I’ve always detested the notion of user pays and hold the promotion of that concept as one of the fundamental strategies for the breakdown of socialist values in this country.
The right truly know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
They see service as benefitting the individual and not the collective and define everything in terms of individual effort for individual benefit.
It used to be we had services run for the community good such as bus services, rail services, postoffices, government departments that actually had branches in your town and used local businesses to meet their needs.
We all paid a more tax and all got more service.
Paying less tax means we get less service.
No party can increase services without increasing taxes. Until one party stands up and says we are going to tax you more to increase the revenue we get in then we will continue to get rubbish like this:
The irony of course is that the right are for collectiveness in things like insurance where you all pay a bit to spread the cost, or With owning shares where all the shareholders own collectively a little bit of a company, or trusts where there is in most cases a group of beneficiaries where it benefits them on an individual basis I.e. where profit can be made.
Remember to add the servicing costs (interest payments), on the collective debt, both public and private, to understand how much NZ is having removed from it each, and every year!
They see service as benefitting the individual and not the collective and define everything in terms of individual effort for individual benefit.
Except that they don’t. They think that individual effort should benefit them – and it doesn’t matter who made the effort. If they thought otherwise they wouldn’t be working so hard to lower wages.
The irony of course is that the right are for collectiveness in things like insurance where you all pay a bit to spread the cost…
Insurance is typical profiteering. Everyone pays in a little bit means that a few can take out a lot and if they can avoid having to pay out then they’ll never be shown as the rort that they are.
Under present regulations, if there are no standard rooms available, rest homes cannot turn away a client even if they cannot afford to pay extra.
But under the new proposal, some providers would be allowed to operate “premium-only” rest homes, where all residents would have to pay. The homes would still receive government subsidies and would not have to immediately accept residents who could not afford a room.
…
Submissions to the proposal, released under the Official Information Act, reveal public concerns about what “premium” might come to mean.
One submitter said her aunt already paid an extra $20 a week to be a few metres closer to the dining room. “We have asked how much a room with an outside window would be – and it would be about $150 a week more.”
We are so incredibly bad at looking after our elders. Myself, I intend to have an exit plan before I am forced to live in an institution with no outside window that is run by proto-fascists.
failing to plan is planning to fail; thats why I’ve gone downbeat-small pleasures are there-by a source of great pleasure and profound luxury to me.
I caught a bit of an examination of the Chinese economic migrant experience on channel 29, families moved from rural canton to Peking; many do not appreciate how fortunate we are. And as for the Costa del Sol, it is a beautiful day here in the Bay!
“If you had the chance, in what ever reality, to go on Campbell live and tell the prime minister what was what, you would right? You’d go on there and demand he call an immediate general election because he has no mandate to pervert NZ as his government sees fit.
You’d give him examples of where he’s fucked up, lied, misled and protected fraudsters in his own government, and you’d do it with passion and conviction because deep down you believe our people are worth more than money, and above all else, our sense of fair play, our humility and way of life are not for sale.
Would you? I know I would.
Ask David Shearer if he’ll do it.”
Talking about Thatcher, her biographer was on Radionz this morning. I heard him comment sadly on how welfare costs had gone up as a result of her actions, which just increased the numbers ‘being paid for doing nothing’.
Of course it’s their fault. It’s not the fault of the leaders of the country who have levers and pulleys to push and pull and billions within their purview. Purview is one of the weasel, superior words they would use in their reports on such matters.
Not simple words like ‘We’ve stuffed up big time here, and the country is not going to the dogs twice as much as before, it can’t afford to. We are sorry about this and are working to help you the British public who need work with livable wages, by setting up schemes that will start multiplier effects in each county. And encouraging employment by reducing company tax for each new employee in small businesses and each 10 for employers with over 50. And we are trialling some innovative measures that will provide at least short term employment which will be monitored and analysed for effectiveness.’ Or something like that.
Bit confused.
Did Shearer decline to turn up on Campbell Live?
Shearer has been invisible on the media on GCSB, Asset Sales etc.
I’ve only heard him warbling on about Gilmore, which is a distraction, not an issue.
The most effective way to continue growing Sheaer’s popularity is in fact to keep him away from the important issues.
Let him waffle on about Gilmour becuase that isn’t really an issue that changes our lives in any way. But when it comes to selling our assets and selling policy to corporates, it might be best to leave the opposition to those who won’t fuck up the message.
Is anyone out there is cyberland ever confident when Shearer opens his mouth over these things.
So it is a good strategy to keep him away from these things. Or alternativley we could just just replace him with someone who can articulate a simple message.
I was expecting that with the last one, but it did not happen and went the other way with National up and Labour down. So, regrettably, I am not holding my breath.
I wouldn’t be so confident Presland with a Labour bounce.
Gilmour to one side, it has not been a bad couple of weeks for the governent with unemployment down etc.
It is all bullshit and the good results have nothing to do with their management, but the public will still be reading those headlines and only ever hearing waffle from the ‘leader’ of the opposition.
a bounce would be consistent with the roy morgan pattern. Couple of percent may be.
I think it the gilmour thing only covered half the polling period or so?
The last Roy Morgan poll released on 3 May covered the period 15 – 28 April, which included the Labour/Green NZ Power announcement IIRC; but showed National up by about 6%, and both Labour and Greens down.
Assuming the next poll covers the period April 29 to May 12, then most of that period will cover the Gilmore fiasco. I cannot remember exactly what day the story broke.
So the Auckland housing package thing announced by the government proves, yet again, that the free market has failed. The free market is incapable of providing housing for all people so the government has had to step in.
This follows other well proven failures of the free market, private enterprise, deregulation policies of this government (and previous one). Those other examples;
1. Mining safety, resulting in 29 dead men at Pike River.
2. Housing (again), resulting in billions and billions of leaky homes.
3. The New Zealand stock market, the NZX. The absolute heart of free market private enterprise itself, fails to spark and function effectively to such an extent that again the government has to help them along by offering taxpayer businesses such as power companies.
4. Christchurch rebuild. Free market not even given a chance as this government intervenes all over the place.
5. Diary farming. Unable to gain funding from the private sector the dairy farmers trapise off the government for $400million to get their private business underway. Also unable to get the necessary consents they get the government to throw the rules out and simply take the consents.
Failure.
Complete and utter failure of the private enterprise free market model.
And this failure comes in the some of the biggest sectors in the country. Sectors which cry “free market free market” but act “taxpayer money taxpayer money”.
not just mining safety – the entire solid energy mismanagement has resulted in lots of west coast layoffs.
