AUT School of Hospitality and Tourism Professor David Williamson told Morning Report the sector had been reliant on cheap migrant labour for too long, and unions, fair pay and collective agreements needed to re-introduced.
"The employment relations framework that was altered so dramatically after 1984 through the 1990s has left the sector vulnerable to low pay and poor conditions and that needs to be turned around," he said.
"These employees who are working in this industry are our neighbours, our friends, our children, our family, and they are just not getting the pay and conditions that you would want."
There's an assumption that one group of people by virtue of business ownership can expect a stable supply of other people for them to employ at wage rates that make that business profitable.
There is no reciprocal assumption – that non-owners can expect a stable of supply of jobs that pay enough for them to live in moderate comfort. Such an assumption would contradict the first assumption, so it's not made.
[When you quote you have to use some kind of formatting, preferably block-quote, to make clear which text is the quote. You also have to make clear when you have left out parts, i.e., when you are selectively quoting. You know all this and Mods don’t want to waste their precious time on lazy unthinking commenters and check & correct after them all the time. This is your warning – Incognito]
In one of the videos posted on the social network around midnight outside Bakhmut you can see the constant strikes of rockets illuminating the night sky and a woman’s voice saying, “My mother is there! Fuck fucking goddamn it.
A man named Nikolai says, “Everything’s on fire. They hit power lines.
When the woman speaks again, apparently wanting to borrow the phone to call her mother, the man cuts in. “Your mom is fucked up. This is stupid [that’s getting hit]”He says, referring to the northern part of Bakmut.
The original Standard piece noted that the press release did not say precisely what was suggested (break up duopoly).
And today, there's a piece from Micky Savage criticising Luxon, the first of which is for something he did not actually say (going straight to green).
There is a clear warning in the Daily Blog article. It notes that there is a tendency to read everything to be pro-Labour and anti Luxon/Nats/Act and fuss over the smallest of details. And ignore all the elephants in the room.
I'm in North Shore and have been in hospital a few times since covid. So feeling a bit uncomfortable about the article in the media today noting their ED using leaking tarps due to overflow pressures. I'm hearing a lot about restructure of DHBs but no evidence of improving service. And I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment.
The Daily Blog says the consequence will be that there is a high chance that there will be a change of Govt (though said in a much shorter and abrupt way). I'm not sure I can disagree with that sentimentt.
Those so called Left want a revolution. They are still living in that era……
Who knows. We all might be soon living in that era.
With our oceans choked with plastic, and we can't put a ban even on Coca-Cola.
With climate change threatening human extinction over part of the planet's surface, and we can't even ban intensive dairying conversions and importing and mining coal.
With World War III in the planning stages. and we can't stop millions of people facing being bombed and shot killed and maimed.
If we can't stop any of these things under the current system.
To stop us killing ourselves and the planet. Might need a revolution.
The Arab Spring was the very, very worst of the Obama-CIA follies that brought momentary hope to millions only to turn into a permanently repressed nightmare for women, gays, Christians, people with degrees, people who wanted to vote, and people who thought the United States would support its idealistic rhetorical flourishes with resolute might.
President Biden’s current tour of Saudi Arabia’s leadership is its perfect and permanent apostasy.
The Arab Spring was the very, very worst of the Obama-CIA follies….
You can't be serious.
The Arab Spring was a CIA plot? Surely one of the most stupid conspiracy theories of all time. You might as well have written that the French revolution was a CIA plot.
You completely ignore the fact that regimes you are talking about, that the Arab people were revolting against, were Western backed. The CIA wasn't trying to topple them, just the opposite. Egypt is the second biggest recipient of US military aid after Israel. And this US military aid was and is being used to suppress and oppress the Arab people.
I asked you a serious question in good faith. And your answer is a slur on the Arab people that the more than 25 million people that rose up against the Dictator Ben Ali and Mubarak and Assad were all CIA dupes?
It was a folly because no one in the US intelligence community appeared to either anticipate or know what to do when the uprising occurred, and when they did Obama rushed in with the Cairo speech that just wrote a whole massive cheque that his ass couldn't cash, and then the great majority of them failed and Obama and the intelligence agencies looked even worse. The result was a spectacular mess that Obama never got out of and the Middle east hasn't yet recovered from.
Irony award of the day for use of the word slur then using Sky News as your source.
The degeneration of the Daily Blog into a place where the supposedly 'real' left end up repeating right wing talking points must be hugely amusing to the actual right/far right. I understand why it delights you so much.
AB, I am far from being delighted!! Pleased and relieved more apt a description.
I do feel that Bryce Edwards "takes a position" then finds passages from others to "Prove his case"
That is fine as long as he quotes correctly. He did not and was called out.
If The Standard is to blame lol, why not Media Watch and Colin Peacock who brought it public notice????
The petty comments on The Blog was one of the reasons I left their site.
There is far more indepth argument here with supporting items, and the calibre of commentary is far superior imo.
Colin Peacock was commenting on a judgement that went against Bryce Edwards.
I was pleased the quotes and use of them was under the microscope, as Bryce has "sailed close to the wind' on previous occasions. Pleased is not delighted.
.
Yeah … because anything outside the Upper-Middle Woke echo-chamber of moral panics, purity spirals, & "good" vs "evil" identity groups = "right wing talking points". Spare me such empty-headed banality. You really have no idea about fundamental Left principles, do you ?
The degeneration of the Daily Blog into a place where the supposedly 'real' left end up…..
Yes it is one thing that can be said in favour of the Daily Blog, it provides an outlet for those on the extreme Left like Malcolm Evans and John Minto who have trouble getting published anywhere else.
“Auckland restaurateurs Sid and Chand Sahrawat are extending service at their Fort Lane restaurant Cassia to seven days and hiring 15 more staff to give their team better hours and more flexibility.”
But the survey of 1,000 British adults, carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday, found Mr Sunak was by far the most well known of the candidates. Some 60% said they knew a great deal or a fair amount about him, and 56% correctly identified him as the former chancellor.
Mr Hunt was the second most well known on 40%, followed by Ms Truss on 33% and Mr Zahawi on 28%.
Ms Mordaunt was known by 20% of people and Mr Tugendhat by 15%, while Ms Badenoch and Ms Braverman were on just 14%.
However, 12% of people told Ipsos that they knew either a great deal or a fair amount about Stewart Lewis, a fake candidate created by the pollster.
