a chance,
You'll be give a dainty doll, all the way from France,
With a cap of Valenciennes, and a velvet hood –
A present from the Gentlemen, along 'o being good !
Five and twenty ponies,
Trotting through the dark –
Brandy for the Parson, 'Baccy for the Clerk.
Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie –
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by !
Eugenie Sage needs to pull her head in over comments that Westland Council didn't have a fund set aside for historic landfill risks.
DOC has something like 90% of the land on the coast, and the use of that land results in massive (like the majority) use of Council resource and infrastructure such as road, water systems, and yes rubbish dumps…
.. and get this. DOC pays no rates.
Pull your head in Sage – pay up or shut up. DOC bludger, bludging off the ratepayers of Westland.
Before getting angry at Eugenie, maybe ANOTHER audit of the Westland Council is required. They haven't been the best financial managers or carers for their environment in the past.
Care to apply for the job? Applications close on Monday..
21 May 2019 – Westland District Council has paid nearly $30,000 in reparation following discharges, which were in breach of the resource consent conditions and the Resource Management Act, from the Franz Josef sewerage system to the Waiho riverbed last year.
In its March 5 report, the Auditor-General found a number of unacceptable practices when it investigated the construction of a new stopbank to protect Franz Josef's wastewater treatment plant from flooding, including whether the work had been approved at all. It concluded that the council couldn't show whether the decision was well made or the money well spent.
But hes right, DOC doesnt pay a cent in rates and Sage wants 'ratepayers' to pay for and manage the risks.
The shoddy decision making by the council is a separate issue, maybe they could do a tourist tax like Queenstown wants , but is facing stiff resistance from the business owners.
DOC doesn't pay a cent in rates – yeah I wonder why? jeeze wtf. DOC isn't just a loss on the balance sheet it has inputs as well.
These dumps are everywhere – 18 in Tasman alone that could be breached in storms. Every council will have to get off their arse and use all resources to mitigate the potential disaster of these blowouts. Trying to say dunno, not us is not any answer imo
Dukeofurl, DOC charge each and every concession holder on the Westland DOC estate 7% of their turnover each and every year…
… get that everybody? 7% of turnover… (of course then there is GST too at 15% = 22% in total). How much would just one of those scenic heli concessions turnover in one year??
Perhaps an application under the OIA to ascertain how much DOC and the government make out of Westland each and every year would help shed some light on their place within the Westland community…
… as earners but not payers.
as bludgers, as would a corporate be so described, in this context
do you even know what 'concession' means in the context of our National Parks and protected places – the people getting concessions do so so that they can potentially make PERSONAL profit from the collective (the conservation estate or the bit they take people into) – oh the poor fucking dears. As usual you have it all arse about face.
Ha – so the old asking for a friend is out then – that is good because I know that you own concessions and I know it is all about the $$$. Or maybe I have it all wrong like you said lol
Can I ask @vto? I know it's not that kosha to ask, but am I correct in assuming you're a child (and then rationally thunking adult) of the neo-lib era?
The one where minimal gummint, operationalising everything on the basis of fishincy and fektivniss, externalising costs and incentivising all for the sake of a market ruling supreme.
"So"………"Ultimately", if you are of that era and experience, I'd recommend getting together some sort of PPP that (who) could bid for the cost of cleanups going forwid. They could work (constructively) with DOC, and local bodies after consultation with all the stakeholders, and after various conversations have been had, and I believe we'd be able to come up with a viable solution.
I mean, I get that the ratepayer base is insuffishint and has unreasnibble expectations of it – speshilly when the number of interlopers masquerading as tourists are inflicting their shit on you, but I just wonder about the intricacies of it all if we're to adhere to neo-liberal religion.
Absolutely. I don't think the neolib approach works too well though – that much has been proved in various parts of society (except the purchase of plastic buckets from the warehouse where neolib doctrine works fine…).
As for cleaning up these dumps all around the country? What popped into mind some while ago is that these things can be attended to over a longer period. For example, buy a digger and a truck and start removing the shit. Don't PPP it. Just buy and employ and get started. It may take some time, but no matter that.
Like the cathedral in Chch – doesn't matter how lng it takes, just make a start and keep going.
Get a digger and start moving the shit. It aint hard.
One digger and truck, $30,000 per annum. One employee, $60,000 per annum. Overhead $20,000 per annum.
Couple of problems Actually several) though as far as your criticisms of Eugenie.
Munsters and their enterage can't comment of "operational matters" going forward (That is of course, unless their future careers depend on it)
And secondly, it'll have to be subjected to the risk managers and liability analysts.
(Coukd take some time, and as you may or may not know, both Jacinda and Andrew Little have recently alerted us to the fact that things always take longer than they expected)
Why would DOC pay rates? Do the police pay rates for their Westland area? Why should payment for the clean up of the council's dump come out of the DOC budget? DOC was gutted several times over in the last 20 years so if you want the general NZ taxpayer to contribute extra funding for a council's fuck up and the local's rubbish, you will be opening the door for more industries and councils to pass the buck.
I think West Coast council management is pretty stop-gap and No.8 fencing wire thinking. They are probably on a par with the management of sports codes, people who have some experience 'in the field' and are focussed on their own ideas and approaches. Not conducive to outside queries of their decisions or concerned about professional analysis except just enough to get people off their backs. This is BAU for a number of councils, so can't just point the finger at SI West Coast.
Grey, Westland Council surely does have a record of poor skills in certain areas, however those have absolutely nothing to do with the point made, which concerns Sage's political point-scoring against Smith in the context outlined.
DOC earns massive amounts every year from the use of Council infrastructure, yet pays NOTHING towards their cost. NOTHING. ZIP. ZERO
If this was a corporate, or if Nick Smith or Maggie boorish Barry were still the Ministers and Key in charge, then my points made would be agreed with here.
Until DOC pays its way here the Minister needs to stfu.
Are people around here allowed to tell Sage to stfu in the same way people around here used to tell Barry and Smith to stfu? Or is it too hard for partisans to pull their ideology blinkers aside?
DOC don't own the land so don't pay rates although I would guess that they do pay rates for their buildings in town. Rubbish is a council responsibility and rubbish is created by the residents, visitors and tourists – not by DOC who would be taking care of this patch of New Zealand regardless of existing infrastructure. Also does not the government pay for the roads outside of the towns? So roads etc are paid for out of the same purse that pays for DOC.
How much of that is earned in Westland? Westland holds four of the thirteen National Parks.
Guestimate 25% of the DOC estate sits in Westland . Equals $15,000,000 from Westland.
Like so very many other ratepayers in Westland, in this matter I give DOC the one-finger salute. They fall short in taking their place in the community.
And Sage just makes it worse with her comments – shame on her
The tourists who use the council infrastructure also buy food, fuel, equipment, and accommodation. All those local businesses pay that on in their rates.
I think I've got the answer @vto. It'd be a win win for everyone.
First of all we'll need to cover off those skill shortages in the Westland Council and ensure consultation with the community.
Who better than Laidlaw, who'll be looking for a gig after the local body elections? A perfect fit! and with a proven record of consultation and problem solving.
Then we could shunt Lou Sanson off to Treasury after the good work he's done resolving DOC's 'toxic culture', and he's got the smarts and verbals necessary to handle criticism over targeting employees and trying to shut the scientific community up. Better still he believes in "emphasising community involvement and greater engagement with the nation’s Indigenous peoples" in keeping with transformational government. (It's a given because …. well because he says so).After the Treasury hacking debacle, we need someone with Lou's smarts to help settle things down.
We immediately put Public Service CEO on the Immigration NZ skills shortage list with an English language requirement of IELTS 7.0 or higher with a salary range reflecting the global market place. With a bit of luck, we might get someone of the calibre of one of Sir John's former banking mates from offshore – there are one or two looking for a bolt hole, or even someone from the US EPA.
What could be a better fit for all stakeholders going forward!
Was the ex dump on DOC land or as a result of DOC? Nope.
Has the Westland Council managed themselves well, especially in the last decade? Nope.
Neither of these things are the fault of the minister.
DOC have helped, massively and so have the defence force. Apparently it's still not good enough for some, maybe the fear of a rate rise is more of a concern?
vto, if you really want to do something and pay rates there, I strongly suggest you join the volunteer clean up. Because your rates may end up increasing as a result of the Westland Councils bad management, not the first time that's happened I hear. Election coming up…. maybe you will stand?
I hope you focus on RACE RELATIONS like your job title implies and not drift into other areas and dissipate the energy. Good luck.
In an interview with RNZ on Thursday, Foon said he hoped to "showcase New Zealand as a great country to live".
"I want to continue the good work of the past commissioners … and continue to enhance harmonious relations right throughout New Zealand."
He said there were a wide range of multifaceted issues and solutions that needed to be implemented.
Raising the average salaries of those in need, enhancing education levels, providing affordable housing and matters regarding state care were particular issues that required attention, Foon said.
Daft government with tepid strategic planning for the country, no foresight, just open the doors and let the corporate hordes swan in and take our bits.
Better to deal with NZ reliables, try and win over the gangs that are aspirational good communities – but when it comes to licensing Marijuana it may be another CPPPTTAA? walkover.
Seems Labour are taking the potential of having medicinal cannabis in the hands of the people (which would lower the cost) and are setting it up for the corporates to produce and supply.
However, this could all come undone if personal use and production (backyard) is legalised via the up and coming referendum.
Unless of course some kind of excise tax or licence to grow system is introduced, thereby turning growers without the correct licences (available for only $5000) into criminals. Much potential for disaster here.
As Labour has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again.
"At this stage [~14 months out from the referendum], we just don't know."
"but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again."
And that'sThe "relentlessly soggy" "lefty" "more left than most" "transparent as a transparent thing" Chairman at play once again.
Interesting that there's not a single mention of NZ's two most recent Government referendums (binding referendums at that) in the article linked to by The Chairman – not one. A curious omission, don't you think?