Suck to be a miner on the coast – Labour is aligned with the anti-mining greens who’d make you redundant, and nats strip the mines to pay down short term debt because they can’t balance the books.
Such a tragic government – the only benefit they have for the environment comes about because of their inability to manage the economy.
Flybuys:
(on the float of more Air New Zealand)
Ryall- “may be opportunities for ‘mums and dads’ to invest.
Oram- they “would be misguided investing”. YEP. (shakes head and prepares for shower).
Michelle Boag was just on Radio NZ and showed why National cannot be trusted. When Bryce Edwards talked about National leaking information on Hapless Gilmore she asked him to prove it and then said that it was more likely that the departments were leaking it.
She can only have been talking about MBIE’s release of emails.
I am certain that once the OIAs have been answered it will be concluded:
1. That the information was released not leaked.
2. That there was political pressure to get the information out as soon as possible.
Boag’s characterisation of the release as a leak was disingenuous in the extreme and shows either a complete lack of knowledge of what she was talking about or an intent to deceive or distract.
That’s just NZ politics – come on you know it. Labour leaks like throwing burley into the Manukau Heads when it senses the need to bring the sharks in to kill one of their own.
I would prefer a couple of staunch lefties in Parliament such as John Minto to this current arrangement. At least he would speak his mind and talk about things the way they are.
Well perhaps Gilmore will revert to form tomorrow with his last speech in Parliament and throw the dirt straight back at those colleagues of his in what should be renamed the Aaron Gilmore Party.
Perhaps he could call Key on his own lies.
Now that would show backbone…….. Come on Gilmore straighten that back for once.
His inclusive progressive style of leadership pleases me, his emphasis on public transport, a compact city form and the world’s most liveable city impresses me and demands my support, but his failure to resolve the POAL dispute, his support for the Sky City deal with passive support for the pokies for the convention centre deal and his less than fulsome support for a living wage are causes of concern.
But if I supported John all that I would do is making it more likely that Maurice Williamson became mayor.
So this particular contest is easily resolved.
But I would still prefer to see Minto in Parliament.
Yeah more platitudes, bullshit and lies, that’s about what we’ve come to expect from you. You’ll say anything but when push comes to shove you’ll be the first to gut the real left and working class as long as you and your mates retain power.
I found it interesting that Meteria Turei was given a very long interview on the Sky City deal this morning On Nine to Doom (scheduled from 0905 to 0930). Recording not yet available.
Turei was excellent and Ryan did not continually interrupt.
Where is Labour?
I did not hear all of Morning Report this morning so I could be wrong, but don’t recall one mention of Labour on any issue of the day.
Labour leaks like throwing burley into the Manukau Heads when it senses the need to bring the sharks in to kill one of their own.
Labour kills for different reasons. It’s confined to a few members of caucus and based on jealousy, ambition and a desire to hang on to their little bit of power. The most infamous of them went to ground at the beginning of the year and has since only been seen sitting in the debating chamber – where he feels safe?
I found that interview pretty funny. There was Michelle, trying to reconcile her previous dumb comments about ‘maybe Aaron can stay in the backbenches with his head down till the next election’ with the news he’s resigning without sounding completely hopeless.
Then once Bryce contradicted her point about MMP and suggested National were up to dirty tricks, she got very very defensive and steely.
Bit tough for her to deny it was dirty tricks when Whale was gloating last night about ‘the back room boys’ having gotten the job done, and Lusk identified in a story this morning.
But she has to try, because the way they’ve done it is ugly on the one hand, while on the other, she is in the opposite camp from Whale Lusk Collins. It’s a tough line to walk, balancing the internal and external narratives.
Gilmore was due to talk to party president Peter Goodfellow by telephone yesterday afternoon, and Goodfellow wanted a meeting in Wellington today.
However, it is understood the party drafted in fixer and consultant Simon Lusk to persuade Gilmore to go.
The MP was said to be privately seething last night and party members are anxious about what he might say in a valedictory speech planned for tomorrow.
If the convention centre is going to be a $90m a year money maker, and the government wants us to invest our money in stuff other than housing, why didn’t they get the new mum and dad investors of mighty river power to fund it instead of flogging off our assets?
$400m build, using their figures, it would be in surplus in four or five years. Of course, the government could have built and added a revenue stream for kiwis forever.
Why does a convention centre have to be connected to a casino, why should sky city get a government gift of law changes and a licence to print money?
Just for the record, this morning Geoff Robertson on Morning Report cut off someone from Sky City (CEO? Not sure) who was rambling on about the convention center deal.
Yes, that’s right, Geoff cut someone off mid-sentence. It was about 8:45am.
This underscores the point I made a week or so ago about the outrage that Geoff should dare to cut off a unionist talking about Pak’n’Savs youth rates issue because she was somehow saying something that Geoff didn’t want to hear, rather than the more obvious case of she had simply used up the time that had been allotted to her story.
I think if you pay close attention to Morning Report and Checkpoint, that you’ll find that it is not uncommon for stories or interviews to be cut off prematurely due to time constraints.
I also heard that, and laughed – particularly as it was not to go onto “an important issue”, but merely to allow Kathryn Ryan to promote today’s Nine to Doom.
A social lending scheme – run through a private-public partnership – will help ease the pressure on those families who can’t easily access mainstream financial services.
Methinks that these two have forgotten what social means.
“There is definitely an appetite amongst the private sector to operate in a more philanthropic space…
No there isn’t or they’d already be doing it. What there’s an appetite for in the private sector is government money.
It’s also strange that they see the solution to people not having enough money is to make it easier for these people to borrow rather than look at ways to increase their income.
While agreeing with what you say, DTB, I can also imagine cases where a short term loan at minimal interest could be useful. Labour could well set something up with a small cash investment, rather than leaving the loan sharks to feed at will. The fact that they can’t even do this without thinking of a partnership with the private sector really does ram home how lost they are.
So what does Labour think of grants being obtained from WINZ or of an advance of benefit being given or of recoverable loans at 0% interest repayable over 2 years being obtained from WINZ?
I guess we wont be seeing a relaxation of the restrictions or criteria set around those things under any labour led government because….well, because that would hurt the private sector they want to cozy up to.
My immediate concern when I read your post Draco, has to do with the pitfalls of third-wayism. This PPP approach could well pave the way to benefits being replaced by loans after a set period, or other similarly nasty scenarios. So long as parties of the so-called left take up these third way conceptions, they create openings for more ruthless measures further down the track.
I can hardly wait for Gilmore’s speech to Parliament tomorrow. Will he lay bare to public scrutiny the inner machinations of the National Party? Someone start preparing the popcorn!