Some 6% even said they knew “a great deal” about the non-existent Mr Lewis, more than the 5% who said the same thing about Ms Braverman, the Attorney General, and the same proportion as for Ms Badenoch and Mr Tugendhat
Australasia is treated as a single market…and while the current focus is on Australian floods (the previous occasion of threat here was post ChCh quakes) the underlying driver is the risk of losses which will only increase. As has been noted in the comments to the article those losses are also increasing in their major markets so rationalisation can be expected, or best case scenario a repricing of risk which will have to be carried by all end users….read 'inflationary'.
A bit difficult to track down the quote in the midst of a regularly updated live blog – but I think this is the relevant quote from Little – from the above link:
Q: Unvaccinated health workers. Is there a place for them?
We keep a lot of things under review and we're reviewing the mandate for health care workers.
This is the thing that you do.
I know a lot of people are concerned about unvaccinated health care workers being in the health system.
A lot of people say I don't want to be treated by a healthcare worker who's not vaccinated.
Is there a good clinical basis to maintain the mandate? That's the question that has to be answered. We will rely on expert advice to do that.
If there is any consideration to re-employ unvaccinated nurses it would be backroom jobs where they don't come into contact with patients or indeed vaccinated health staff.
That's fine. Let em do the paper work and answer the telephone.
…..re-employ unvaccinated nurses it would be backroom jobs….
Or. They could be put to work providing hands-on care to Covid infected patients.
Or betterer. Put them to work providing hands-on care to the fucking filth unvaccinated Covid infected patients. Saving the nice, clean, triple jabbed nurses for the nice, clean triple jabbed Covid infected patients.
If I was seriously ill in hospital, either with Covid or anything else for that matter, I wouldn't give a shit as whether my care giver was vaccinated or not. I would just be grateful that they were trying to keep me alive.
If you are an ICU nurse who PPE's and is vaccinated and has just had COVID, thankyou for your service.
Other people I wouldn't want around me: a urinary tract exam from a doctor who didn't wash their hands, a dentist not cleared for Hepatitis, or an ambulance driver who wouldn't wear a seatbelt.
Or indeed blood/tissue products from former UK/French/ROI residents 1980-1996, IV drug users, carriers of hepatitis/EB/CFS viruses, anyone requiring HIV/hepatitis tests, recent STI patients, current sex workers, men who've recently had sex with men or woman they've had sex with…the list goes on.
So when they are wheeling you in to the ED bleeding to death after a car accident, and they say to you, are you ok if an unvaccinated doctor stops the bleeding as we are so short staffed, you will say to them in a weak dying voice "No keep that doctor away from me I don't want Covid. Leave me to die outside"
Your health insurer wouldn’t have time to whisk you off if it was a real emergency. You would be at the ED. You have really swallowed the fear porn of Covid. I actually had Covid a couple of weeks ago and like many others it wasn't even the worse cold or flu I've had. I'm still upright.
Are we so lucky to have Andrew Little as the minister of Health and this ONE nurse in Manila that the minister bases his support for his actions on. Then as a “union man” he craps on the nurses union.
Why is it that so many on the left accept this without voicing any comment or is this the best we can hope for and have to accept. Whist Rome burns ….
I now wonder how much better our health systems would be if someone in Dunedin didn’t go out for a bike ride??
Pity bluster is favoured over compentance.
A little digging can uncover interesting remnants of what was. As exhALANt wrote in his latest blog post (see sidebar):
Tony Ryall once proclaimed at a Health Conference this blogger attended (as part of the job with RNZCGP) “Primary care is not our priority at this time”. The Minister who took over, Jonathan Coleman? He was equally dismissive of concerns across the wider Health Sector then…
Based on this OIA about Canterbury DHB nurses, average RN salary increased every year from 2011 through 2020. That includes 7 years of a National government, during which time nurses salaries increased by an average of 2.3% p.a.. David Clark (Minister from 2017 through mid 2020) managed to secure sufficient extra health money to increase average nurses salaries by 4.7% p.a. from 2018 through 2020.
I don't have the figures since Andrew Little became minister, however his outburst yesterday was either a calculated attack or a political blunder. Either way, it wasn't a good look.
The union was all for the settlement, until they decided back pay had to be settled first. Nurses would have salaries 10 to 12 thousand more a year, which would have helped with the recruiting process as Andrew Little pointed out.
They shot that delay across his bow in December, and are now moaning that nurses will go to Australia. Well Dahhh!!! He is right, they have not helped Nurses.
Interesting, but that's not how Ian Powell sees it:
"And he is getting stuck into the NZ Nurses Organisation, accusing the union of reneging on a deal on pay equity. Simply not true. The “deal” was agreed to by two negotiating teams, but still required ratification. Following membership feedback, NZNO identified two obstacles to ratification which required resolution. That is not reneging; it is the part of the process called ratification. As a former union leader, Little knows this well."
2. Then in May "in a low blow, in May, Little derogatorily referred to the “nominal leaders” of primary care for allegedly failing to see what a different and better health system looks like. It was clear from the context of his attack that he was referring to representatives of general practices."
3. He's also had a crack at rural health services and Pharmac.
I understand the Minister is under pressure, but he's doing himself no favours. Powell concludes with this:
"Little’s poor performance has made him a ministerial liability. A big factor behind this is his failure to recognise the importance of relationships in public health systems."
and
"This has led him to undermine workforce trust and confidence in the Government’s leadership of the health system. Further, he has achieved this in little over 18 months. I don’t recall any health minister reaching this milestone."
Where is any comment from you to question Littles behaviour and actions ?? It appears you can see everything Wrong with parties other than Labour BUT are blinded by this governments performances and unable to make comment.
Not great use of language by Little. "in an interview with Stuff, Andrew Little labelled the union ‘unprincipled’ and the impediment to a pay deal." Just like the Kiwi in Manila telling Little "2 yr is not an issue" how would she know what nurses around the world are thinking" and for him to use that as a reason for his Do Little action. That interview was a train wreck – And sitting in Wellington – Where is he – And you support him without any reservations, as do many here. Imagine the commentary if Nats were in power and Little was the Health minister acting as he is.
Mother was a life member of Labour. I have always voted Labour and worked hard for them.
I now have no ideological home politically. I try to go by my values. I fear for NZ as I think our parliamentarians aren't up to it. That's not a criticism, I think it is a hard job (although sometimes I do criticize them).