The shortlist for the first flag referendum was made public about three months before voting, and the results of that vote were released about three months before the second flag referendum.
Three months vs 14 months, and poor Chair is panicking
This issue appears to be of importance to you. It might actually get you to vote for one of the parties who have said they will honour the wishes of the people, then. For realsies.
As the Government has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Government at play once again.
FIFY
Note that in your link there was not a single mention of Labour, not one. Are you really that blind to your own anti-Labour bias?
Medicine is a far cry from weed for the masses. I don't imagine the 23K applies to recreational pot but we'll see. There are many variables to be considered:
Some weed can make you paranoid
Some is anxiolytic
Those are complete opposites. Medicinal weed should be handled by people who have a vested interest to get it right for a medical market. The regulatory bodies should be busy, and that is expensive.
Recreational weed, like booze, might push a brand and the public buy it or they don't. There will be varied types and effects and strengths. The best boutique brands will emerge. NZ weed will be exported if it's good enough. The money should come back to NZ.
The medicine would be for local and then global markets. Made in NZ, paying tax in NZ and employing in NZ…
The person needing medicine needs someone who knows biology, medicine, cannabinoid & other metabolite profiles, dosage, frequency, how those apply to various delivery methods, how these vary with culture methods… We're not bloody paupers making herb tea in a tin hut.
It might sound expensive, till you look at what it’s worth.
You overlooked the fact that many are growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
All the Government is going to do for them is keep that activity illegal and force them to pay top dollar for it.
So while it may be grown here, profits are bound to head offshore as locals are priced out or sell out as is usually the case with NZ businesses. And as for paying local tax, surely you must know how offshore owned companies minimize that?
The home-grower will find their medicine improved a great deal via the research of professionals. While you make stuff up and bang out about something you obviously know nothing about, there are many people who are not getting the efficacy from their medicine that they could be getting.
How many cancer patients have you worked with? PTSD? Autism?
What metabolite profiles are desirable for the above groups.
While I'm not claiming to be a doctor or health specialist, I'm not making stuff up. There are many growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
They just want the Government to stop criminalizing them.
Sure, further research may further benefit them but they should have that choice between being able to home grow or opt for a commercial product.
Why do you and the Government want to prevent that and rob them of that choice?
No respect – a metaphor for our society imo – sometime is going so thrash it to death so we can say 'look at me'.
In 2017 it was announced that from October 26th, 2019, tourists will no longer be able to climb Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), out of respect for local indigenous tribes.
In the lead up to its closure, tourists have begun to swarm the UNESCO World Heritage Site, with hopes of hiking to the top of the 348m high arkose monolith.
… On Tuesday, photos of hundreds of tourists lining up to hike Uluru begun circulating online, angering locals, the traditional landowners, Australians and officials alike.
… Apparently tourists have been leaving human waste and nappies behind, despite there being a dedicated area to dump waste.
Chief executive of Tourism Central Australia, Stephen Schwer, told the ABC, "(Tourists) think they're doing a good thing by free camping along the way; what they are actually doing is trespassing on pastoralist and joint-managed and protected land.
Maybe tourism in its current form is just mass narcissism, i.e.it's all about the self rather than the place visited. So many tourists here seem to need to race across the landscape, climb it, jump off bits of it etc. It’s possible to do that and leave a place still knowing nothing about it.
yeah – I have been a guide in a National Park and a Nature Reserve before – I had to actively get people to slow down and actually look around and see it all. Quite often there was resistance even though they had paid to be there. Bit like when they'd ask – what's that?, what's this? I so wanted to say "why do you care – let it all go and just be here without excessive knowledge gathering' Just be here now. But of course I didn't, I played the game.
The tourists come to conquer the country? Veni, vidi, vici? Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream. But they never will. A lot are only capable of short, quick, bursts of emotion with no contemplation of the wonder of the world. and no lasting respect for the land and the culture that are revealed to those who desire to see it. ('We've got better at home, is that the best they can do'?) Been there, done that, off to the next thing. The world is to use, discard and then pass on to the next experience.
Christine Aguilera puts the popular zip into Climb every Mountain which was an inspirational song about escape from oppression and tyranny. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_AcWbuxQdo
I was in Hawea recently, and I just drove to a nice scenic spot, and read my book under the mountains for a couple hours. I saw 100s of people, tourists, park, get out, look for a few minutes, take a selfie, back in car and off they went to the next spot. A beautiful area though.
'Epstein pleaded guilty in state court in Florida in 2007 to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, resolving allegations that he had molested numerous girls. He served 13 months in jail, though he was allowed out six days a week to work from his office in Palm Beach.'
Someone has just been jailed for life with a minimum period of 10 years behind bars. I suppose that someone with a corkscrew mind could make sense of bringing that law in.
News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative, and The Standard is mostly an echo chamber of that. It is all too easy to feed into finding something to be upset about each day.
This constant barrage of negative news can be debilitating, and the propensity for many here to repeat their pet peeves over and over is simply tiring. What effect has all the complaining done for any of the 'popular' issues here?
Politics. Neo-liberal loathing. Poverty. Biodiversity Loss. Climate Change. War. Extremism… What has the years of whinging achieved? If you've made an impact by all means we need to hear about that. Not the same shit trotted out each day.
The world has a lot of problems right now. Concentrating on nothing but problems however gives a skewed and unrealistic view. I believe we play straight into the hands of power brokers who would prefer we are fearful and fighting among ourselves, rather than emboldened citizens of an incredible planet, surrounded by incredible people.
'Seek and ye shall find'. The daily ferreting out of things that are wrong is an exercise in propagating futility. Yes there are many issues, moaning about them constantly is a piss-poor effort.
As is moaning about all the moaning.
How to Get There is a step in the right direction.
Here's an old dude opened up his home gym and now has many local children training with him instead of getting up to other forms of 'entertainment' that might set their lives on a destructive path.
My anxiety is through the roof lately, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Today I'll go seek some professional help, because that is how you responsibly deal with a problem – action, not whinging.
Here's the Guardian, which just linking to sets off a bunch of predictable whining about the publication itself. Like hysterical teens on facebook screaming faux outrage.
When I try say – well done this person or that person for something good – y'all take their pedigree and dredge up whatever dirt you can find or imagine about them. No credit where it's due, no bipartisan support for anyone. Sides and stances.
The torrents of negative/bad news (particularly NZ/local bad news) can eventually erode/undermine the 'defences' of all but the most determined optimists.
Some have attempted to introduce 'good news quotas', and the idea seems attractive (I like it; think TV One News' "Good Sorts" on steriods), although quotas do attract detractors.
Good news quotas – lol. But yay for them trying aye.
I'm not expecting persons to live under a rock, but more balance might help.
A few of the authors here post good news as it pops up and this is appreciated – then they're shot down by a wave of negative posters who can't accept anything good from their particular pet political peeve.
'Four Lions' screened at the NZ Film Festival almost ten years ago; still memorable after that one viewing. An extraordinary achievement from start to scarily laughable finish; makes you think – edgy.
off shore oligarchial propaganda, wrapped up in local events.
There is the trade off between not having to do it yourself, & the imposition of non representative political agenda.
Even the political parties don't rate very much, don't like how they are somewhat beholden to and spoken for by other arrangements, it's just anarchical to talent and resources, the combinations you want for real value creation.
If this Government are sincere when they say they will repeal the Part 4A amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act (rushed through under urgency on the back of the 2013 Budget) why can they not do this now?
This would essentially effect a reboot of the Public Health and Disability Act, and the Ministry of Health DSS Funded Family Care policy would wink out of existence.
All that would be needed is for the prohibition for having a resident family member provide the assessed care to be removed from MOH:DSS documents.
MOH DSS clients who have been through the NASC process and undergone the needs assessments and had hours allocated can simply choose to have a family member provide those supports either through Individualised Funding or through a Contracted Provider.
As was the common practice for those family carers who were being paid despite the policy forbidding this. The Ministry of Health DSS has the details of these arrangements. (I have an anonymised list obtained through OIA)
There will be certain eligible DSS clients whose assessments have been too heavily predicated on resident family providing what the Misery calls 'natural supports'.
These will need to be re- assessed on a case by case basis with assistance from ACC who also expect resident family to provide some level of 'natural supports ' but have the real risk that if they don't fund adequate hours of support they (ACC) can be liable if there is further harm to the client.
ACC and the Ministry of Health have worked closely on previous occasions so this is not an outrageous suggestion.
So, why not repeal the Part 4A POS now and allow those who have been denied access to the funding allocated for their care because of a policy determined to be discriminatory by the Courts in decisions all three of the Parties in Government claim they agree with?
Because I am very, very suspicious that resolution of this will be delayed until after the election.
As you say Rosemary, some of the issues could be very quickly remedied – for example, by using urgency to repeal the dreaded Part 4a of the Act etc. But to do so that way would actually just be doing what the last Nat government did in bringing Part 4a and the whole rediculous policy in the first place with all the attendant problems that accompanied that move – lack of consultation with those affected, no public submission process etc, etc.
I fully recognise your reasons for scepticism etc in light of what you and Peter, and many others have gone through for years and I fully support all of you. (I too have some disabilities and know full well how hard the fight is to try to get what you are entitled to.)
Having worked in the State Service sector in Wellington for over four decades and in particular in areas interacting and liaising with, and working on secondment from time to time in, the Parliamentary arena, I am reasonably confident that the intentions are to get these legislative changes etc through and in place well before the election in the second half of next year – but at the same time taking the time to do it properly in full consultation with people like yourselves, and through the proper legislative process of select committee deliberation, public submissions etc.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
The various press releases by Ministers seem to have included mention of the way that Part 4a was brought in under urgency and without consultation etc and the wish not to do the same – eg
“We are committed to getting this change through as swiftly as we can, while also avoiding the process which created the current legislation,” says Julie Anne Genter.
My understanding is that work is well advanced on various possible options to replace the ridiculous employment arrangement brought in in 2013 "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau."