Dunno. valedictory speeches often occur just before 5:30 pm but I suspect that Gilmore may need leave. He may pop up first thing. I wonder how this request will be treated?
thanks, meeting a client in Wellington tomorrow, but have a bit of a window before 5
might have to see if there is an open seat in the gallery for this show
“Housing Minister Nick Smith will be setting up the private charity sector to compete against the poor if he implements the failed social housing model from countries like the UK and Canada”, says Housing Lobby Spokesperson Sue Henry.
“We must retain the State Housing system we have and central Government must be responsible for it.”
“The private charity sector (trusts included) will never provide a better service for State tenants.”
“Under the provision of housing being delivered by private charities the income-related rents would go and State tenants would be paying market rents, as the previous Housing Minister Phil Heatley acknowledged the housing subsidy would be halved. (‘The Nation 1&2 October 2011).
Tenants would effectively only be temporary visitors in ‘transit’ housing.”
[“Duncan Okay, what happens if they move out of a state house?
You move them out and they get a private dwelling or a social housing somewhere else, are they eligible for income related rents.
Phil No, if they move from a state house they get income related rents which is worth about $9000 a year.
Duncan What happens if you kick them out to private dwellings?
Phil If they move to a private rental then they qualify not for income related rents which is about $8000 a year on average, they might get something like the accommodation supplement which is worth about $4000 a year.
Duncan So you’re sitting here today telling me that for those people and there will be cases, they’re gonna be worse off?
Phil No because if they’re in a state house, the amount of rent they pay depends on their income, so if their income doesn’t change when they shift from public to private…
Duncan But you’re telling me that they’re going to move to – potentially move to a private dwelling, so you can get other high needs people into that state house that they could be worse off. Can you sit here and say no one will be worse off?
Phil No, no I can’t. There’s a whole bunch of people in state houses at the moment who are being subsidised and have been there for a long time who we’re encouraging to move on.
Duncan How are they going to afford to go, because these people are already poor aren’t they?…”
“Private charities would not be ‘transparent’ or accountable and nepotism would be rife, as proven by the following UK research” :
______________________________________________________________________________
The social housing sector neatly demonstrates how closely aligned fraud and corruption can be. For example, the recent BBC documentary, The Great Housing Rip Off, estimated that approximately £3.5 billion of housing benefit is directed towards landlords who house tenants in very poor accommodation. While this is a misuse of entrusted power, it is more likely to be considered a fraudulent use of housing benefit.138
The main types of corruption in the social housing sector are:
• Tenancy fraud and corruption;
• Abuse of position by social landlords;
• Collusion and corruption in procurement…..”
______________________________________________________________________________
“Overseas, the ‘social housing model’ has delivered wealthy, duplicated administrative bodies, severe cuts in rent subsidies and cardboard box cities and tenement slums,” continues Sue Henry.
“Privatisation wave#2: demunicipalisation by any means
It was soon evident that the Right to Buy had natural limits – not least that poorer tenants would never be able to afford or access a mortgage – and although discounts would continue to rise over the decade, reaching 70% of market price,[10] the Conservatives unveiled a second privatisation wave from 1985 onwards that focused on selling council homes en masse to alternative landlords in the private and charity sectors. All manner of initiatives were tried and failed, and through resisting, tenants won the statutory right to be balloted on any privatisation proposals and be able to block them if they lacked majority support.
By the late 1980s, however, many local authorities began selling off their entire housing stocks to existing and specially formed not-for-profit companies called housing associations in response to the government’s financial straitjacket and the realisation that they would financially benefit. Housing associations – or Registered Social Landlords as they are known – were regulated and barred from floating on the stock exchange, but they were also private companies that had greater freedoms to charge market rents, evict tenants and build private housing, and had limited democratic accountability.”
______________________________________________________________________________
“People need to be reminded that here in New Zealand, care for the elderly devolved from private charity groups to now multinational companies, when the bulk-funding was cut.”
1) First – I believe we need to head off the proposed housing decrease through giving private sector organisations huge chunks of existing housing stock and to ban any sale of existing state housing stock.
I am opposed to ‘devolution’ of the provision of housing to ‘not-for-profit’ NGOs, as I believe it is still privatisation.
For example – care for the aged has devolved from the ‘not-for-profit’ church groups to ‘for profit’ multinational companies.
“The CEO of Presbyterian Support noted that the charitable organisations “reluctantly” exited the market which was increasingly dominated by “large national and multinational providers” (Presbyterian Support East Coast, 2005).
2004 also saw the sale of facilities belonging to the Auckland Methodists and Hastings St John of God (Presbyterian Support East Coast, 2005).
Charitable providers seemed to find the government’s then $80 daily subsidy5 made their business unsustainable (“No budget money for providers of residential care”, 2005).
In contrast to the charitable providers, the large for-profit providers are expanding within the market.
The Macquarie Group recently purchased Eldercare NZ .”
I believe we need to retain Housing New Zealand (HNZ) as a ‘one stop shop’ entity.
Housing is a Government responsibility, and if all Council tenants came under the HNZ umbrella, they too would have more affordable rents at 25% of their net income.
(As happened when Auckland City Council pensioner housing was taken over by HNZ in 2004). …………”
Snap. Just posted this on the Gilmore Goes stream.
Now will they try to stop him give his valedictory speech? IIRC, the Speaker did not respond to Mallard’s question asking whether Gilmore would be given a chance to give a valedictory speech at the start of last Thursday’s Question Time.
About to check Slater’s sewer to check whether he has posted on this yet – then hop in the shower.
Slater’s post essentially suggests that there are other emails etc that could be released on G’s sordid little life – or words to that effect. Not going back to check. Showertime asap.
In reply to my own comment and question – Can they stop Gilmore making a valedictory speech? – I have now checked the NZ Parliament website and found this provision in Chapter 7 of Standing Orders – see (2) and (3) below.
356 Maiden and valedictory statements
(1) A member who has not made a maiden speech during an Address in Reply debate or has not already made a maiden statement may make a maiden statement.
(2) A member who is about to retire or resign from the House may make a valedictory statement.
(3) A maiden or valedictory statement may interrupt a debate, and is made at such time that the Speaker or the Business Committee determines.
Presumably under (3), the Speaker or the Business Committee could determine that Gilmore cannot make his valedictory speech tomorrow and put it off until doomsday.
But if they did that, I suspect that Gilmore would go to the media. And the opposition would have a field day. The NATZ might have sighed in relief too soon.
Gilmore certainly seems to have lost the plot- or cracked. As I said yesterday, I am pretty sickened by the whole saga as it has panned out as I suspect that there are deeper mental health/psychological issues here.