One of the most important things for me is the Health system. The only people who really matter in that system are the well trained professionals who look after you if you get sick. We are all dependent on them.
I don't rely on Jacinda. I don't have anything against her and also acknowledge her strengths. I was grateful to her and Labour for the initial Covid response. The reality is I went into isolatin before the country did. Currenlty living a rather isolated life to protect me and my loved ones and the health professionals from Covid.
I try to take as much responisitiblity for myself and my life. This has always been the case. I now are just grateful when politicians don’t makethings worse. Or spend public money on consultants whose contribution won’t matter.
Labour have lost me. They are ideologically driven and its not an ideology I support. This doesn’t mean I support Luxon (personaly I think he is out of his depth and woeful).
I probably won’t vote next election. But if that is the case, it will be a deliberate and well thought through decision.
Andrew Little is not there to make friends. He is there to change entrenched attitudes biases and methods, which have not delivered to a large percentage of the public. Feathers are going to be ruffled as some were very comfortable in their Silos. Some were paid by both the private and the public system.
Whenever the left shift the dial, personal attacks start. No one has suggested there should not be change, just they don’t like the messenger.
Umpty managers board members and other duplications creaming money out of the "system" Yes feathers will be ruffled and fur fly. The intention is to increase services at the frontline. Perhaps Andrew is tired That would be understandable.
Yes I am sure Little is tired. What a big job to have. I do have a little empathy for him. But the front line is the health system. I hope he does ruffle feathers of the bureacrats but he seemed to be picking a fight with the union, i.e. the front line services union. Unforgivable from so many angles.
I don't think Little knows too much about health at all.
The health system doesn't deliver for people in small towns e.g Wairoa has no cardiologist. People can't even get a regular GP in many towns.
They can stand on their heads, re structure, bring in a band, put on a party, so whatever, but until the solve the staffing and medication crisis, it will do swa
It was not the Union who rejected the settlement but was the membership dismayed at the deal. Backpay was promised then reneged on. In my role as a senior nurse the offer was a fraction of that offered to other roles. All this has done is compress the salary scales to the point where most senior staff would make more giving up their roles and become plain RN,s. I had been advanced more on the last pay round in a lump sum against future pay equity than I was offered. We were looking at having to pay it back.
Every time this minister opens his mouth he alienates the very people who vote for his party, he needs to go, replace him with someone who can demonstrate empathy.
Nice DEFLECTION, what about …. On the issue nice to see that you cannot find anything to counter to support Littles performances. And for his attach on a union, nice to have friends like that in a Labour party. But I gather you totally support him.
How about addressing the issue?? Unless you don't really have the conviction.
This maybe news to you BUT Labour is currently the government and Little IS the minister.
Thanks for saying all of this Herodotus, and psych nurse.
Fancy a labour minister, ex labour boss, trashing a union. Accusing them of talking with a forked tongue. Does he not realize how many kiwis lives are dependent on our health work force? What will this do for staff morale? That and refusing to call it a crisis (actually I think it is a catastrophe).
Little doesn't show any signs of appreciating what a health system is. Its nurses, Drs and allied health workers. We are despearately short of them Andrew. Many of them are working their guts out to save lives right now. Your stupid bloody health reforms are irrelevant.
Remember when Key use to say its not a housing crisis and most of us on this site would be tearing our hair out about his denial (acutally the situation with housing back in Key's day looks a lot better that our current housing catastrophe……
Tony Ryall and Johanathan Coleman were likely incompetent shits, but they are long gone. Littles in charge of the ship now. Labour have had five years. David Clark was told back in 2017 that there was a serious work force shortage before the pandemic.
"Why is it that so many on the left accept this without voicing any comment or is this the best we can hope for and have to accept"
I figure this is what we could call the neo-liberal left. The left that couldn't raise a murmur when lots of poorly paid people (mainly women) were mandated out of jobs.
The term Brahmin class better describes what a lot of 'lefties' behave like.
gsays I think it is tribal labour who will support Labour no matter what and sorry if this comes across as judgmental many of them have lost their ability to critique anymore.
To be fair, that awning is more a triage and Covid testing space – before admitting patients to either the 'with Covid' or 'without Covid' streams. Decision made that it was better to do this step in the 'open' with ventilation, rather than within the closed (and crowded) ED itself.
However, have just had a friend admitted (and now discharged) from ICU with Covid at North Shore (luckily they were able to get on top of the symptoms quickly) – who commented on just how rushed and stressed all of the medical staff were. No complaints about the treatment – but she could see how much pressure the staff were under – and how long their shifts were. The doctor seeing her dealt with 3 emergency calls while checking her symptoms and prescribing for her.
Well a relative of mine went there with a fracture and said that the tent was for Covid triage which is not a rare practice at all. And that the privately owned ShoreCare A&E across the road where they went for the initial consultation in order to be seen more rapidly (cost $105 after ACC subsidy was deducted) used a tent in exactly the same way. Looks like the thrusting, innovative titans of the private sector aren't doing any better than public hospitals – other than through the natural advantages that come from reducing the demand on their services by charging money.
This is of course just an n=1 anecdote. But I ain't holding my breath on the assumption that the Herald is not engaged in distortion of the facts for political purposes. Essentially the house organ of the National Party, that rag is why we don't even need the Murdoch media in this country in order to sabotage democracy.
"The photos come after a survey – conducted by the New Zealand Women in Medicine (NZWIM) Charitable Trust, including responses from more than 900 New Zealand doctors – warned a "catastrophic collapse" of the healthcare workforce loomed.
"Ward full, extreme staff shortages, ED full and seeing little babies as young as seven weeks old waiting (more than) >2 hours outside in tents for a bed in the department, or to be seen and an attempt at an exam made in the tent," one junior doctor working in paediatrics said in the survey. The hospital where this doctor worked was not specified."
If it's in crisis, then Wellington did not show that.
Nor does my local hospital, though a friend tells me that the waits are long.
I am objecting to blanket criticisms of 'shambles', 'crisis' or whatever else. They are overused, becoming meaningless political buzz words. Today I read that "all'' whatever the feck it was was a disaster. It was obvious that ''all" did not apply. It was hyperbole. Sorry, I can't remember the actual situation, but that in itself points to the problem with doomsaying, crying wolf, inflated criticism.
If someone comes along and says that I had a problem with such an hospital, I'd accept that. If someone can honestly give an overview of an hospital system stretched beyond breaking point. I'd look at that.