The three Coalition parties all seem to be in agreement on this issue and singing from the same song sheet, and IIRC the intention is to announce these proposals, the proposed changes to legislation etc in the next few months and certainly well before the end of this year.
In other words, what I am trying to say badly is that as someone who has worked in the area of legislative changes etc, they seem to be making sure that they have all their ducks lined up on this issue before they go ahead – as they must do particularly in light of the judicial decisions. So I so hope I am not wrong!
Thank you for responding veutoviper, I was sending you psychic messages hoping for your particular insights.
I do sincerely hope you are right, because another betrayal, a twist of the knife in our backs would be unforgivable.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
Ironically it is exactly this that causes my deep concern that they have not thought it through.
That's $8million dollars per year to pay an extra 640 family carers (like me) up to $25 per hour. Plus increase the pay of the current 400 Funded Family Carers to the same rate per hour. Generously, this works out as an average of about 9 hours per week per carer. For clients with high, very high and complex needs. Many of whom have been assessed as needing at least five times as many hours of support.
It simply does not add up. Even more so if the government continues along the lines suggested by the PSA and makes the rule that these family care arrangements have to go through a contracted provider. To avoid the " "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau." issue.
Veutoviper. This is not an issue to ACC clients who are bulk funded and pay their family. MOH DSS clients are being treated differently. Again. It may be appropriate where there are severe learning disabilities, and if both the client and the parent carer agree then these arrangements could be overseen by a Contracted Provider.
This would of course add extra costs because the provider would expect their cut of the funding.
Having the arrangement go through a provider denies the disabled person the autonomy provided by being able to use Individualised Funding…which I believe is funded at a lower hourly rate that the contracted providers demand.
Reading the Cabinet Papers from back in 2012 when they decided not to take Atkinson to the Supreme Court, very early in the paper based discussion did the term "competing interests" arise. A few paragraphs later the redacted sections began, culminating in the impressively blanked out RIS that Micky Savage (chicken killer) shared in his post the other day.
Now that would be awesome…unblank those sections of that Regulatory Impact Statement so we are fully informed.
Good on Collins. Her practical, down to earth approach will get her a long way. Just what we need in a future PM and what NZ needs to sort this mess out. About bloody time someone said it how it is.
Collins said something that sounded like a human speaking? I caught the whiff of some understanding from her the other day about something. I think it must be a bout of this Type A flu going round. They say it is really strong. Coff, coff.
Exactly what the bashers of children say. How is she in any way superior to the parents who "go a bit far" and kill the kids whom she and the Family Fist Fanatics say are fair game for slap-happy parents?
It was the raising the head above a pulpit (has anyone ever lowered a head below one?) that prompted me to question Chris, whose irony I hopefully thought I was enjoying.
You can't help loving words like me. I was thinking of verses repeated from the holy lexicon of PCness.
I do enjoy this sort of finish to the end of the day with a bit more lightness than the days bathos. Choirboys probably like to keep their heads below the pulpit. Especially the ones that Giles sometimes included in his clever cartoons – kids with too much insouciance. (I like using google meanings a lot – so fast.)
Cool. But choirboys should be well away from the pulpit, which is the uplifted tower-like stand where the preacher preaches from, unless I am getting that early onset thing yet again. .
And turret does work – ta Incognito.
'The holy lexicon of PCness.' Sounds much less threatening than the holy dictates/scriptures/commandments which holiness normally delivers.
No, but she and the likes of Bob "Hairbrush" McCoskrie and other ideologically committed kiddywhackers provide the ideological and moral scaffolding for people who hit their children. I'm sure Collins has not hurt her own kids; it's a pity she has not thought a little more about the impact of her words and her policies. Same goes for her slap-happy political cronies.
It's a one size doesn't fit all type of area really.
Having to smack, for those that would feel they need to, too much is not ideal for the parent. The freedom to be a total brat is not ideal for the child.
A settlement mechanism inclusive of both extreme ends to the area, would perhaps provide the maximum utility in enabling the natural fits that will be most suitable to all i would say if people really wanted it.
That is an independent citizen’s aid authority, that can
A) these smackings could be getting out of hand and becoming counter productive to the situation
B) the child does not have the license of freedom is expecting of the parent & does not have the right to complain.
While leaving the exact dynamics to be worked out by the families, perhaps such a service could help in providing equilibriums that some families would otherwise not be able to reach for themselves.
A referendum then, might not have been a bad stepping stone to optimising the situation if wanted.
What good stuff especially unexpected from Basher Collins. Unless she is just dancing clever politics. But wait. Many of her colleagues would disagree with her. So……
She reminds me of Nosher Powell's Prime Minister in Eat The Rich when he knocks the heads of the Palestinian & Israel leaders and tells them to "stop fighting & sort it out".
Collins says whatever she feels like at the time. She doesn't listen and responds on the hoof. This will become immediately obvious if she's ever PM, perhaps just leader of the nats, and would be truly Trumpesque.
I actually think that it's good to hear some people saying they want to take some responsibility. I'll tell you what, just stop beating up kids, and you won't need Oranga Tamariki. [my bold]
Crush their spirit, hit them where it hurts, and when they’re down, tell them to pick themselves up and then kick them down again and rinse and repeat. Tell them that it is all about making the right decisions and personal responsibility and they should stop beating their kids. That’s how they treat the Precariat. They are wilfully blind and tone-deaf to context and circumstances. I detest cynical populist politicians with their personal and selfish agendas and their hypocritical smugness.
Banks sometimes we love them and sometimes…. we ask awkward questions?
When it comes to the risk mitigation costs arising from their own activities, the banks expect their customers to pick up the tab. Or taxpayers, as happened with the BNZ collapse of the late 1980s, and with the post–GFC collapse of non banking lenders like South Canterbury Finance. It was only ten years ago that governments had to bail 0ut a global banking system that (from the US to Scotland to the Netherlands) had been made vulnerable by the banks’ own lobbying for lax regulation and the pursuit of dodgy lending practices. If the banks have already forgotten the GFC, the rest of us haven’t.
There was an option to widen the one-way Awakino tunnel which seems to be one of the biggest problems. There is mention of accidents, and from what I have seen of driving in the rural sector, this is because of excessive speed for the conditions.
It is interesting that if one wants to look at one of the numerous maps of the area that is noted as nzta, it won't come up individually to be expanded but just switches over to the group of area maps. That is unusual as I can normally hone in to get a good view, but not here.
Found this for 13 April 2017, (all MPs in the area are National)
Taranaki's elected MPs say they are confident the region will not become a political backwater now that it is not represented in government.
The three MPs, Jonathan Young (New Plymouth), Barbara Kuriger (Taranaki King Country) and newcomer Hirate Hipango (Whanganui), face the next three years in opposition for the first time since 2008.
Major roading and housing projects earmarked for the region would still go ahead under the three party Labour/New Zealand First/ Green coalition government, they say….
A decision to mine iron sand off the South Taranaki coastline could also be up for change, depending on the new government's position after a High Court appeal is heard.
The trio hoped coalition partner New Zealand First's focus on regional issues would help retain skills and job training for people in Taranaki.
Kuriger said New Zealand First leader Winston Peters campaigned for provincial rural communities during the election.
The National MPs have been in a political hiatus under National apparently but pushed through the expensive roading option to get it on the books before another election, which National lost.
Former Taranaki King Country MP Shane Ardern said the Mt Messenger project could still be overturned….
Ardern famously drove a tractor up the steps of parliament to protest against a methane emissions bill.
He was critical of the MMP voting system. "I don't like MMP, I think it is a rotten system. "What we've got now is a group of losers who have cobbled together to chop off the winners.
Noticeable in what I have skimmed through is no emphasis on saving environment or kokako or kiwi. There is talk of tourism but no feeling that could include special areas for endangered species. Just the usual bull-headed, unchanging obeisance to saving minutes of driving time. WTF. And concern about accidents, well let's face it, a lot of that could be avoided by making people sit regular driving checks on simulators. That would save more lives and injuries, and squillions of dollars on roading and written off vehicles. And having a licence would be a treasure. The emphasis should not be making it so hard to get a licence, but ensure a reasonably competent driver stays proud of their competence.
..and a quick scan of the Comments section gives a good indication of the neanderthal numpties who are demanding the destruction of our ever diminishing and degraded indigenous forests and waterways so they can GO FASTER.
Yes. I'd help dig out another lane in the Tunnel with my bare hands if that would satisfy the drongoes for whom being forced to spend an unnecessary six minutes driving slowly through near virgin forest is torture.
I see it as a National Party MP push – look what we do for Taranaki.
And I don't think they have in Naki got a lot more understanding of other values beside farming and money since Parihaka. I am prepared to be taken to task – but it's a feeling I have from my short experience there and what Ive read.
Totally agree with ya grey on the driving simulators etc Im fairly certain we could all benefit from more and better driver training .Much better direction i think to be going in than one of ever expanding use of barriers etc personally i find some roads to be like driving through a cattle race !plus any scenic value is erased along with technically the risk ! .I shudder to think what might be ahead of us as drivers prob something like a complete shield along the sides of roads along with robotic control .Cars will probably still keep their steering wheels but only so we dont feel like completely useless idiots and can still pretend at least to be driving ! So risk adverse will society have become by then that its likely we'll all have to suck on dummies while we drive in case we bite our tongues if a bug hits the windscreen if theres any bugs left by then of course
Investors in Ross Asset Management – New Zealand's largest ponzi scheme – are taking legal action against ANZ bank over how it managed the accounts for the failed financial advice firm. ….
So far 200 investors have signed up to take the claim which could run into the tens of millions of dollars depending on how many more investors sign up.
What the hell is going on here? Why can't I access Hansard?
I've been trying to get on to the Hansard site in order to track down a horrible speech in favour of child-beating by the Dishonorable Judith Collins. I tried several times but this is all I got…..
I've just clicked on the link you gave and I'm still getting the "Your connection is not private…." nonsense. I can't even ignore it and move on to the site.