Yankey’s Chum in the U$K Cameron and his Tory scum government have caused the suicide of a disabled woman with their class war austerity bedroom tax. Don’t forget Yankey and Dave come out of the same stable.
“This Is What Austerity Looks Like – First Suicide Due To Bedroom Tax Reported”
“Then she walked 15 minutes through the sleeping estate to Junction 4 of the M6.
And at 6.15am she walked straight into the path of a northbound lorry and was killed instantly. Stephanie Bottrill had become the first known suicide victim of the hated Bedroom Tax.”
One Comment:
“This heartbreaking story has touched me and brought me to tears. I really hope one day every evil, crooked, lying scheming bastard in Government pays a similar price. I would be first in line to change my name to Pierrpoint and hang the lot of them from lamposts outside Parliament and let them ROT. They bring shame on humanity! Cameron. IDS, Grayling, Hoban, McVey, Lansley I hope they burn in HELL!”
“They don’t understand as £20 is nothing for an MP it’s breakfast, a taxi ride, a posh box chocs, for those affected by bedroom tax it’s for basics like food & heating! and remember MPs can claim all these luxuries back at the taxpayers expense. Stephanie Bottril must not have died in vain. We must fight in her memory and for the others who have died (from Government, ATOS & DWP bullying & threats) and stop this lying, evil government from killing more.”
Nope . . . Vodascum has actually be rocking and rolling all day in Manukau. Mind you, MrsBLiP is claiming not have received various texts I sent to her in the city.
My google-fu is not up to scratch, obviously, because I cannot find a link to download the “ MacKenzie Agreement “. Anyone know where I can lay my cursor upon it?
” North Otago Federated Farmers’ high country chairman Simon Williamson, described the agreement as a “definite way forward”, but the key was “where it goes from here”. “It is going to take some fairly serious funding to get it off the ground,” he said.
Perhaps they could garner donations from those that have already profited ?
“http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8659944/High-country-farmer-subdivision-profits-released
p.s in related commentary,
is Simon Williamson Maurice Williamson’s son (whose name is Simon) ? or is that just coincidence
Eastern bloc socialism had to keep going through the 1970s and 80s, inspite of lagging growth and failed ideological hegemony, because nobody knew what else to do. This is the stage neoliberal policy-making has now reached. The difference is that there is still one area of our economy that is still moving and changing, namely the money economy, with corporate profits high and financial innovation ongoing. What seems to have changed, post-2008, is that the price paid for this monetary dynamism is that the rest of us all have to stand completely still. In order that ‘they’ in the banks can cling on to their modernity of liquidity and ultra-fast turnover, ‘we’ outside have to relinquish our modernity, of a future that is any different from the present. Finance is to our stagnant societies what the space race and the Cold War were to the Eastern Bloc countries of the 1970s and 80s – a huge cost that the state imposes on its public, with the result that cities and economies start to become tedious processions of the same.
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The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
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. ...
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. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
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 ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
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)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
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I’ve always detested the notion of user pays and hold the promotion of that concept as one of the fundamental strategies for the breakdown of socialist values in this country.
The right truly know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
They see service as benefitting the individual and not the collective and define everything in terms of individual effort for individual benefit.
It used to be we had services run for the community good such as bus services, rail services, postoffices, government departments that actually had branches in your town and used local businesses to meet their needs.
We all paid a more tax and all got more service.
Paying less tax means we get less service.
No party can increase services without increasing taxes. Until one party stands up and says we are going to tax you more to increase the revenue we get in then we will continue to get rubbish like this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8663784/Vulnerable-at-risk-in-police-fees
And this
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8663702/Rest-home-luxury-plan-unfair-critics
The irony of course is that the right are for collectiveness in things like insurance where you all pay a bit to spread the cost, or With owning shares where all the shareholders own collectively a little bit of a company, or trusts where there is in most cases a group of beneficiaries where it benefits them on an individual basis I.e. where profit can be made.
Nice post. Does anyone know how much profit leaves the country each year? (thanks to the efficiencies of the private sector)
Remember to add the servicing costs (interest payments), on the collective debt, both public and private, to understand how much NZ is having removed from it each, and every year!
http://canterbury.cyberplace.org.nz/community/CAFCA/keyfacts.html
It’s a bit dated but should give you some idea of how much we’re losing.
Except that they don’t. They think that individual effort should benefit them – and it doesn’t matter who made the effort. If they thought otherwise they wouldn’t be working so hard to lower wages.
Insurance is typical profiteering. Everyone pays in a little bit means that a few can take out a lot and if they can avoid having to pay out then they’ll never be shown as the rort that they are.
Under present regulations, if there are no standard rooms available, rest homes cannot turn away a client even if they cannot afford to pay extra.
But under the new proposal, some providers would be allowed to operate “premium-only” rest homes, where all residents would have to pay. The homes would still receive government subsidies and would not have to immediately accept residents who could not afford a room.
…
Submissions to the proposal, released under the Official Information Act, reveal public concerns about what “premium” might come to mean.
One submitter said her aunt already paid an extra $20 a week to be a few metres closer to the dining room. “We have asked how much a room with an outside window would be – and it would be about $150 a week more.”
We are so incredibly bad at looking after our elders. Myself, I intend to have an exit plan before I am forced to live in an institution with no outside window that is run by proto-fascists.
failing to plan is planning to fail; thats why I’ve gone downbeat-small pleasures are there-by a source of great pleasure and profound luxury to me.
I caught a bit of an examination of the Chinese economic migrant experience on channel 29, families moved from rural canton to Peking; many do not appreciate how fortunate we are. And as for the Costa del Sol, it is a beautiful day here in the Bay!
Rent-a-robo-cop.
“British fugitive caught sunbathing in Spain”
The Herald’s main online headline as I type.
Says it all about this rag.
Paul :shock:!
Sky city – Another open goal for the opposition leader.
Go on, get Grant to phone Campbell and set it up.
Lead or fuck off as I go earning my living.
http://thestandard.org.nz/governing-for-their-rich-mates-again/#comment-632220
“If you had the chance, in what ever reality, to go on Campbell live and tell the prime minister what was what, you would right? You’d go on there and demand he call an immediate general election because he has no mandate to pervert NZ as his government sees fit.
You’d give him examples of where he’s fucked up, lied, misled and protected fraudsters in his own government, and you’d do it with passion and conviction because deep down you believe our people are worth more than money, and above all else, our sense of fair play, our humility and way of life are not for sale.
Would you? I know I would.
Ask David Shearer if he’ll do it.”
And just because, I’ll give David his closing line to Key
“You can steal our assets, but you can’t and won’t be allowed to steal our kiwi way of life.”