I have personally reached my breaking point as a teacher, but it wasn't the NZ education system. Covid is hard, and winter is hard. There will always be discontent.
There is, and has been, far too much exaggeration that is political, serving narrow interests, and ultimately harmful as its effect is to lessen trust, hope and social cohesion either deliberately or as a corollary.
I am now a sceptic. I've had covid, cancers and crises de foi. I have been well served in two different hospital systems.
I went walking today as I have for years with a highly qualified medical professional, recently forcibly retired from a hospital board as a member by recent changes, who does not talk of crises. Problems, yes always, but I have not heard of crises- and believe me I would have from him.
I socialise with nurses, surgeons, anaesthetists, long term sufferers from all sorts of complaints, but I don't hear crises. Again problems, but not crises.
I have a niece who is an authority on aspects of public health- difficulties, problems, social attitudes and behaviours- all of that, but not heard of crises.
No, it's not one reporter's experience. His experience just points out the arrant stupidity of blanket, unbalanced, unsubstantiated criticism, and the use of hyperbolic and harmful language.
It's harmful because it limits the truth of the matter, the extent of the matter, the causes of the matter, and only serves narrow, sectional, shallow political purposes.
There are many,many more examples like this Mac 1.
I noticed that the person who murdered the woman in Grey Lynn has been sent to the Mason Clinic. Only a week or two ago and innocent woman was stabbed in Chch by a man discharged from the psych unit. Sadly expect more of this.
You may be like the Nurses Union who don't want to refer to it as a crisis because they just want the minister to get on and fix it. Gordon Campbell has an interesting article posted by Sacha on Daily Review.
Call it what you like, but the health syster is exceptionally stressed and they are understaffed. Nowadays i hope like hell I don't get sick
"Nowadays i hope like hell I don't get sick." And if you did, I'd wish you the same timely, expert and appropriate treatment I got with four cancer diagnoses and a hernia for good measure.
What I said above about trust and hope and social cohesion applies with us both. I keep hoping and trusting and believing in how our society should progress.
What adjectives would you use to describe the problems? Ones that come to my mind are systemic, chronic, under-resourcing, under-staffing, entrenched. Most of which come down to senior management and governance.
To describe out health system as just having 'problems' is equally "harmful because it limits the truth of the matter, the extent of the matter, the causes of the matter, and only serves narrow, sectional, shallow political purposes."
Ironically a measure you may be able to relate to, I have been to my GP in regards to an inguinal hernia. He referred me to our local hospital for an appointment. They said 'No'. I went back to him on Friday as things have worsened and he point blank told me, 'you won't get in.' His advice was going privately.
At the core of the problems is this market driven, neo-liberal approach to running hospitals. I had hopes when the reform was announced then discovered Ardern's pick for heading up the changes is from Ernst Young. Says it all really.
Wishing Sean Plunkett all the very best for his recovery. He lost his brother to suicide last week. So an unbelievably difficult time.
When I visited Wellington ED just over a month ago, staff were calm and professional. It was remarkable given the numbers of sick people arriving by ambulaances and the beds stacked in corridors.
When I visited Wellington ED just over a month ago, staff were calm and professional. It was remarkable given the numbers of sick people arriving by ambulaances and the beds stacked in corridors.
Which is why I harp on about those who are not following the rules and who publicly demand that all Covid regulations be rescinded Anker.
I was in hospital earlier this year for major surgery. The professionalism of the doctors, nurses and the surgeon blew me away. I constantly think of them and wonder how they are coping with the enormous strain they are currently experiencing.
Anyone calling for the removal of all Covid restrictions (and I refer particularly to the Freedom crowd) are showing a lack of respect and consideration for the health workers in question.
With a country of around only 3 to 4 million tax-payers, there is never going to be enough money in the cookie jar to service entities like the health sector to our satisfaction. So, its up to each of us to be prepared to do whatever is required to alleviate the worst of the pandemic affects on those staffing the health services.
Getting vaccinated, wearing masks and keeping our distance is the very least we can do.
You might have heard Thomas Coughlan grinding his teeth as he had to concede that PM Ardern had a successful overseas trip. How it must have hurt. Anyway it is an interesting summary.
The United States trip was successful on branding terms. Ardern's Harvard Commencement Speech will be remembered in the same vein as David Lange's appearance before the Oxford Union. Lange's wit and the place of that debate in how New Zealanders remember the battle over New Zealand's nuclear free policy will likely mean it looms larger in the historical memory, but to be fair to Ardern, the Harvard Commencement Speech is a greater honour. Distinguished speakers debate at the Oxford Union most nights – Harvard Commencement speeches are very rare.
They called her stardust. On Tuesday I had a coffee in town and sprinkled a sachet of sugar around the lovely design of a fern in the crema on top.
I called it stardust and saluted our Prime Minister. In a world of Putins, Johnsons, Trumps and that whole throng of narcissist, deluded and sociopathic crazies, we are indeed blessed.
Yes, covid and politics has made the world difficult, so thank you Jacinda Ardern and her fully supportive team, who instead of being assisted through the pandemic and the world scene, have been put down harried and generally denigrated.
For some this has reached the stage that any comment is leapt on quoted out of context and added to name calling and calls for dismissals.
Those same folk want change… but not that change.. go figure.
Angry Andy meme is again fashionable. Previously Nanaia Mahuta was the target.
The search for holes in the government's armour continues by the Nats and Act, to the point of even bad mouthing the country while overseas is sad.
Denying reputable evidence over and over. Flat out saying the opposite. Chipping away.
So some of us support, as we see the propaganda repeated endlessly and echoed in MSM.
The kickback from those making money, and/or sitting in positions of power, due to the inefficiencies, duplication and partial privatisations that the DHB model enabled, is enormous. It has only just started.
You will hear more and more the mealy mouthed.. “We admit change is needed, but not this change”.
The "Salaried medical specialists" that use their position in State hospitals to prop up lucrative private businesses, the "Consultants", the "Private contractors" are just a few examples of those who have a vested interest in the continuation of the current shemozzle.
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New 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. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
Onya Prof Williamson. Speaking the Truth. I thankyou for speaking for those….who either cant…or are fearful. Cheers !
Yes that is so true. Collective agreements mean fairer wages and conditions.
agreed. Pscyling left and Patricia
There's an assumption that one group of people by virtue of business ownership can expect a stable supply of other people for them to employ at wage rates that make that business profitable.