2013: Collins,"More than 50 children have died in New Zealand in the last 5 years not because of poverty, actually, but because of extreme abuse. I do not think for a moment that poverty is any excuse for killing one’s child, or the child of somebody else either, or of harming them. etc etc."
She also said she's "proud" to have beaten her own child. Puts her broadside against people who think like her but take it a bit far into some perspective. I'm also troubled by her phrase "not because of poverty, actually"—even when speaking on something like this, she felt entitled to inject her ideologically motivated and cynical repudiation of the very notion of poverty in New Zealand.
very likely your internet connection is down and when you go to any URL you (try to) get the login page of your router , the message is from your browser refusing to connect to a different non https page from the one asked for
Lynda Kamariera had been at the company for almost 23 years and said workers were some of the lowest-paid retail staff in the country.
"They value themselves as being a family story but the families who work inside Farmers are finding they're struggling."
After more than two decades at the company, Lynda's pay had yet to reach the current rate living wage of $20.55 an hour, which was due to go up in September to $21.15.
The situation was just continuing to get more desperate for staff, she said.
"There are workers that have taken out loans to get car repairs so they can come to work."
A group of investors in New Zealand's largest Ponzi scheme has accused the ANZ of negligence in its role as banker of the company, Ross Asset Management.
Former commercial lawyer, John Strahl, who is acting as a spokesman for the group said the action would have started years ago, but ANZ took legal action against the financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority to prevent it sharing the finding of its investigation.
ANZ strongly denies the allegations and will be defending the claim.
From 2004 to 2017, when she was a San Francisco D.A. and then the Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris was a key figure in the institutional oppression of black and Latino citizens. She did not speak out against the wicked and iniquitous "three strikes" travesty of a law, and she contended, to the anger and consternation of black and civil rights groups, that local police should be allowed to investigate themselves after killing people. She supported the outrageous, controversial 2011 California truancy legislation that made criminals of poor and disadvantaged parents throughout the state.
She has also foolishly swallowed—hook, line, and sinker—the Bellingcat/U.K. government's disinformation campaigns about Syria, and has spoken at AIPAC conferences, where she boasted: "The first resolution I co-sponsored as a United States senator was to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations." The AIPAC delegates applauded that little speech almost as loudly as they cheer a nurse being shot and killed by IDF snipers in Gaza.
In the following puff piece from—you guessed it!—CNN, there is an unintentionally amusing, and sadly quite accurate, bit of blithering from an uncritical supporter….
Veronica Thomas, a 38-year-old phlebotomist from outside Columbia, likened Harris to former President Barack Obama.
"It was powerful. It was moving, it stirred emotions. We're due for change. I felt like Obama all over again."
'They claimed that some inmates at Auckland Prison, Paremoremo, which houses New Zealand's only specialist maximum-security prison unit, never got the ice blocks, with officers refusing to give them to "dirty crims".'
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More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The Apartheid state of Israel is the largest right wing hate movement… it kills on a war crime scale.. and it's reaching out
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/watch-film-labour-mps-didnt-want-you-see
I'm linking to a 5 minute doco that tells us information NZ should know about the sub humane christchurh shooter … as the title shows his name … I have spaced gap ( h ttp ), undo that if / when you copy and paste it.
The information is important as it raises things we should be guarding against …. and are perhaps blind to.
We should at least look at things like ' the shooter claims that ethno nationalists like himself are concentrated in the European armed forces and national police forces' … may be relevant to why his filthy great big red flags were ignored in our preventable terrorist tragedy.
And it identifies … The phrases and words …. 'Invaders' language …. … tRump or our National Party .. that grows and feeds …. this hate mindset for votes .
we need to see the scale of what has been growing on around us .. and we have been blind to.it
I hope the moderators here amend my back-space link block …and allow the title to be seen. I know the shooters name just like I know Martyn Bryants name … both of which I associate with men who would chase little children .. to shoot them.
We are adults, I think we could be helping to forget … before we have even learned.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_FSZYTGyBE
@reason, too right, and of course what do the guard dog defenders of liberal status quo like the Guardian and NYTimes do in the face of this out right racist war..double down on their relentless smearing and disinformation on the two politicians (Corbyn, Sanders) who have had decades fighting racism..most so called MSM ‘liberal’ media is public enemy number one, you want some real fake or misconstrued and misleading news..look no further than your daily MSM liberal news sources…that is news in fact.
Clinton laid the foundation amd law on immigration policy … and on which tRump is now building ,,,,
This cruelty is not limited to one side or the other ….
Rather it seems to be a disease among the rich and powerful
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-bill-clinton-donald-trump-alan-dershowitz.html
The same horrible actors, appearing in different plays and lots of theatres …
Divide and be cruel … Build Great Racism … human traffick
They have a lot of fans .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rl_EwaDg4A
There are degrees of cruelty. Imprisoning families for a few days (capture and release) is one thing – seperating children from their families without the ability to reunite them, putting large groups of children in wire netting cells without the means to keep them sanitary is quite another.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/06/21/detained-migrant-children-no-toothbrush-soap-sleep/?utm_term=.4e8ca8e36896
" U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee had found that migrants in Rio Grande Valley facilities were hungry, with some eating only “sandwiches of two pieces of dry bread and one slice of ham.” They were thirsty, with up to 20 migrants sharing the same cup to drink from the water cooler. They were embarrassed to use a toilet in front of 50 other people and they couldn’t take a shower or brush their teeth or even wash their hands with soap and dry them with a towel, the judge found. At night, they couldn’t sleep. The lights were left on, as they shivered beneath an aluminum blanket on the concrete floor, the judge found. "
Yep – it's deliberate use of cruelty as a deterrent. Something the Ockers have been doing for a while now. It's likely to become the 'go to' strategy in the face of CC-driven food shortages increasing refugee flows – and it will fuel the rise of the far right everywhere. As the resource (food, water) competition tightens, a similar strategy of containment will be deployed against unwanted internal populations as well.
It's uncomfortable to contemplate to say the least. AB I see you as being correct.
And if anyone doubts the depths we could descend to, and our neighbours across the ditch, just note that we have the example of extermination of Jews, gypsies, imperfect people (not shining Aryan types), and the dehumanising of many in WW2. This by a nation that had been the basis of Protestant Christianity, had highly educated and sophisticated people, and was far from being a simple society that was locked into eternal wars and vendettas tribe to tribe.
Educated, sophisticated people, who have abandoned standards of behaviour such as respect for all humans, for kindness and status to animals, and support for human community and sharing, are rife.
What devil's brew will they come up with, in their welter of power. The maxim of Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely' is daily proven.
Jump from one Big Power to another – can any be seen to be aiming at good standards in all their dealings. China and Falun Gong? USA we know about. UK conducting public dismemberment of their long-held welfare policies and government responsibility.
How we may have to cope with it – I thought of A Smugglers Song a poem by Rudyard Kipling, he wasn't just a poohbah Brit.
Rudyard Kipling also wrote 'If'. Here it is read well by Michael Caine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFMVIfl2UY
Heresy @reason!!!! Shadrach will be along shortly to chastise you
Eugenie Sage needs to pull her head in over comments that Westland Council didn't have a fund set aside for historic landfill risks.
DOC has something like 90% of the land on the coast, and the use of that land results in massive (like the majority) use of Council resource and infrastructure such as road, water systems, and yes rubbish dumps…
.. and get this. DOC pays no rates.
Pull your head in Sage – pay up or shut up. DOC bludger, bludging off the ratepayers of Westland.
Before getting angry at Eugenie, maybe ANOTHER audit of the Westland Council is required. They haven't been the best financial managers or carers for their environment in the past.
Care to apply for the job? Applications close on Monday..
https://www.trademe.co.nz/jobs/accounting/finance-managers-controllers/listing-2193442685.htm
https://www.wcrc.govt.nz/council/news-and-annoucements?item=id:2626k2tms17q9s864i8w
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1904/S00179/mahuta-wants-assurances-over-westland-council-procurement.htm
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/89772992/council-assets-manager-vivek-goel-under-investigation?rm=m
Am happy to find many more links about more situations relating to their bad financial management…. just saying….
Or, how about asking maureen pugh about it, she was one of the worst mayors of Westland Council.
+ 1 yep Cinny.
Blaming DOC is poor thinking and calling them bludgers is just stupid.
But hes right, DOC doesnt pay a cent in rates and Sage wants 'ratepayers' to pay for and manage the risks.
The shoddy decision making by the council is a separate issue, maybe they could do a tourist tax like Queenstown wants , but is facing stiff resistance from the business owners.
DOC doesn't pay a cent in rates – yeah I wonder why? jeeze wtf. DOC isn't just a loss on the balance sheet it has inputs as well.
These dumps are everywhere – 18 in Tasman alone that could be breached in storms. Every council will have to get off their arse and use all resources to mitigate the potential disaster of these blowouts. Trying to say dunno, not us is not any answer imo
Dukeofurl, DOC charge each and every concession holder on the Westland DOC estate 7% of their turnover each and every year…
… get that everybody? 7% of turnover… (of course then there is GST too at 15% = 22% in total). How much would just one of those scenic heli concessions turnover in one year??
Perhaps an application under the OIA to ascertain how much DOC and the government make out of Westland each and every year would help shed some light on their place within the Westland community…
… as earners but not payers.
as bludgers, as would a corporate be so described, in this context
edit: oh, forgot about income tax as well….
do you even know what 'concession' means in the context of our National Parks and protected places – the people getting concessions do so so that they can potentially make PERSONAL profit from the collective (the conservation estate or the bit they take people into) – oh the poor fucking dears. As usual you have it all arse about face.
I hold two concessions in Westland, plus I’m a ratepayer. The points made are facts.
But as usual, you can't see past the personal and consequently miss the point.
Ha – so the old asking for a friend is out then – that is good because I know that you own concessions and I know it is all about the $$$. Or maybe I have it all wrong like you said lol
none of your posts make any sense
Can I ask @vto? I know it's not that kosha to ask, but am I correct in assuming you're a child (and then rationally thunking adult) of the neo-lib era?