Yes that great “kiwi life” as you go on about, as long as it is a carbon copy of pre Thatcher UK.
Talking about Thatcher, her biographer was on Radionz this morning. I heard him comment sadly on how welfare costs had gone up as a result of her actions, which just increased the numbers ‘being paid for doing nothing’.
Of course it’s their fault. It’s not the fault of the leaders of the country who have levers and pulleys to push and pull and billions within their purview. Purview is one of the weasel, superior words they would use in their reports on such matters.
Not simple words like ‘We’ve stuffed up big time here, and the country is not going to the dogs twice as much as before, it can’t afford to. We are sorry about this and are working to help you the British public who need work with livable wages, by setting up schemes that will start multiplier effects in each county. And encouraging employment by reducing company tax for each new employee in small businesses and each 10 for employers with over 50. And we are trialling some innovative measures that will provide at least short term employment which will be monitored and analysed for effectiveness.’ Or something like that.
Bit confused.
Did Shearer decline to turn up on Campbell Live?
Shearer has been invisible on the media on GCSB, Asset Sales etc.
I’ve only heard him warbling on about Gilmore, which is a distraction, not an issue.
“Did Shearer decline to turn up on Campbell Live?”
Not that I’m aware of, but he will if he doesn’t front tonight.
It’s called a direct challenge.
DS turn up? Speak out? Not a chance.
I still think the Invisible Man is on a retainer from the Nats.
Please ask Cunliffe to do it …
The most effective way to continue growing Sheaer’s popularity is in fact to keep him away from the important issues.
Let him waffle on about Gilmour becuase that isn’t really an issue that changes our lives in any way. But when it comes to selling our assets and selling policy to corporates, it might be best to leave the opposition to those who won’t fuck up the message.
Is anyone out there is cyberland ever confident when Shearer opens his mouth over these things.
So it is a good strategy to keep him away from these things. Or alternativley we could just just replace him with someone who can articulate a simple message.
Check-out.Records, 44 Willis St.Pow!
Any idea when the next polls are out?
Probably this Thursday (Roy Morgan) and expect a bounce back to Labour.
Much obliged.
“…and expect a bounce back to Labour.”
I was expecting that with the last one, but it did not happen and went the other way with National up and Labour down. So, regrettably, I am not holding my breath.
I wouldn’t be so confident Presland with a Labour bounce.
Gilmour to one side, it has not been a bad couple of weeks for the governent with unemployment down etc.
It is all bullshit and the good results have nothing to do with their management, but the public will still be reading those headlines and only ever hearing waffle from the ‘leader’ of the opposition.
a bounce would be consistent with the roy morgan pattern. Couple of percent may be.
I think it the gilmour thing only covered half the polling period or so?
The last Roy Morgan poll released on 3 May covered the period 15 – 28 April, which included the Labour/Green NZ Power announcement IIRC; but showed National up by about 6%, and both Labour and Greens down.
Assuming the next poll covers the period April 29 to May 12, then most of that period will cover the Gilmore fiasco. I cannot remember exactly what day the story broke.
My, time flies when you’re laughing at a dickhead’s expense! 🙂
Wikipedia knows who Aaron Gilmore is – reckons the story broke on 2 May. So it will be for much of the polling period, my mistake.
Just in case we thought our prejudices were wrong, book yourself an hour of quiet time and have a good scroll and view through this one:
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/12/top_5_investigative_videos_of_the_week_some_rich_people_are_just_jerks_partner/
I just loved it. Some great (albeit US) sources in there.
better Ads than Television on the Wire. 😀
‘
What a top link. Thank’s Ad.
So the Auckland housing package thing announced by the government proves, yet again, that the free market has failed. The free market is incapable of providing housing for all people so the government has had to step in.
This follows other well proven failures of the free market, private enterprise, deregulation policies of this government (and previous one). Those other examples;
1. Mining safety, resulting in 29 dead men at Pike River.
2. Housing (again), resulting in billions and billions of leaky homes.
3. The New Zealand stock market, the NZX. The absolute heart of free market private enterprise itself, fails to spark and function effectively to such an extent that again the government has to help them along by offering taxpayer businesses such as power companies.
4. Christchurch rebuild. Free market not even given a chance as this government intervenes all over the place.
5. Diary farming. Unable to gain funding from the private sector the dairy farmers trapise off the government for $400million to get their private business underway. Also unable to get the necessary consents they get the government to throw the rules out and simply take the consents.
Failure.
Complete and utter failure of the private enterprise free market model.
And this failure comes in the some of the biggest sectors in the country. Sectors which cry “free market free market” but act “taxpayer money taxpayer money”.
The failure is monumental and complete.
I don’t think it’s failing at all – after all, the right people are benefiting quite well and getting hold of the communities wealth just as planned.
Of course, it’s not doing the majority of people any good but that doesn’t matter – they’re not the right people.
not just mining safety – the entire solid energy mismanagement has resulted in lots of west coast layoffs.
Suck to be a miner on the coast – Labour is aligned with the anti-mining greens who’d make you redundant, and nats strip the mines to pay down short term debt because they can’t balance the books.
Such a tragic government – the only benefit they have for the environment comes about because of their inability to manage the economy.
Flybuys:
(on the float of more Air New Zealand)
Ryall- “may be opportunities for ‘mums and dads’ to invest.
Oram- they “would be misguided investing”. YEP. (shakes head and prepares for shower).
Michelle Boag was just on Radio NZ and showed why National cannot be trusted. When Bryce Edwards talked about National leaking information on Hapless Gilmore she asked him to prove it and then said that it was more likely that the departments were leaking it.
She can only have been talking about MBIE’s release of emails.
I am certain that once the OIAs have been answered it will be concluded:
1. That the information was released not leaked.
2. That there was political pressure to get the information out as soon as possible.
Boag’s characterisation of the release as a leak was disingenuous in the extreme and shows either a complete lack of knowledge of what she was talking about or an intent to deceive or distract.
That’s just NZ politics – come on you know it. Labour leaks like throwing burley into the Manukau Heads when it senses the need to bring the sharks in to kill one of their own.
Aye but there has to be a better way.
I would prefer a couple of staunch lefties in Parliament such as John Minto to this current arrangement. At least he would speak his mind and talk about things the way they are.
Well perhaps Gilmore will revert to form tomorrow with his last speech in Parliament and throw the dirt straight back at those colleagues of his in what should be renamed the Aaron Gilmore Party.
Perhaps he could call Key on his own lies.
Now that would show backbone…….. Come on Gilmore straighten that back for once.