There is no reciprocal assumption – that non-owners can expect a stable of supply of jobs that pay enough for them to live in moderate comfort. Such an assumption would contradict the first assumption, so it's not made.
It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic
While this idiotic diplomatic fools pantomime is playing on the world stage. Back in the real world.
Bakhmut bombed after Ukraine attacked the Russian air defense | Ukraine
9 hours ago
6 Views
5 Min Read
[deleted]
https://news.worabia.com/bakhmut-bombed-after-ukraine-attacked-the-russian-air-defense-ukraine/112011/
[When you quote you have to use some kind of formatting, preferably block-quote, to make clear which text is the quote. You also have to make clear when you have left out parts, i.e., when you are selectively quoting. You know all this and Mods don’t want to waste their precious time on lazy unthinking commenters and check & correct after them all the time. This is your warning – Incognito]
Mod note
The Standard
World famous in NZ
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/07/13/mediawatch-sigh-this-is-what-the-painfully-serious-left-thinks-is-a-victory/
[Spray and walk away. You’re now on notice for trolling – Incognito]
Those so called Left want a revolution. They are still living in that era.
I notice they attack the messenger, and defend Bryce Edwards. That says it all.
Bryce has been called out, he is on notice now. Strangled screams won't change that.
The original Standard piece noted that the press release did not say precisely what was suggested (break up duopoly).
And today, there's a piece from Micky Savage criticising Luxon, the first of which is for something he did not actually say (going straight to green).
There is a clear warning in the Daily Blog article. It notes that there is a tendency to read everything to be pro-Labour and anti Luxon/Nats/Act and fuss over the smallest of details. And ignore all the elephants in the room.
I'm in North Shore and have been in hospital a few times since covid. So feeling a bit uncomfortable about the article in the media today noting their ED using leaking tarps due to overflow pressures. I'm hearing a lot about restructure of DHBs but no evidence of improving service. And I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment.
The Daily Blog says the consequence will be that there is a high chance that there will be a change of Govt (though said in a much shorter and abrupt way). I'm not sure I can disagree with that sentimentt.
The Health reforms started on the first of July, so far it involves some rebranding only, your DHB will be functioning exactly as before.
Who knows. We all might be soon living in that era.
With our oceans choked with plastic, and we can't put a ban even on Coca-Cola.
With climate change threatening human extinction over part of the planet's surface, and we can't even ban intensive dairying conversions and importing and mining coal.
With World War III in the planning stages. and we can't stop millions of people facing being bombed and shot killed and maimed.
If we can't stop any of these things under the current system.
To stop us killing ourselves and the planet. Might need a revolution.
There's a revolution right now in Sri Lanka.
There was nearly a revolution in the USA starting Jan 6th.
Solomon Islands nearly had a revolution.
Fiji has had three in thirty years.
And of course there's one underway in the eastern half of Ukraine.
To non-revolutionaries these things are called coups.
Serious question Ad.
What would you consider the Arab Spring to be?
Coup?
Revolution?
Something else?
The Arab Spring was the very, very worst of the Obama-CIA follies that brought momentary hope to millions only to turn into a permanently repressed nightmare for women, gays, Christians, people with degrees, people who wanted to vote, and people who thought the United States would support its idealistic rhetorical flourishes with resolute might.
President Biden’s current tour of Saudi Arabia’s leadership is its perfect and permanent apostasy.
You can't be serious.
The Arab Spring was a CIA plot? Surely one of the most stupid conspiracy theories of all time. You might as well have written that the French revolution was a CIA plot.
You completely ignore the fact that regimes you are talking about, that the Arab people were revolting against, were Western backed. The CIA wasn't trying to topple them, just the opposite. Egypt is the second biggest recipient of US military aid after Israel. And this US military aid was and is being used to suppress and oppress the Arab people.
I asked you a serious question in good faith. And your answer is a slur on the Arab people that the more than 25 million people that rose up against the Dictator Ben Ali and Mubarak and Assad were all CIA dupes?
It was a folly because no one in the US intelligence community appeared to either anticipate or know what to do when the uprising occurred, and when they did Obama rushed in with the Cairo speech that just wrote a whole massive cheque that his ass couldn't cash, and then the great majority of them failed and Obama and the intelligence agencies looked even worse. The result was a spectacular mess that Obama never got out of and the Middle east hasn't yet recovered from.
Irony award of the day for use of the word slur then using Sky News as your source.
"You can't believe the mainstream media", Said every conspiracy theorist ever.
So where, or what news outlet, or none, do you get your news from Ad?
Or do you do your own research?
The degeneration of the Daily Blog into a place where the supposedly 'real' left end up repeating right wing talking points must be hugely amusing to the actual right/far right. I understand why it delights you so much.
AB, I am far from being delighted!! Pleased and relieved more apt a description.
I do feel that Bryce Edwards "takes a position" then finds passages from others to "Prove his case"
That is fine as long as he quotes correctly. He did not and was called out.
If The Standard is to blame lol, why not Media Watch and Colin Peacock who brought it public notice????
The petty comments on The Blog was one of the reasons I left their site.
There is far more indepth argument here with supporting items, and the calibre of commentary is far superior imo.
Colin Peacock was commenting on a judgement that went against Bryce Edwards.
I was pleased the quotes and use of them was under the microscope, as Bryce has "sailed close to the wind' on previous occasions. Pleased is not delighted.
Patricia – it was Pataua4life I was replying to, not you. TDB just depresses me these days and I rarely go there, other things to do.
Oh sorry AB. Not the first time I've had the wrong end of the stick. I agree about TDB.
.
Yeah … because anything outside the Upper-Middle Woke echo-chamber of moral panics, purity spirals, & "good" vs "evil" identity groups = "right wing talking points". Spare me such empty-headed banality. You really have no idea about fundamental Left principles, do you ?
Yes it is one thing that can be said in favour of the Daily Blog, it provides an outlet for those on the extreme Left like Malcolm Evans and John Minto who have trouble getting published anywhere else.
The comments below the article are pretty accurate.
Mod note
Attention NZ Business!!
When you get your business model right, and look after your staff, you can actually grow the business. Who knew??
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-drink/129264329/top-auckland-restaurant-cassia-to-open-seven-days-to-help-staff
“Auckland restaurateurs Sid and Chand Sahrawat are extending service at their Fort Lane restaurant Cassia to seven days and hiring 15 more staff to give their team better hours and more flexibility.”