The one where minimal gummint, operationalising everything on the basis of fishincy and fektivniss, externalising costs and incentivising all for the sake of a market ruling supreme.
"So"………"Ultimately", if you are of that era and experience, I'd recommend getting together some sort of PPP that (who) could bid for the cost of cleanups going forwid. They could work (constructively) with DOC, and local bodies after consultation with all the stakeholders, and after various conversations have been had, and I believe we'd be able to come up with a viable solution.
I mean, I get that the ratepayer base is insuffishint and has unreasnibble expectations of it – speshilly when the number of interlopers masquerading as tourists are inflicting their shit on you, but I just wonder about the intricacies of it all if we're to adhere to neo-liberal religion.
Is it possible we could have a conversation?
Absolutely. I don't think the neolib approach works too well though – that much has been proved in various parts of society (except the purchase of plastic buckets from the warehouse where neolib doctrine works fine…).
As for cleaning up these dumps all around the country? What popped into mind some while ago is that these things can be attended to over a longer period. For example, buy a digger and a truck and start removing the shit. Don't PPP it. Just buy and employ and get started. It may take some time, but no matter that.
Like the cathedral in Chch – doesn't matter how lng it takes, just make a start and keep going.
Get a digger and start moving the shit. It aint hard.
One digger and truck, $30,000 per annum. One employee, $60,000 per annum. Overhead $20,000 per annum.
Well yea! Of course! Fully!
Couple of problems Actually several) though as far as your criticisms of Eugenie.
Munsters and their enterage can't comment of "operational matters" going forward (That is of course, unless their future careers depend on it)
And secondly, it'll have to be subjected to the risk managers and liability analysts.
(Coukd take some time, and as you may or may not know, both Jacinda and Andrew Little have recently alerted us to the fact that things always take longer than they expected)
The argument seems to be over who the employer is.
You could get half a PR consultant for that. Get a grip on yourself.
Why would DOC pay rates? Do the police pay rates for their Westland area? Why should payment for the clean up of the council's dump come out of the DOC budget? DOC was gutted several times over in the last 20 years so if you want the general NZ taxpayer to contribute extra funding for a council's fuck up and the local's rubbish, you will be opening the door for more industries and councils to pass the buck.
Nothing to do with the point made Cinny
Point stands
I think West Coast council management is pretty stop-gap and No.8 fencing wire thinking. They are probably on a par with the management of sports codes, people who have some experience 'in the field' and are focussed on their own ideas and approaches. Not conducive to outside queries of their decisions or concerned about professional analysis except just enough to get people off their backs. This is BAU for a number of councils, so can't just point the finger at SI West Coast.
Grey, Westland Council surely does have a record of poor skills in certain areas, however those have absolutely nothing to do with the point made, which concerns Sage's political point-scoring against Smith in the context outlined.
DOC earns massive amounts every year from the use of Council infrastructure, yet pays NOTHING towards their cost. NOTHING. ZIP. ZERO
If this was a corporate, or if Nick Smith or Maggie boorish Barry were still the Ministers and Key in charge, then my points made would be agreed with here.
Until DOC pays its way here the Minister needs to stfu.
Are people around here allowed to tell Sage to stfu in the same way people around here used to tell Barry and Smith to stfu? Or is it too hard for partisans to pull their ideology blinkers aside?
DOC don't own the land so don't pay rates although I would guess that they do pay rates for their buildings in town. Rubbish is a council responsibility and rubbish is created by the residents, visitors and tourists – not by DOC who would be taking care of this patch of New Zealand regardless of existing infrastructure. Also does not the government pay for the roads outside of the towns? So roads etc are paid for out of the same purse that pays for DOC.
"DOC don't own the land ". Are you referring to the registered proprietor, and picking at the technicalities?
The Westland Council has 6,000 ratepayers who pay a total of approx $6,000,000 per annum.
That's it.
There is no more.
There is little to no money there. Many many people live on the smell of an oily rag.
You can't magic money up out of nowhere.
Yet approx 1,000,000 tourists pass through every year – for the DOC estate.
The total land area is approx 1,200,000 hectares, while only 120,000 hectares only is rateable. Guess who has the other 1,080,000 hectares?
DOC earns from the use of Council assets yet pays nothing towards those assets.
Regarding government-paid roads, that is only SH6, the main road. All other roads are ratepayer-paid. The 6,000 of them.
Do some sums.
Think of this issue as if Key and his slimeballs still held the reins – it will enable clearer thinking. Nick Smith is still Minister.
Just a bit more from the DOC Annual Report…
DOC earn approx $60,000,000 per annum.
How much of that is earned in Westland? Westland holds four of the thirteen National Parks.
Guestimate 25% of the DOC estate sits in Westland . Equals $15,000,000 from Westland.
Like so very many other ratepayers in Westland, in this matter I give DOC the one-finger salute. They fall short in taking their place in the community.
And Sage just makes it worse with her comments – shame on her
The tourists who use the council infrastructure also buy food, fuel, equipment, and accommodation. All those local businesses pay that on in their rates.
I will be a nit picking legalistic bore, but DOC do not own the "Conservation/DOC estate".
DOC administer the Conservation Estate on behalf of the "Crown" – ie the Government as a whole – and on behalf of the people of NZ.
So if anyone should be contributing more it is central government, not DOC per se.
I think I've got the answer @vto. It'd be a win win for everyone.
First of all we'll need to cover off those skill shortages in the Westland Council and ensure consultation with the community.
Who better than Laidlaw, who'll be looking for a gig after the local body elections? A perfect fit! and with a proven record of consultation and problem solving.
Then we could shunt Lou Sanson off to Treasury after the good work he's done resolving DOC's 'toxic culture', and he's got the smarts and verbals necessary to handle criticism over targeting employees and trying to shut the scientific community up. Better still he believes in "emphasising community involvement and greater engagement with the nation’s Indigenous peoples" in keeping with transformational government. (It's a given because …. well because he says so).After the Treasury hacking debacle, we need someone with Lou's smarts to help settle things down.
We immediately put Public Service CEO on the Immigration NZ skills shortage list with an English language requirement of IELTS 7.0 or higher with a salary range reflecting the global market place. With a bit of luck, we might get someone of the calibre of one of Sir John's former banking mates from offshore – there are one or two looking for a bolt hole, or even someone from the US EPA.
What could be a better fit for all stakeholders going forward!
Was the ex dump on DOC land or as a result of DOC? Nope.
Has the Westland Council managed themselves well, especially in the last decade? Nope.
Neither of these things are the fault of the minister.
DOC have helped, massively and so have the defence force. Apparently it's still not good enough for some, maybe the fear of a rate rise is more of a concern?
vto, if you really want to do something and pay rates there, I strongly suggest you join the volunteer clean up. Because your rates may end up increasing as a result of the Westland Councils bad management, not the first time that's happened I hear. Election coming up…. maybe you will stand?
I hope you focus on RACE RELATIONS like your job title implies and not drift into other areas and dissipate the energy. Good luck.
So Aussie banks get the 'message' in Australia too.
Not seen the same response from them ,that they offered here in NZ.
https://www.interest.co.nz/banking/100657/apra-will-make-each-anz-national-australia-bank-and-westpac-hold-extra-a500-mln
Daft government with tepid strategic planning for the country, no foresight, just open the doors and let the corporate hordes swan in and take our bits.
Better to deal with NZ reliables, try and win over the gangs that are aspirational good communities – but when it comes to licensing Marijuana it may be another CPPPTTAA? walkover.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/394195/medicinal-cannabis-licence-fees-of-up-to-23k-could-limit-growth-of-local-businesses
Seems Labour are taking the potential of having medicinal cannabis in the hands of the people (which would lower the cost) and are setting it up for the corporates to produce and supply.
However, this could all come undone if personal use and production (backyard) is legalised via the up and coming referendum.
Unless of course some kind of excise tax or licence to grow system is introduced, thereby turning growers without the correct licences (available for only $5000) into criminals. Much potential for disaster here.
As Labour has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/08-05-2019/what-we-know-about-the-cannabis-referendum-in-10-easy-questions/
"At this stage [~14 months out from the referendum], we just don't know."
"but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again."
And that's The "relentlessly soggy" "lefty" "more left than most" "transparent as a transparent thing" Chairman at play once again.
Interesting that there's not a single mention of NZ's two most recent Government referendums (binding referendums at that) in the article linked to by The Chairman – not one. A curious omission, don't you think?
The shortlist for the first flag referendum was made public about three months before voting, and the results of that vote were released about three months before the second flag referendum.
Three months vs 14 months, and poor Chair is panicking
Should we be concerned?
If you are happy to vote blindly, then nah.
Personally, I prefer to know what I'm voting for. And without a binding referendum there will be no pending law in place.
Which seems to be something Drowsy M. Kram doesn't understand.
This issue appears to be of importance to you. It might actually get you to vote for one of the parties who have said they will honour the wishes of the people, then. For realsies.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/388537/little-guarantees-binding-cannabis-referendum-but-yet-to-define-binding
What The Chairman fails to understand is that the article they linked to is over two months old.
This is basic stuff – The Chairman is slightly worse than the opposition National party (if that's possible) – a bad joke.
Indeed, there's barely a gNats whisker between The self-professed "lefty" "more left than most" Chairman's position and National’s – funny that!
What an extraordinarily poor performance. Do any readers here still believe that The Chairman is a genuine friend of the left?
The Chairman's contributions on this blog epitomise the self-serving deceit of the National party machine – keep 'em coming.
Doesn't alter the point made, but your post shows you still don't have a clue. It's not binding.
It's not binding yet, because 14 months out the supporting legislation and referendum questions haven’t been drafted – don’t panic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxseHuUSYI
Chair is creaking under the pressure and he might soon need a recliner.