Well why don’t you start getting behind the Greens and Mana instead of white anting for your mates in Labour.
Alternatively you could throw your weight behind John in the mayoral race rather than Len Brown who’s spent this morning lauding the sky City deal.
Len Brown?
His inclusive progressive style of leadership pleases me, his emphasis on public transport, a compact city form and the world’s most liveable city impresses me and demands my support, but his failure to resolve the POAL dispute, his support for the Sky City deal with passive support for the pokies for the convention centre deal and his less than fulsome support for a living wage are causes of concern.
But if I supported John all that I would do is making it more likely that Maurice Williamson became mayor.
So this particular contest is easily resolved.
But I would still prefer to see Minto in Parliament.
Yeah more platitudes, bullshit and lies, that’s about what we’ve come to expect from you. You’ll say anything but when push comes to shove you’ll be the first to gut the real left and working class as long as you and your mates retain power.
Don’t be like that.
I have set out my reasons.
Do you think I should concentrate only on the negative? The positives are very important.
I found it interesting that Meteria Turei was given a very long interview on the Sky City deal this morning On Nine to Doom (scheduled from 0905 to 0930). Recording not yet available.
Turei was excellent and Ryan did not continually interrupt.
Where is Labour?
I did not hear all of Morning Report this morning so I could be wrong, but don’t recall one mention of Labour on any issue of the day.
Hone
Labour kills for different reasons. It’s confined to a few members of caucus and based on jealousy, ambition and a desire to hang on to their little bit of power. The most infamous of them went to ground at the beginning of the year and has since only been seen sitting in the debating chamber – where he feels safe?
I found that interview pretty funny. There was Michelle, trying to reconcile her previous dumb comments about ‘maybe Aaron can stay in the backbenches with his head down till the next election’ with the news he’s resigning without sounding completely hopeless.
Then once Bryce contradicted her point about MMP and suggested National were up to dirty tricks, she got very very defensive and steely.
Bit tough for her to deny it was dirty tricks when Whale was gloating last night about ‘the back room boys’ having gotten the job done, and Lusk identified in a story this morning.
But she has to try, because the way they’ve done it is ugly on the one hand, while on the other, she is in the opposite camp from Whale Lusk Collins. It’s a tough line to walk, balancing the internal and external narratives.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8663752/MP-quits-with-a-heavy-heart
As I head out the door, Sky city.
If the convention centre is going to be a $90m a year money maker, and the government wants us to invest our money in stuff other than housing, why didn’t they get the new mum and dad investors of mighty river power to fund it instead of flogging off our assets?
$400m build, using their figures, it would be in surplus in four or five years. Of course, the government could have built and added a revenue stream for kiwis forever.
Why does a convention centre have to be connected to a casino, why should sky city get a government gift of law changes and a licence to print money?
Screamadelica those Pet Sounds Some Velvet Morning Country Girl. 😉
Just for the record, this morning Geoff Robertson on Morning Report cut off someone from Sky City (CEO? Not sure) who was rambling on about the convention center deal.
Yes, that’s right, Geoff cut someone off mid-sentence. It was about 8:45am.
This underscores the point I made a week or so ago about the outrage that Geoff should dare to cut off a unionist talking about Pak’n’Savs youth rates issue because she was somehow saying something that Geoff didn’t want to hear, rather than the more obvious case of she had simply used up the time that had been allotted to her story.
I think if you pay close attention to Morning Report and Checkpoint, that you’ll find that it is not uncommon for stories or interviews to be cut off prematurely due to time constraints.
didn’t hear this morning’s show.
Have no reason to doubt it happened as you say.
Good to know he is unprofessional with everyone, equally.
I also heard that, and laughed – particularly as it was not to go onto “an important issue”, but merely to allow Kathryn Ryan to promote today’s Nine to Doom.
Small change will make a big difference
Methinks that these two have forgotten what social means.
No there isn’t or they’d already be doing it. What there’s an appetite for in the private sector is government money.
It’s also strange that they see the solution to people not having enough money is to make it easier for these people to borrow rather than look at ways to increase their income.
Labour has really lost the plot.
When told “this is a Stock market, there’s no money to steal here!”
Bane rightly answers: “Then why are you here?”
copycat, flirty pat 🙂
While agreeing with what you say, DTB, I can also imagine cases where a short term loan at minimal interest could be useful. Labour could well set something up with a small cash investment, rather than leaving the loan sharks to feed at will. The fact that they can’t even do this without thinking of a partnership with the private sector really does ram home how lost they are.
So what does Labour think of grants being obtained from WINZ or of an advance of benefit being given or of recoverable loans at 0% interest repayable over 2 years being obtained from WINZ?
I guess we wont be seeing a relaxation of the restrictions or criteria set around those things under any labour led government because….well, because that would hurt the private sector they want to cozy up to.
B’stards!
My immediate concern when I read your post Draco, has to do with the pitfalls of third-wayism. This PPP approach could well pave the way to benefits being replaced by loans after a set period, or other similarly nasty scenarios. So long as parties of the so-called left take up these third way conceptions, they create openings for more ruthless measures further down the track.
The infamous Simon Lusk was drafted in to “fix” the Aaron Gilmore problem …
According to Stuff “Fairfax Media understands the party drafted in fixer and consultant Simon Lusk to persuade Gilmore to go.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8663792/Embattled-Gilmore-quits-Parliament
[Lusk and Gilmore go back to the 2008 campaign. Gilmore was part of Lusk’s stable. They fell out when Gilmore didn’t pay Lusk’s fees. Eddie]
Isn’t Lusk in the Collins-Slater camp?
Oops just saw Pascal’s Bookie already linked to the story.
But it is developing, Gilmore has sent threatening texts to four different members of the National Party including Cameron Slater promising Utu. Details are at http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8663792/Embattled-Gilmore-quits-Parliament in an update to the story.
I can hardly wait for Gilmore’s speech to Parliament tomorrow. Will he lay bare to public scrutiny the inner machinations of the National Party? Someone start preparing the popcorn!
EDIT: PB bet me to it again below.
Mickey, roughly what time in the proceedings would that speech be do you reckon?
Dunno. valedictory speeches often occur just before 5:30 pm but I suspect that Gilmore may need leave. He may pop up first thing. I wonder how this request will be treated?
Edit see Veutoviper below at 14.1.2
thanks, meeting a client in Wellington tomorrow, but have a bit of a window before 5
might have to see if there is an open seat in the gallery for this show
Seen this?