The discerning public.
/
But the survey of 1,000 British adults, carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday, found Mr Sunak was by far the most well known of the candidates. Some 60% said they knew a great deal or a fair amount about him, and 56% correctly identified him as the former chancellor.
Mr Hunt was the second most well known on 40%, followed by Ms Truss on 33% and Mr Zahawi on 28%.
Ms Mordaunt was known by 20% of people and Mr Tugendhat by 15%, while Ms Badenoch and Ms Braverman were on just 14%.
However, 12% of people told Ipsos that they knew either a great deal or a fair amount about Stewart Lewis, a fake candidate created by the pollster.
Some 6% even said they knew “a great deal” about the non-existent Mr Lewis, more than the 5% who said the same thing about Ms Braverman, the Attorney General, and the same proportion as for Ms Badenoch and Mr Tugendhat
https://archive.ph/J28mc
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/jeremy-hunt-liz-truss-suella-braverman-keir-starmer-penny-mordaunt-b1012160.html
Reinsurers threatening to quit NZ again.
https://www.interest.co.nz/insurance/116735/tower-ceo-blair-turnbull-says-reinsurers-are-questioning-their-down-under-exposure
This is a major concern. A. No insurance/ or B Costly insurance.
It is indeed….insurance is an integral part of financial systems.
Replying to Pat @6. (Reply function doesn’t work on my iPad.)
The article is more about the insurers being worried about the floods in Aussie, than here.
Australasia is treated as a single market…and while the current focus is on Australian floods (the previous occasion of threat here was post ChCh quakes) the underlying driver is the risk of losses which will only increase. As has been noted in the comments to the article those losses are also increasing in their major markets so rationalisation can be expected, or best case scenario a repricing of risk which will have to be carried by all end users….read 'inflationary'.
NZ has long been identified as a marginal market.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300631534/live-how-is-the-health-system-coping-amid-covid19-flu-and-staff-shortages
so the vaccine mandate is under review for health care workers
A bit difficult to track down the quote in the midst of a regularly updated live blog – but I think this is the relevant quote from Little – from the above link:
having unvaxxd health workforce personnel back at work is not a no no. It’s under review
If there is any consideration to re-employ unvaccinated nurses it would be backroom jobs where they don't come into contact with patients or indeed vaccinated health staff.
That's fine. Let em do the paper work and answer the telephone.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/07/mark-richardson-furious-at-unvaccinated-nurses-who-want-to-return-to-work-amid-health-care-crisis.html
About 2/3rds in – following the nutty 'Nurse for Freedom'. Mark Richardson is on the money. He winds up by saying:
“For God’s sake. Get the jab.”
…..re-employ unvaccinated nurses it would be backroom jobs….
Or. They could be put to work providing hands-on care to Covid infected patients.
Or betterer. Put them to work providing hands-on care to the fucking filth unvaccinated Covid infected patients. Saving the nice, clean, triple jabbed nurses for the nice, clean triple jabbed Covid infected patients.
You know…I think we could make this work!!!
Or they could become vaccinated like the rest of us and show that they are medically qualified to serve all of us.
If I was seriously ill in hospital, either with Covid or anything else for that matter, I wouldn't give a shit as whether my care giver was vaccinated or not. I would just be grateful that they were trying to keep me alive.
Until they breathed.
ffs Ad, they'd be wearing masks or PPE, they may have just had covid or you may already have covid. Or the guy in the next door bed may have covid.
Talking to an ICU nurse recently who is vaxxed and just had covid.
If you are an ICU nurse who PPE's and is vaccinated and has just had COVID, thankyou for your service.
Other people I wouldn't want around me: a urinary tract exam from a doctor who didn't wash their hands, a dentist not cleared for Hepatitis, or an ambulance driver who wouldn't wear a seatbelt.
Or indeed blood/tissue products from former UK/French/ROI residents 1980-1996, IV drug users, carriers of hepatitis/EB/CFS viruses, anyone requiring HIV/hepatitis tests, recent STI patients, current sex workers, men who've recently had sex with men or woman they've had sex with…the list goes on.
So when they are wheeling you in to the ED bleeding to death after a car accident, and they say to you, are you ok if an unvaccinated doctor stops the bleeding as we are so short staffed, you will say to them in a weak dying voice "No keep that doctor away from me I don't want Covid. Leave me to die outside"
Yeah, I can really imagine that happening.
Given the choice I certainly would and of course so would my health insurer who would whisk me off to a competent hospital.
As would the ED staff employer.
Your health insurer wouldn’t have time to whisk you off if it was a real emergency. You would be at the ED. You have really swallowed the fear porn of Covid. I actually had Covid a couple of weeks ago and like many others it wasn't even the worse cold or flu I've had. I'm still upright.
Are we so lucky to have Andrew Little as the minister of Health and this ONE nurse in Manila that the minister bases his support for his actions on. Then as a “union man” he craps on the nurses union.
Why is it that so many on the left accept this without voicing any comment or is this the best we can hope for and have to accept. Whist Rome burns ….
I now wonder how much better our health systems would be if someone in Dunedin didn’t go out for a bike ride??
Pity bluster is favoured over compentance.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/07/andrew-little-explains-why-he-s-refusing-to-say-health-system-in-crisis-in-tense-am-interview.html
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/07/andrew-little-slammed-for-just-not-helpful-comments-accusing-nz-nurses-organisation-of-sitting-in-wellington.html
Herodotus, did you ever fault the National Minister of Health Tony Ryall?
He did not have a Pandemic to deal with, and a pay rise for Nurses lol.
A little digging can uncover interesting remnants of what was. As exhALANt wrote in his latest blog post (see sidebar):
https://exhalantblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/12/tour-of-duty-ardern-out-on-the-world-stage-and-gets-things-done-luxon-goes-off-the-rails-again/
1000+ JO. Brilliant summary.
Based on this OIA about Canterbury DHB nurses, average RN salary increased every year from 2011 through 2020. That includes 7 years of a National government, during which time nurses salaries increased by an average of 2.3% p.a.. David Clark (Minister from 2017 through mid 2020) managed to secure sufficient extra health money to increase average nurses salaries by 4.7% p.a. from 2018 through 2020.
https://www.cdhb.health.nz/about-us/document-library/cdhb-10465-registered-nurse-average-salary/
I don't have the figures since Andrew Little became minister, however his outburst yesterday was either a calculated attack or a political blunder. Either way, it wasn't a good look.