Witness a very persistent Chair from early 2015: https://thestandard.org.nz/how-do-the-greens-grow-their-base/#comment-962178
If he reclines any further he might meet the Greens on the 'other side'
FIFY
Note that in your link there was not a single mention of Labour, not one. Are you really that blind to your own anti-Labour bias?
Thanks, but that is not fully correct.
It's a Labour led fall short Government.
FIFY
And you asked if I’m blind, ha.
Uh-huh. Your LDS is making you hallucinate.
Medicine is a far cry from weed for the masses. I don't imagine the 23K applies to recreational pot but we'll see. There are many variables to be considered:
Some weed can make you paranoid
Some is anxiolytic
Those are complete opposites. Medicinal weed should be handled by people who have a vested interest to get it right for a medical market. The regulatory bodies should be busy, and that is expensive.
Recreational weed, like booze, might push a brand and the public buy it or they don't. There will be varied types and effects and strengths. The best boutique brands will emerge. NZ weed will be exported if it's good enough. The money should come back to NZ.
The medicine would be for local and then global markets. Made in NZ, paying tax in NZ and employing in NZ…
The person needing medicine needs someone who knows biology, medicine, cannabinoid & other metabolite profiles, dosage, frequency, how those apply to various delivery methods, how these vary with culture methods… We're not bloody paupers making herb tea in a tin hut.
It might sound expensive, till you look at what it’s worth.
You overlooked the fact that many are growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
All the Government is going to do for them is keep that activity illegal and force them to pay top dollar for it.
So while it may be grown here, profits are bound to head offshore as locals are priced out or sell out as is usually the case with NZ businesses. And as for paying local tax, surely you must know how offshore owned companies minimize that?
The home-grower will find their medicine improved a great deal via the research of professionals. While you make stuff up and bang out about something you obviously know nothing about, there are many people who are not getting the efficacy from their medicine that they could be getting.
How many cancer patients have you worked with? PTSD? Autism?
What metabolite profiles are desirable for the above groups.
You clown.
While I'm not claiming to be a doctor or health specialist, I'm not making stuff up. There are many growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
They just want the Government to stop criminalizing them.
Sure, further research may further benefit them but they should have that choice between being able to home grow or opt for a commercial product.
Why do you and the Government want to prevent that and rob them of that choice?
In 1953 the United Kingdom and the U.S. conspired to crush democracy in Iran. They're still causing trouble 66 years later.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/11/is-the-us-nudging-britain-into-dangerous-waters-with-iran
No respect – a metaphor for our society imo – sometime is going so thrash it to death so we can say 'look at me'.
Maybe tourism in its current form is just mass narcissism, i.e.it's all about the self rather than the place visited. So many tourists here seem to need to race across the landscape, climb it, jump off bits of it etc. It’s possible to do that and leave a place still knowing nothing about it.
yeah – I have been a guide in a National Park and a Nature Reserve before – I had to actively get people to slow down and actually look around and see it all. Quite often there was resistance even though they had paid to be there. Bit like when they'd ask – what's that?, what's this? I so wanted to say "why do you care – let it all go and just be here without excessive knowledge gathering' Just be here now. But of course I didn't, I played the game.
The tourists come to conquer the country? Veni, vidi, vici? Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream. But they never will. A lot are only capable of short, quick, bursts of emotion with no contemplation of the wonder of the world. and no lasting respect for the land and the culture that are revealed to those who desire to see it. ('We've got better at home, is that the best they can do'?) Been there, done that, off to the next thing. The world is to use, discard and then pass on to the next experience.
Christine Aguilera puts the popular zip into Climb every Mountain which was an inspirational song about escape from oppression and tyranny. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_AcWbuxQdo
Here's a profound one for..you.
https://youtu.be/XcMM5-zBCEc
I was in Hawea recently, and I just drove to a nice scenic spot, and read my book under the mountains for a couple hours. I saw 100s of people, tourists, park, get out, look for a few minutes, take a selfie, back in car and off they went to the next spot. A beautiful area though.
Away from the 'maddening' throng. A book, view, peace, and something to nibble and drink. All requirements satisfied. Hope you liked the book.
It always has been the ultimate in conspicuous consumption.
All done in the best possible taste..
'Epstein pleaded guilty in state court in Florida in 2007 to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, resolving allegations that he had molested numerous girls. He served 13 months in jail, though he was allowed out six days a week to work from his office in Palm Beach.'
read:https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jeffrey-epstein-accused-of-sexually-abusing-teenage-girls-surrounded-himself-with-influential-network-of-defenders/2019/07/09/67069e12-a259-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?utm_term=.02401d1231e1
Someone has just been jailed for life with a minimum period of 10 years behind bars. I suppose that someone with a corkscrew mind could make sense of bringing that law in.
News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative, and The Standard is mostly an echo chamber of that. It is all too easy to feed into finding something to be upset about each day.
This constant barrage of negative news can be debilitating, and the propensity for many here to repeat their pet peeves over and over is simply tiring. What effect has all the complaining done for any of the 'popular' issues here?
Politics. Neo-liberal loathing. Poverty. Biodiversity Loss. Climate Change. War. Extremism… What has the years of whinging achieved? If you've made an impact by all means we need to hear about that. Not the same shit trotted out each day.
The world has a lot of problems right now. Concentrating on nothing but problems however gives a skewed and unrealistic view. I believe we play straight into the hands of power brokers who would prefer we are fearful and fighting among ourselves, rather than emboldened citizens of an incredible planet, surrounded by incredible people.
'Seek and ye shall find'. The daily ferreting out of things that are wrong is an exercise in propagating futility. Yes there are many issues, moaning about them constantly is a piss-poor effort.
As is moaning about all the moaning.
How to Get There is a step in the right direction.
Here's an old dude opened up his home gym and now has many local children training with him instead of getting up to other forms of 'entertainment' that might set their lives on a destructive path.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/78-year-old-bodybuilder-opens-his-home-gym-to-youngsters-for-free-so-they-wont-get-into-trouble/
My anxiety is through the roof lately, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Today I'll go seek some professional help, because that is how you responsibly deal with a problem – action, not whinging.
Here's the Guardian, which just linking to sets off a bunch of predictable whining about the publication itself. Like hysterical teens on facebook screaming faux outrage.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/01/and-now-for-something-completely-different-some-positive-news
When I try say – well done this person or that person for something good – y'all take their pedigree and dredge up whatever dirt you can find or imagine about them. No credit where it's due, no bipartisan support for anyone. Sides and stances.
Here's an app that lends eyes to the blind
https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2018/5454219/aira/
Use it.
The torrents of negative/bad news (particularly NZ/local bad news) can eventually erode/undermine the 'defences' of all but the most determined optimists.
Some have attempted to introduce 'good news quotas', and the idea seems attractive (I like it; think TV One News' "Good Sorts" on steriods), although quotas do attract detractors.
https://practicalreason.blog/2017/08/21/the-folly-of-good-news-quotas/
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/good-sorts-nomination-form-q01380
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/01/and-now-for-good-news-why-media-taking-positive-outlook
https://www.positive.news/
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
https://medium.com/future-crunch/99-good-news-stories-you-probably-didnt-hear-about-in-2018-cc3c65f8ebd0
Good news quotas – lol. But yay for them trying aye.
I'm not expecting persons to live under a rock, but more balance might help.
A few of the authors here post good news as it pops up and this is appreciated – then they're shot down by a wave of negative posters who can't accept anything good from their particular pet political peeve.
Then we all have a shit-fight.
Here's a laugh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD6Mj_gDzH0
I'm waiting for that movie. The original was pretty funny. Both crowdfunded.
Yeah I loved the first one. Stephanie Paul (Madame President) is a kiwi.
Yeah, but they had me at Laibach 😉
I was completely hooked after the 'albinised' black dude is marching with his sign back on Earth:
"The Moon Nazis Are Coming!"
Not subtle, but sublimely ridiculous.
If you appreciate a good laugh, though you’ve likely seen them: Idiocracy, and 4 Lions.
Tears of laughter. So damn good.
Idiocracy was pretty good, but the number of people saying that it was really happening because other people disagreed with them pissed me right off.
4 lions is on the list.
'Four Lions' screened at the NZ Film Festival almost ten years ago; still memorable after that one viewing. An extraordinary achievement from start to scarily laughable finish; makes you think – edgy.
Must mention what I think is an unsung NZ classic:
'The Devil Dared Me To' The legend of Stuntman, Randy Campbell.
Gloriously silly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Dared_Me_To
' News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative '
off shore oligarchial propaganda, wrapped up in local events.
There is the trade off between not having to do it yourself, & the imposition of non representative political agenda.
Even the political parties don't rate very much, don't like how they are somewhat beholden to and spoken for by other arrangements, it's just anarchical to talent and resources, the combinations you want for real value creation.
Serious question.
If this Government are sincere when they say they will repeal the Part 4A amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act (rushed through under urgency on the back of the 2013 Budget) why can they not do this now?
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0022/latest/whole.html
This would essentially effect a reboot of the Public Health and Disability Act, and the Ministry of Health DSS Funded Family Care policy would wink out of existence.
https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/funded-family-care-operational-policy
https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2013-go6248
All that would be needed is for the prohibition for having a resident family member provide the assessed care to be removed from MOH:DSS documents.
MOH DSS clients who have been through the NASC process and undergone the needs assessments and had hours allocated can simply choose to have a family member provide those supports either through Individualised Funding or through a Contracted Provider.
As was the common practice for those family carers who were being paid despite the policy forbidding this. The Ministry of Health DSS has the details of these arrangements. (I have an anonymised list obtained through OIA)
There will be certain eligible DSS clients whose assessments have been too heavily predicated on resident family providing what the Misery calls 'natural supports'.
These will need to be re- assessed on a case by case basis with assistance from ACC who also expect resident family to provide some level of 'natural supports ' but have the real risk that if they don't fund adequate hours of support they (ACC) can be liable if there is further harm to the client.
ACC and the Ministry of Health have worked closely on previous occasions so this is not an outrageous suggestion.