______________________________________________________________________________
13 May 2013
Press Release: Sue Henry Spokesperson, Housing Lobby:
“We cannot and will not allow the failed ‘social housing’ model to take over State Housing.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8662181/Govt-plans-to-ditch-Housing-NZ-properties
“Housing Minister Nick Smith will be setting up the private charity sector to compete against the poor if he implements the failed social housing model from countries like the UK and Canada”, says Housing Lobby Spokesperson Sue Henry.
“We must retain the State Housing system we have and central Government must be responsible for it.”
“The private charity sector (trusts included) will never provide a better service for State tenants.”
“Under the provision of housing being delivered by private charities the income-related rents would go and State tenants would be paying market rents, as the previous Housing Minister Phil Heatley acknowledged the housing subsidy would be halved. (‘The Nation 1&2 October 2011).
Tenants would effectively only be temporary visitors in ‘transit’ housing.”
______________________________________________________________________________
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1110/S00006/the-nation-phil-heatley.htm
[“Duncan Okay, what happens if they move out of a state house?
You move them out and they get a private dwelling or a social housing somewhere else, are they eligible for income related rents.
Phil No, if they move from a state house they get income related rents which is worth about $9000 a year.
Duncan What happens if you kick them out to private dwellings?
Phil If they move to a private rental then they qualify not for income related rents which is about $8000 a year on average, they might get something like the accommodation supplement which is worth about $4000 a year.
Duncan So you’re sitting here today telling me that for those people and there will be cases, they’re gonna be worse off?
Phil No because if they’re in a state house, the amount of rent they pay depends on their income, so if their income doesn’t change when they shift from public to private…
Duncan But you’re telling me that they’re going to move to – potentially move to a private dwelling, so you can get other high needs people into that state house that they could be worse off. Can you sit here and say no one will be worse off?
Phil No, no I can’t. There’s a whole bunch of people in state houses at the moment who are being subsidised and have been there for a long time who we’re encouraging to move on.
Duncan How are they going to afford to go, because these people are already poor aren’t they?…”
______________________________________________________________________________
“Private charities would not be ‘transparent’ or accountable and nepotism would be rife, as proven by the following UK research” :
______________________________________________________________________________
CORRUPTION IN THE UK PART TWO – Transparency International …
http://www.transparency.org.uk/component/cckjseblod/?…publication...
” 4.5.1 Types of social housing corruption
The social housing sector neatly demonstrates how closely aligned fraud and corruption can be. For example, the recent BBC documentary, The Great Housing Rip Off, estimated that approximately £3.5 billion of housing benefit is directed towards landlords who house tenants in very poor accommodation. While this is a misuse of entrusted power, it is more likely to be considered a fraudulent use of housing benefit.138
The main types of corruption in the social housing sector are:
• Tenancy fraud and corruption;
• Abuse of position by social landlords;
• Collusion and corruption in procurement…..”
______________________________________________________________________________
“Overseas, the ‘social housing model’ has delivered wealthy, duplicated administrative bodies, severe cuts in rent subsidies and cardboard box cities and tenement slums,” continues Sue Henry.
______________________________________________________________________________
http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=4180
“Privatisation wave#2: demunicipalisation by any means
It was soon evident that the Right to Buy had natural limits – not least that poorer tenants would never be able to afford or access a mortgage – and although discounts would continue to rise over the decade, reaching 70% of market price,[10] the Conservatives unveiled a second privatisation wave from 1985 onwards that focused on selling council homes en masse to alternative landlords in the private and charity sectors. All manner of initiatives were tried and failed, and through resisting, tenants won the statutory right to be balloted on any privatisation proposals and be able to block them if they lacked majority support.
By the late 1980s, however, many local authorities began selling off their entire housing stocks to existing and specially formed not-for-profit companies called housing associations in response to the government’s financial straitjacket and the realisation that they would financially benefit. Housing associations – or Registered Social Landlords as they are known – were regulated and barred from floating on the stock exchange, but they were also private companies that had greater freedoms to charge market rents, evict tenants and build private housing, and had limited democratic accountability.”
______________________________________________________________________________
“People need to be reminded that here in New Zealand, care for the elderly devolved from private charity groups to now multinational companies, when the bulk-funding was cut.”
http://www.business.auckland.ac.nz/Portals/4/Research/General/Wokiring_Paper_07_1_.pdf
“We cannot and will not, allow this to happen to our State houses and our families.”
Sue Henry
Spokesperson
Housing Lobby
STATEMENT BY PENNY BRIGHT, 2013 AUCKLAND MAYORAL CANDIDATE:
” MY POSITION ON ‘SOCIAL HOUSING’ IS UNCHANGED FROM 2010″:
http://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/response-from-auckland-mayoral-candidate-penny-bright-to-waitakere-housing-call-to-action/
“…INCREASED HOUSING PROVISION:
1) First – I believe we need to head off the proposed housing decrease through giving private sector organisations huge chunks of existing housing stock and to ban any sale of existing state housing stock.
I am opposed to ‘devolution’ of the provision of housing to ‘not-for-profit’ NGOs, as I believe it is still privatisation.
For example – care for the aged has devolved from the ‘not-for-profit’ church groups to ‘for profit’ multinational companies.
http://www.business.auckland.ac.nz/Portals/4/Research/General/Wokiring_Paper_07_1_.pdf(Pg 17)
“The CEO of Presbyterian Support noted that the charitable organisations “reluctantly” exited the market which was increasingly dominated by “large national and multinational providers” (Presbyterian Support East Coast, 2005).
2004 also saw the sale of facilities belonging to the Auckland Methodists and Hastings St John of God (Presbyterian Support East Coast, 2005).
Charitable providers seemed to find the government’s then $80 daily subsidy5 made their business unsustainable (“No budget money for providers of residential care”, 2005).
In contrast to the charitable providers, the large for-profit providers are expanding within the market.
The Macquarie Group recently purchased Eldercare NZ .”
I believe we need to retain Housing New Zealand (HNZ) as a ‘one stop shop’ entity.
Housing is a Government responsibility, and if all Council tenants came under the HNZ umbrella, they too would have more affordable rents at 25% of their net income.
(As happened when Auckland City Council pensioner housing was taken over by HNZ in 2004). …………”
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption/anti-privatisation’ campaigner
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
“Utu”.
That boy just don’t give up.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8666101/Gilmore-threatens-revenge-on-enemies
Snap. Just posted this on the Gilmore Goes stream.
Now will they try to stop him give his valedictory speech? IIRC, the Speaker did not respond to Mallard’s question asking whether Gilmore would be given a chance to give a valedictory speech at the start of last Thursday’s Question Time.
About to check Slater’s sewer to check whether he has posted on this yet – then hop in the shower.