The union was all for the settlement, until they decided back pay had to be settled first. Nurses would have salaries 10 to 12 thousand more a year, which would have helped with the recruiting process as Andrew Little pointed out.
They shot that delay across his bow in December, and are now moaning that nurses will go to Australia. Well Dahhh!!! He is right, they have not helped Nurses.
Interesting, but that's not how Ian Powell sees it:
"And he is getting stuck into the NZ Nurses Organisation, accusing the union of reneging on a deal on pay equity. Simply not true. The “deal” was agreed to by two negotiating teams, but still required ratification. Following membership feedback, NZNO identified two obstacles to ratification which required resolution. That is not reneging; it is the part of the process called ratification. As a former union leader, Little knows this well."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/129153136/the-return-of-angry-andy-the-health-minister-who-is-denying-the-obvious
Powell also points out the following:
1. The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM; the College) had to correct what it described as 'misleading comments' attributable to Little in June.
2. Then in May "in a low blow, in May, Little derogatorily referred to the “nominal leaders” of primary care for allegedly failing to see what a different and better health system looks like. It was clear from the context of his attack that he was referring to representatives of general practices."
3. He's also had a crack at rural health services and Pharmac.
I understand the Minister is under pressure, but he's doing himself no favours. Powell concludes with this:
"Little’s poor performance has made him a ministerial liability. A big factor behind this is his failure to recognise the importance of relationships in public health systems."
and
"This has led him to undermine workforce trust and confidence in the Government’s leadership of the health system. Further, he has achieved this in little over 18 months. I don’t recall any health minister reaching this milestone."
Ouch.
One man's opinion does not make truth.
Where is any comment from you to question Littles behaviour and actions ?? It appears you can see everything Wrong with parties other than Labour BUT are blinded by this governments performances and unable to make comment.
Not great use of language by Little. "in an interview with Stuff, Andrew Little labelled the union ‘unprincipled’ and the impediment to a pay deal." Just like the Kiwi in Manila telling Little "2 yr is not an issue" how would she know what nurses around the world are thinking" and for him to use that as a reason for his Do Little action. That interview was a train wreck – And sitting in Wellington – Where is he – And you support him without any reservations, as do many here. Imagine the commentary if Nats were in power and Little was the Health minister acting as he is.
I
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/129273745/nurses-organisation-asks-health-minister-to-focus-on-health-crisis-instead-of-putdowns
He's not just 'one man'. He is a former executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. Is he wrong? Is the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine wrong? Are commentators here that are in the profession wrong?
David J. No all the people you talk about are correct.
Little and Labour are so ideologically driven, they fail to see the real issues.
BTW I am a labour party member. But not for too much longer
Tell me Anker where is your ideological home?
Who will you support if not Jacinda Ardern?
Mother was a life member of Labour. I have always voted Labour and worked hard for them.
I now have no ideological home politically. I try to go by my values. I fear for NZ as I think our parliamentarians aren't up to it. That's not a criticism, I think it is a hard job (although sometimes I do criticize them).
One of the most important things for me is the Health system. The only people who really matter in that system are the well trained professionals who look after you if you get sick. We are all dependent on them.
I don't rely on Jacinda. I don't have anything against her and also acknowledge her strengths. I was grateful to her and Labour for the initial Covid response. The reality is I went into isolatin before the country did. Currenlty living a rather isolated life to protect me and my loved ones and the health professionals from Covid.
I try to take as much responisitiblity for myself and my life. This has always been the case. I now are just grateful when politicians don’t makethings worse. Or spend public money on consultants whose contribution won’t matter.
Labour have lost me. They are ideologically driven and its not an ideology I support. This doesn’t mean I support Luxon (personaly I think he is out of his depth and woeful).
I probably won’t vote next election. But if that is the case, it will be a deliberate and well thought through decision.
No not wrong, just looking through their own window.
Andrew Little is not there to make friends. He is there to change entrenched attitudes biases and methods, which have not delivered to a large percentage of the public. Feathers are going to be ruffled as some were very comfortable in their Silos. Some were paid by both the private and the public system.
Whenever the left shift the dial, personal attacks start. No one has suggested there should not be change, just they don’t like the messenger.
Umpty managers board members and other duplications creaming money out of the "system" Yes feathers will be ruffled and fur fly. The intention is to increase services at the frontline. Perhaps Andrew is tired That would be understandable.
Yes I am sure Little is tired. What a big job to have. I do have a little empathy for him. But the front line is the health system. I hope he does ruffle feathers of the bureacrats but he seemed to be picking a fight with the union, i.e. the front line services union. Unforgivable from so many angles.
I don't think Little knows too much about health at all.
The health system doesn't deliver for people in small towns e.g Wairoa has no cardiologist. People can't even get a regular GP in many towns.
They can stand on their heads, re structure, bring in a band, put on a party, so whatever, but until the solve the staffing and medication crisis, it will do swa
It was not the Union who rejected the settlement but was the membership dismayed at the deal. Backpay was promised then reneged on. In my role as a senior nurse the offer was a fraction of that offered to other roles. All this has done is compress the salary scales to the point where most senior staff would make more giving up their roles and become plain RN,s. I had been advanced more on the last pay round in a lump sum against future pay equity than I was offered. We were looking at having to pay it back.
Every time this minister opens his mouth he alienates the very people who vote for his party, he needs to go, replace him with someone who can demonstrate empathy.
That situation is not right or good Who were you actually negotiating with. Ministry boffins?
Nice DEFLECTION, what about …. On the issue nice to see that you cannot find anything to counter to support Littles performances. And for his attach on a union, nice to have friends like that in a Labour party. But I gather you totally support him.
How about addressing the issue?? Unless you don't really have the conviction.
This maybe news to you BUT Labour is currently the government and Little IS the minister.
Herodotus, It isn't about me. See my comment above.
Thanks for saying all of this Herodotus, and psych nurse.
Fancy a labour minister, ex labour boss, trashing a union. Accusing them of talking with a forked tongue. Does he not realize how many kiwis lives are dependent on our health work force? What will this do for staff morale? That and refusing to call it a crisis (actually I think it is a catastrophe).
Little doesn't show any signs of appreciating what a health system is. Its nurses, Drs and allied health workers. We are despearately short of them Andrew. Many of them are working their guts out to save lives right now. Your stupid bloody health reforms are irrelevant.