So, why not repeal the Part 4A POS now and allow those who have been denied access to the funding allocated for their care because of a policy determined to be discriminatory by the Courts in decisions all three of the Parties in Government claim they agree with?
Because I am very, very suspicious that resolution of this will be delayed until after the election.
Easy enough to fix right away, as you point out.
As you say Rosemary, some of the issues could be very quickly remedied – for example, by using urgency to repeal the dreaded Part 4a of the Act etc. But to do so that way would actually just be doing what the last Nat government did in bringing Part 4a and the whole rediculous policy in the first place with all the attendant problems that accompanied that move – lack of consultation with those affected, no public submission process etc, etc.
I fully recognise your reasons for scepticism etc in light of what you and Peter, and many others have gone through for years and I fully support all of you. (I too have some disabilities and know full well how hard the fight is to try to get what you are entitled to.)
Having worked in the State Service sector in Wellington for over four decades and in particular in areas interacting and liaising with, and working on secondment from time to time in, the Parliamentary arena, I am reasonably confident that the intentions are to get these legislative changes etc through and in place well before the election in the second half of next year – but at the same time taking the time to do it properly in full consultation with people like yourselves, and through the proper legislative process of select committee deliberation, public submissions etc.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
The various press releases by Ministers seem to have included mention of the way that Part 4a was brought in under urgency and without consultation etc and the wish not to do the same – eg
“We are committed to getting this change through as swiftly as we can, while also avoiding the process which created the current legislation,” says Julie Anne Genter.
http://community.scoop.co.nz/2019/07/government-changes-funded-family-care-policy/
My understanding is that work is well advanced on various possible options to replace the ridiculous employment arrangement brought in in 2013 "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau."
The three Coalition parties all seem to be in agreement on this issue and singing from the same song sheet, and IIRC the intention is to announce these proposals, the proposed changes to legislation etc in the next few months and certainly well before the end of this year.
In other words, what I am trying to say badly is that as someone who has worked in the area of legislative changes etc, they seem to be making sure that they have all their ducks lined up on this issue before they go ahead – as they must do particularly in light of the judicial decisions. So I so hope I am not wrong!
Thank you for responding veutoviper, I was sending you psychic messages hoping for your particular insights.
I do sincerely hope you are right, because another betrayal, a twist of the knife in our backs would be unforgivable.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
Ironically it is exactly this that causes my deep concern that they have not thought it through.
It is the "$32million over four years'…https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/393821/family-carers-to-be-paid-fairer-wage that doesn't quite add up.
That's $8million dollars per year to pay an extra 640 family carers (like me) up to $25 per hour. Plus increase the pay of the current 400 Funded Family Carers to the same rate per hour. Generously, this works out as an average of about 9 hours per week per carer. For clients with high, very high and complex needs. Many of whom have been assessed as needing at least five times as many hours of support.
It simply does not add up. Even more so if the government continues along the lines suggested by the PSA and makes the rule that these family care arrangements have to go through a contracted provider. To avoid the " "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau." issue.
Veutoviper. This is not an issue to ACC clients who are bulk funded and pay their family. MOH DSS clients are being treated differently. Again. It may be appropriate where there are severe learning disabilities, and if both the client and the parent carer agree then these arrangements could be overseen by a Contracted Provider.
This would of course add extra costs because the provider would expect their cut of the funding.
Having the arrangement go through a provider denies the disabled person the autonomy provided by being able to use Individualised Funding…which I believe is funded at a lower hourly rate that the contracted providers demand.
Reading the Cabinet Papers from back in 2012 when they decided not to take Atkinson to the Supreme Court, very early in the paper based discussion did the term "competing interests" arise. A few paragraphs later the redacted sections began, culminating in the impressively blanked out RIS that Micky Savage (chicken killer) shared in his post the other day.
Now that would be awesome…unblank those sections of that Regulatory Impact Statement so we are fully informed.
Honest and transparent government and all that.
Yes please. Saving face for officials who should have known better is not a valid reason to keep it hidden.
Almost incredibly, the godawful American equivalent of the Grauniad just got worse.
Sydney Ember, a finance company shill, a Clintonista, a crony of Matt Drudge, is now employed as a "journalist" by the New York Times….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u26Ff_KTlD4
The floundering British State Broadcaster is now flagrantly pro-Tory
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/panoramas-hatchet-job-labour-antisemitism-bbc-has-become-pro-tory-media
Good on Collins. Her practical, down to earth approach will get her a long way. Just what we need in a future PM and what NZ needs to sort this mess out. About bloody time someone said it how it is.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114181232/judith-collins-just-stop-beating-up-kids
Doesn't she support parents hitting their kids?
Apparently not morpissey.
Collins said something that sounded like a human speaking? I caught the whiff of some understanding from her the other day about something. I think it must be a bout of this Type A flu going round. They say it is really strong. Coff, coff.
So it must have been someone else, disguised as Judith Collins, that boasted in 2007 about beating her own child….
See, reasonable smacking never hurt anyone. Her kids still love her. What's the problem?
Highly likely, as long as the bashing was reasonable.
Exactly what the bashers of children say. How is she in any way superior to the parents who "go a bit far" and kill the kids whom she and the Family Fist Fanatics say are fair game for slap-happy parents?
Because she speaks for the silent majority, for those too scared to raise their head above the pulpit of political correctness.
You need to stop now. Every time you post, it's something even stupider than the last.
Pulpit??
Do you mean pulpit, rampart or bulwark? Or parapet?
Blinkin' heck, yes, parapet. Early onset for sure.
I know the feeling…
Definitely pulpit when it comes to the political correctness verses like a religious fervour.
Sorry to do it again, but verses or versus?
It was the raising the head above a pulpit (has anyone ever lowered a head below one?) that prompted me to question Chris, whose irony I hopefully thought I was enjoying.
Was not meaning to be critical.
Yes, you were, but I don’t think Morrissey did.
I’m sure someone would’ve lowered their head below a pulpit. Perhaps when shoes or other things are being thrown at them.
You can't help loving words like me. I was thinking of verses repeated from the holy lexicon of PCness.
I do enjoy this sort of finish to the end of the day with a bit more lightness than the days bathos. Choirboys probably like to keep their heads below the pulpit. Especially the ones that Giles sometimes included in his clever cartoons – kids with too much insouciance. (I like using google meanings a lot – so fast.)
Giles always had so much other than the main joke going on in the cartoons.
Cool. But choirboys should be well away from the pulpit, which is the uplifted tower-like stand where the preacher preaches from, unless I am getting that early onset thing yet again. .
And turret does work – ta Incognito.
'The holy lexicon of PCness.' Sounds much less threatening than the holy dictates/scriptures/commandments which holiness normally delivers.
I was only kidding; letting off some ‘steam’, you know …
..not such a good idea…
The saying is: to be too scared to stick your head above the turret. I’m sure …
Yes, I'm sure it's one of them.
https://www.google.com/search?q=head+above+the+parapet&oq=head+above+the+&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l5.8508j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I don't think she's beaten many of her children to death morpissey, not even when on P and thus completely innocent.
No, but she and the likes of Bob "Hairbrush" McCoskrie and other ideologically committed kiddywhackers provide the ideological and moral scaffolding for people who hit their children. I'm sure Collins has not hurt her own kids; it's a pity she has not thought a little more about the impact of her words and her policies. Same goes for her slap-happy political cronies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwRq7zudLZk
It's a one size doesn't fit all type of area really.
Having to smack, for those that would feel they need to, too much is not ideal for the parent. The freedom to be a total brat is not ideal for the child.
A settlement mechanism inclusive of both extreme ends to the area, would perhaps provide the maximum utility in enabling the natural fits that will be most suitable to all i would say if people really wanted it.
That is an independent citizen’s aid authority, that can
A) these smackings could be getting out of hand and becoming counter productive to the situation
B) the child does not have the license of freedom is expecting of the parent & does not have the right to complain.
While leaving the exact dynamics to be worked out by the families, perhaps such a service could help in providing equilibriums that some families would otherwise not be able to reach for themselves.
A referendum then, might not have been a bad stepping stone to optimising the situation if wanted.
How much slapping and hitting with hairbrushes is acceptable for elderly people?
yeah the simpleton approach is always popular with gnats
What good stuff especially unexpected from Basher Collins. Unless she is just dancing clever politics. But wait. Many of her colleagues would disagree with her. So……
She reminds me of Nosher Powell's Prime Minister in Eat The Rich when he knocks the heads of the Palestinian & Israel leaders and tells them to "stop fighting & sort it out".
Collins says whatever she feels like at the time. She doesn't listen and responds on the hoof. This will become immediately obvious if she's ever PM, perhaps just leader of the nats, and would be truly Trumpesque.
We can only hope…
…she becomes leader of the nats. Constant entertainment until she spontaneously combusts.
Crush their spirit, hit them where it hurts, and when they’re down, tell them to pick themselves up and then kick them down again and rinse and repeat. Tell them that it is all about making the right decisions and personal responsibility and they should stop beating their kids. That’s how they treat the Precariat. They are wilfully blind and tone-deaf to context and circumstances. I detest cynical populist politicians with their personal and selfish agendas and their hypocritical smugness.
Simon and the National Party are incompetent idiots.
https://www.twitter.com/NZNationalParty/status/1149121011368939520
The Toyota Corolla model shown in the graphic is from the early 1990's. No one would import a vehicle that old.
In the real world, a Corolla like the one below would be imported and in 2021, when the legislation would apply, this vehicle would be 5 years old.
2016 Toyota Corolla, 1.8 Petrol CVT. 96 C02 (g/km). If this vehicle is imported, it would be eligible for a significant rebate.
The National Party need to lift their game and stop making shit up.
They have taken the lesson from their chums in the US and UK that lying works.
Banks sometimes we love them and sometimes…. we ask awkward questions?