Slater’s post essentially suggests that there are other emails etc that could be released on G’s sordid little life – or words to that effect. Not going back to check. Showertime asap.
you should smell my arm pits. (just a little bathroom humour).
In reply to my own comment and question – Can they stop Gilmore making a valedictory speech? – I have now checked the NZ Parliament website and found this provision in Chapter 7 of Standing Orders – see (2) and (3) below.
356 Maiden and valedictory statements
(1) A member who has not made a maiden speech during an Address in Reply debate or has not already made a maiden statement may make a maiden statement.
(2) A member who is about to retire or resign from the House may make a valedictory statement.
(3) A maiden or valedictory statement may interrupt a debate, and is made at such time that the Speaker or the Business Committee determines.
Presumably under (3), the Speaker or the Business Committee could determine that Gilmore cannot make his valedictory speech tomorrow and put it off until doomsday.
But if they did that, I suspect that Gilmore would go to the media. And the opposition would have a field day. The NATZ might have sighed in relief too soon.
Gilmore certainly seems to have lost the plot- or cracked. As I said yesterday, I am pretty sickened by the whole saga as it has panned out as I suspect that there are deeper mental health/psychological issues here.
He’d probably prefer to try and fire any thunderbolts under parliamentary privilege. Does he get that for a valedictory speech though?
He’s got Garry Gilmore eyes.
Maybe he has a voodoo doll or two as well..
We’ll miss this guy! 10 days of entertainment for the Left and embarrassment for the Right. Run the pic of him and Key occasionally to remind us.
Classic Nat Prat. In it for the Social Climbing and Sticking it to the Plebs. Plenty more in caucus, but much smoother versions.
Yankey’s Chum in the U$K Cameron and his Tory scum government have caused the suicide of a disabled woman with their class war austerity bedroom tax. Don’t forget Yankey and Dave come out of the same stable.
“This Is What Austerity Looks Like – First Suicide Due To Bedroom Tax Reported”
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/
“Then she walked 15 minutes through the sleeping estate to Junction 4 of the M6.
And at 6.15am she walked straight into the path of a northbound lorry and was killed instantly. Stephanie Bottrill had become the first known suicide victim of the hated Bedroom Tax.”
One Comment:
“This heartbreaking story has touched me and brought me to tears. I really hope one day every evil, crooked, lying scheming bastard in Government pays a similar price. I would be first in line to change my name to Pierrpoint and hang the lot of them from lamposts outside Parliament and let them ROT. They bring shame on humanity! Cameron. IDS, Grayling, Hoban, McVey, Lansley I hope they burn in HELL!”
Actual link
The Artist taxi driver’s reaction to this obscenity of the bedroom tax and suicide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrdDZAREyJ8&list=UUGThM-ZZBba1Zl9rU-XeR-A&index=3
“They don’t understand as £20 is nothing for an MP it’s breakfast, a taxi ride, a posh box chocs, for those affected by bedroom tax it’s for basics like food & heating! and remember MPs can claim all these luxuries back at the taxpayers expense. Stephanie Bottril must not have died in vain. We must fight in her memory and for the others who have died (from Government, ATOS & DWP bullying & threats) and stop this lying, evil government from killing more.”
Tiwai – money down the pot in lieu.
Shades of Mad Macs
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10883260
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10883232
(“turning the roads over to criminals”)
What is about mothers and pieces of silver?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10883201.
Is this what austerity/balancing the books/state asset sales looks like?
Kal at – http://econ.st/17OYd3I
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 5: Rawdon Christie
Television One Breakfast, Monday 13 May 2013, 7:20 a.m. ….
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
RAWDON CHRISTIE: Now, speaking of replacements, a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
See also…..
No. 4: Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06052013/#comment-628803
No. 3: John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06052013/#comment-628703
No. 2: Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.” (TV3 News, 24 April 2013) http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25042013/#comment-624381
No. 1: Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19042013/#comment-621738
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 6: New Zealand Herald PR department
The New Zealand Herald, Monday 13 May 2013, Page 4….
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
See also….
No. 5: Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13052013/#comment-632594
No. 4: Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06052013/#comment-628803
No. 3: John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06052013/#comment-628703
No. 2: Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.” (TV3 News, 24 April 2013) http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25042013/#comment-624381
No. 1: Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19042013/#comment-621738
After signing off> as the ISS Commander Chris Hadfield performed Space Oddity.
We’re with Vodafone and our system has been down for most of the afternoon. I don’t know what caused it. Anyone else affected?
‘
Nope . . . Vodascum has actually be rocking and rolling all day in Manukau. Mind you, MrsBLiP is claiming not have received various texts I sent to her in the city.
‘
My google-fu is not up to scratch, obviously, because I cannot find a link to download the “ MacKenzie Agreement “. Anyone know where I can lay my cursor upon it?
Nope. Thanks for the tip. I can only find articles about it:
NBR.
Scoop business
no joy, but here is the Mayor’s email: mayor@mackenzie.govt.nz
” North Otago Federated Farmers’ high country chairman Simon Williamson, described the agreement as a “definite way forward”, but the key was “where it goes from here”. “It is going to take some fairly serious funding to get it off the ground,” he said.
Perhaps they could garner donations from those that have already profited ?
“http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8659944/High-country-farmer-subdivision-profits-released
p.s in related commentary,
is Simon Williamson Maurice Williamson’s son (whose name is Simon) ? or is that just coincidence
Some tips to improve your google-fu.
http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/753/hidden-features-of-google-search/
http://www.hackcollege.com/blog/2011/11/23/infographic-get-more-out-of-google.html
edit:
file type pdf: The Mackenzie Agreement Williamson Holdings, Southdown Holdings, Five Rivers site:.nz
results
‘
Thanks, joe90.
I especially like Will Davies’ conclusion:
Eastern bloc socialism had to keep going through the 1970s and 80s, inspite of lagging growth and failed ideological hegemony, because nobody knew what else to do. This is the stage neoliberal policy-making has now reached. The difference is that there is still one area of our economy that is still moving and changing, namely the money economy, with corporate profits high and financial innovation ongoing. What seems to have changed, post-2008, is that the price paid for this monetary dynamism is that the rest of us all have to stand completely still. In order that ‘they’ in the banks can cling on to their modernity of liquidity and ultra-fast turnover, ‘we’ outside have to relinquish our modernity, of a future that is any different from the present. Finance is to our stagnant societies what the space race and the Cold War were to the Eastern Bloc countries of the 1970s and 80s – a huge cost that the state imposes on its public, with the result that cities and economies start to become tedious processions of the same.
http://potlatch.typepad.com/weblog/2013/04/brezhnev-capitalism.html