When it comes to the risk mitigation costs arising from their own activities, the banks expect their customers to pick up the tab. Or taxpayers, as happened with the BNZ collapse of the late 1980s, and with the post–GFC collapse of non banking lenders like South Canterbury Finance. It was only ten years ago that governments had to bail 0ut a global banking system that (from the US to Scotland to the Netherlands) had been made vulnerable by the banks’ own lobbying for lax regulation and the pursuit of dodgy lending practices. If the banks have already forgotten the GFC, the rest of us haven’t.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1907/S00063/gordon-campbell-on-the-aussie-banks-latest-fee-hike-excuse.htm
A grown man weeps for the destruction of his whenua, his life.
How the power of a state agency can divide and rule by wooing one group and dismissing another.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113021225/the-devastating-personal-cost-of-taranakis-200m-mt-messenger-bypass
https://www.toko.org.nz/petitions/no-mt-messenger-bypass-save-mangapepeke-valley
There was an option to widen the one-way Awakino tunnel which seems to be one of the biggest problems. There is mention of accidents, and from what I have seen of driving in the rural sector, this is because of excessive speed for the conditions.
Report for Mt Messenger Alliance (who are they). https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/projects/awakino-gorge-to-mt-messenger-programme/mt-messenger-bypass/rma-applications/technical-reports/tr-9-historic-heritage-assessment.pdf
https://www.trc.govt.nz/buses-transport/transport-planning/state-highway-3/
It is interesting that if one wants to look at one of the numerous maps of the area that is noted as nzta, it won't come up individually to be expanded but just switches over to the group of area maps. That is unusual as I can normally hone in to get a good view, but not here.
Found this for 13 April 2017, (all MPs in the area are National)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/91551220/twobridge-bypass-of-awakino-tunnel-announced-as-part-of-135m-safety-project
and for 21 October 2017
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98097430/taranaki-mps-are-hopeful-big-spending-projects-will-proceed-under-new-government
Taranaki's elected MPs say they are confident the region will not become a political backwater now that it is not represented in government.
The three MPs, Jonathan Young (New Plymouth), Barbara Kuriger (Taranaki King Country) and newcomer Hirate Hipango (Whanganui), face the next three years in opposition for the first time since 2008.
Major roading and housing projects earmarked for the region would still go ahead under the three party Labour/New Zealand First/ Green coalition government, they say….
A decision to mine iron sand off the South Taranaki coastline could also be up for change, depending on the new government's position after a High Court appeal is heard.
The trio hoped coalition partner New Zealand First's focus on regional issues would help retain skills and job training for people in Taranaki.
Kuriger said New Zealand First leader Winston Peters campaigned for provincial rural communities during the election.
The National MPs have been in a political hiatus under National apparently but pushed through the expensive roading option to get it on the books before another election, which National lost.
Former Taranaki King Country MP Shane Ardern said the Mt Messenger project could still be overturned….
Ardern famously drove a tractor up the steps of parliament to protest against a methane emissions bill.
He was critical of the MMP voting system. "I don't like MMP, I think it is a rotten system. "What we've got now is a group of losers who have cobbled together to chop off the winners.
Noticeable in what I have skimmed through is no emphasis on saving environment or kokako or kiwi. There is talk of tourism but no feeling that could include special areas for endangered species. Just the usual bull-headed, unchanging obeisance to saving minutes of driving time. WTF. And concern about accidents, well let's face it, a lot of that could be avoided by making people sit regular driving checks on simulators. That would save more lives and injuries, and squillions of dollars on roading and written off vehicles. And having a licence would be a treasure. The emphasis should not be making it so hard to get a licence, but ensure a reasonably competent driver stays proud of their competence.
There was an article about this couple back in 2017…https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/96155843/farmer-says-mt-messenger-road-option-would-be-environmental-and-ecological-suicide
..and a quick scan of the Comments section gives a good indication of the neanderthal numpties who are demanding the destruction of our ever diminishing and degraded indigenous forests and waterways so they can GO FASTER.
Yes. I'd help dig out another lane in the Tunnel with my bare hands if that would satisfy the drongoes for whom being forced to spend an unnecessary six minutes driving slowly through near virgin forest is torture.
Believe me…it is a heavenly drive.
I see it as a National Party MP push – look what we do for Taranaki.
And I don't think they have in Naki got a lot more understanding of other values beside farming and money since Parihaka. I am prepared to be taken to task – but it's a feeling I have from my short experience there and what Ive read.
Totally agree with ya grey on the driving simulators etc Im fairly certain we could all benefit from more and better driver training .Much better direction i think to be going in than one of ever expanding use of barriers etc personally i find some roads to be like driving through a cattle race !plus any scenic value is erased along with technically the risk ! .I shudder to think what might be ahead of us as drivers prob something like a complete shield along the sides of roads along with robotic control .Cars will probably still keep their steering wheels but only so we dont feel like completely useless idiots and can still pretend at least to be driving ! So risk adverse will society have become by then that its likely we'll all have to suck on dummies while we drive in case we bite our tongues if a bug hits the windscreen if theres any bugs left by then of course
Ver funny weston and prophetic too. Think of the kiddy cars in the supermarkets.
How sad for Sir John.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12249032
But I suppose a successful claim would be paid for by the customers and not any of the Directors. Damn.
It's like when he "committed" New Zealand troops to Iraq: no personal involvement at all. Unless that useless son of his has signed up?
What the hell is going on here? Why can't I access Hansard?
I've been trying to get on to the Hansard site in order to track down a horrible speech in favour of child-beating by the Dishonorable Judith Collins. I tried several times but this is all I got…..
https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/databases/record/?record=hansard
What is wrong here? Why can't I get through? Has anyone else had this problem with accessing Hansard?
No, working perfectly
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/
But doubt you will find what you think you are looking for on Hansard.
Perhaps you meant this?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/85282990/judith-collins-criticised-for-comments-about-parental-responsibility-and-poverty
Or this?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018657355/echoes-of-the-past-in-collins-fake-news-row
I've just clicked on the link you gave and I'm still getting the "Your connection is not private…." nonsense. I can't even ignore it and move on to the site.
Very strange, and annoying.
Be afraid. This is how it starts …
Please, please (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) ….
They're laughing at me.
Usually it's because the website's sso cert has bust in some way. In your case it's probably the NSA trying to thwart you.
Seems OK Morrissey.
2013: Collins,"More than 50 children have died in New Zealand in the last 5 years not because of poverty, actually, but because of extreme abuse. I do not think for a moment that poverty is any excuse for killing one’s child, or the child of somebody else either, or of harming them. etc etc."
Maybe on this matter she is genuine?
She also said she's "proud" to have beaten her own child. Puts her broadside against people who think like her but take it a bit far into some perspective. I'm also troubled by her phrase "not because of poverty, actually"—even when speaking on something like this, she felt entitled to inject her ideologically motivated and cynical repudiation of the very notion of poverty in New Zealand.
very likely your internet connection is down and when you go to any URL you (try to) get the login page of your router , the message is from your browser refusing to connect to a different non https page from the one asked for
Thanks for that xanthe!
Bastards. I thought as much.
Farmers ceased to be a store that considered itself a family store decades ago. Now it's a private equity handbag accessory I think.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/394233/farmers-stores-refuse-to-budge-on-workers-pay-claims
Lynda Kamariera had been at the company for almost 23 years and said workers were some of the lowest-paid retail staff in the country.
"They value themselves as being a family story but the families who work inside Farmers are finding they're struggling."
After more than two decades at the company, Lynda's pay had yet to reach the current rate living wage of $20.55 an hour, which was due to go up in September to $21.15.
The situation was just continuing to get more desperate for staff, she said.
"There are workers that have taken out loans to get car repairs so they can come to work."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12248984
Jesus wept! It's premium so can't see the full article but if we "accept the USA's invitation” and go to war with Iran, there will be hell to pay.
Drones to the left of me, rifles to the right, stuck in the middle with you.
Our present nashionul anthem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8StG4fFWHqg
Lyrics for the singing of:
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stealerswheel/stuckinthemiddlewithyou.html
This probably makes more sense and is more coherent than what was actually said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI0_mEMaTyE
Whatever Trump said, it's morally superior to what the Democratic "leaders", including that heroic desk warrior Kamala Harris, have been saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vkJn7aaMlI
Self-awareness, much? https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12-07-2019/#comment-1636402
No, you haven't defended that warmonger one little bit. You can't of course.
A group of investors in New Zealand's largest Ponzi scheme has accused the ANZ of negligence in its role as banker of the company, Ross Asset Management.
Former commercial lawyer, John Strahl, who is acting as a spokesman for the group said the action would have started years ago, but ANZ took legal action against the financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority to prevent it sharing the finding of its investigation.
ANZ strongly denies the allegations and will be defending the claim.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114197565/investors-launch-legal-claim-against-anz-over-it-relationship-with-ponzi-scheme
Nasty.
From 2004 to 2017, when she was a San Francisco D.A. and then the Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris was a key figure in the institutional oppression of black and Latino citizens. She did not speak out against the wicked and iniquitous "three strikes" travesty of a law, and she contended, to the anger and consternation of black and civil rights groups, that local police should be allowed to investigate themselves after killing people. She supported the outrageous, controversial 2011 California truancy legislation that made criminals of poor and disadvantaged parents throughout the state.
She has also foolishly swallowed—hook, line, and sinker—the Bellingcat/U.K. government's disinformation campaigns about Syria, and has spoken at AIPAC conferences, where she boasted: "The first resolution I co-sponsored as a United States senator was to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations." The AIPAC delegates applauded that little speech almost as loudly as they cheer a nurse being shot and killed by IDF snipers in Gaza.
In the following puff piece from—you guessed it!—CNN, there is an unintentionally amusing, and sadly quite accurate, bit of blithering from an uncritical supporter….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114209639/paddle-pops-withheld-from-dirty-crims-by-prison-guards
'They claimed that some inmates at Auckland Prison, Paremoremo, which houses New Zealand's only specialist maximum-security prison unit, never got the ice blocks, with officers refusing to give them to "dirty crims".'
Good, all it will do is create more problems.