Remember when Key use to say its not a housing crisis and most of us on this site would be tearing our hair out about his denial (acutally the situation with housing back in Key's day looks a lot better that our current housing catastrophe……
Tony Ryall and Johanathan Coleman were likely incompetent shits, but they are long gone. Littles in charge of the ship now. Labour have had five years. David Clark was told back in 2017 that there was a serious work force shortage before the pandemic.
Little should be sacked or resign
"Why is it that so many on the left accept this without voicing any comment or is this the best we can hope for and have to accept"
I figure this is what we could call the neo-liberal left. The left that couldn't raise a murmur when lots of poorly paid people (mainly women) were mandated out of jobs.
The term Brahmin class better describes what a lot of 'lefties' behave like.
gsays I think it is tribal labour who will support Labour no matter what and sorry if this comes across as judgmental many of them have lost their ability to critique anymore.
Our health system is in crisis…..
"Strange to have gone from talking about a stressed health system to being in it in a couple of hours," he said.
"Wellington Hospital A & E actually as calm and efficient as I've ever seen it. I'll update later but nothing too serious."
RNZ reporter on an actual experience of the NZ health system after Sean Plunket suffers a minor heart attack.
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-lifestyle/star-entertainment/broadcaster-sean-plunket-hospital-after-heart-attack
North Shore Hospital doesn't seem to be coping as well as Wellington hospital.
Patients waiting under leaking tent outside North Shore emergency department – NZ Herald
To be fair, that awning is more a triage and Covid testing space – before admitting patients to either the 'with Covid' or 'without Covid' streams. Decision made that it was better to do this step in the 'open' with ventilation, rather than within the closed (and crowded) ED itself.
However, have just had a friend admitted (and now discharged) from ICU with Covid at North Shore (luckily they were able to get on top of the symptoms quickly) – who commented on just how rushed and stressed all of the medical staff were. No complaints about the treatment – but she could see how much pressure the staff were under – and how long their shifts were. The doctor seeing her dealt with 3 emergency calls while checking her symptoms and prescribing for her.
Well a relative of mine went there with a fracture and said that the tent was for Covid triage which is not a rare practice at all. And that the privately owned ShoreCare A&E across the road where they went for the initial consultation in order to be seen more rapidly (cost $105 after ACC subsidy was deducted) used a tent in exactly the same way. Looks like the thrusting, innovative titans of the private sector aren't doing any better than public hospitals – other than through the natural advantages that come from reducing the demand on their services by charging money.
This is of course just an n=1 anecdote. But I ain't holding my breath on the assumption that the Herald is not engaged in distortion of the facts for political purposes. Essentially the house organ of the National Party, that rag is why we don't even need the Murdoch media in this country in order to sabotage democracy.
Meanwhile, from Jimmy's source:
"The photos come after a survey – conducted by the New Zealand Women in Medicine (NZWIM) Charitable Trust, including responses from more than 900 New Zealand doctors – warned a "catastrophic collapse" of the healthcare workforce loomed.
"Ward full, extreme staff shortages, ED full and seeing little babies as young as seven weeks old waiting (more than) >2 hours outside in tents for a bed in the department, or to be seen and an attempt at an exam made in the tent," one junior doctor working in paediatrics said in the survey. The hospital where this doctor worked was not specified."
100+
This was meant for AB.
"RNZ reporter on an actual experience … "
Who is the RNZ reporter you appear to be quoting?
Himself.
It must be at least 10 years since he worked for RNZ.
He got cancelled.
I am curious as to the purpose of yr comment.
Is it to deny our health system is in crisis because of one reporter's "actual" experience?
Running defence for a minister who has clearly pissed off a large portion of his workforce?
Based on one persons experience and extrapolating it out is like declaring the pandemic over coz I didn't get Covid.
If it's in crisis, then Wellington did not show that.
Nor does my local hospital, though a friend tells me that the waits are long.
I am objecting to blanket criticisms of 'shambles', 'crisis' or whatever else. They are overused, becoming meaningless political buzz words. Today I read that "all'' whatever the feck it was was a disaster. It was obvious that ''all" did not apply. It was hyperbole. Sorry, I can't remember the actual situation, but that in itself points to the problem with doomsaying, crying wolf, inflated criticism.
If someone comes along and says that I had a problem with such an hospital, I'd accept that. If someone can honestly give an overview of an hospital system stretched beyond breaking point. I'd look at that.
I have personally reached my breaking point as a teacher, but it wasn't the NZ education system. Covid is hard, and winter is hard. There will always be discontent.
There is, and has been, far too much exaggeration that is political, serving narrow interests, and ultimately harmful as its effect is to lessen trust, hope and social cohesion either deliberately or as a corollary.
I am now a sceptic. I've had covid, cancers and crises de foi. I have been well served in two different hospital systems.
I went walking today as I have for years with a highly qualified medical professional, recently forcibly retired from a hospital board as a member by recent changes, who does not talk of crises. Problems, yes always, but I have not heard of crises- and believe me I would have from him.
I socialise with nurses, surgeons, anaesthetists, long term sufferers from all sorts of complaints, but I don't hear crises. Again problems, but not crises.
I have a niece who is an authority on aspects of public health- difficulties, problems, social attitudes and behaviours- all of that, but not heard of crises.
No, it's not one reporter's experience. His experience just points out the arrant stupidity of blanket, unbalanced, unsubstantiated criticism, and the use of hyperbolic and harmful language.
It's harmful because it limits the truth of the matter, the extent of the matter, the causes of the matter, and only serves narrow, sectional, shallow political purposes.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300636068/waikato-hospital-cancels-100-surgeries-in-june-no-catch-up-in-sight—health-leader
There are many,many more examples like this Mac 1.
I noticed that the person who murdered the woman in Grey Lynn has been sent to the Mason Clinic. Only a week or two ago and innocent woman was stabbed in Chch by a man discharged from the psych unit. Sadly expect more of this.
You may be like the Nurses Union who don't want to refer to it as a crisis because they just want the minister to get on and fix it. Gordon Campbell has an interesting article posted by Sacha on Daily Review.
Call it what you like, but the health syster is exceptionally stressed and they are understaffed. Nowadays i hope like hell I don't get sick
"Nowadays i hope like hell I don't get sick." And if you did, I'd wish you the same timely, expert and appropriate treatment I got with four cancer diagnoses and a hernia for good measure.
What I said above about trust and hope and social cohesion applies with us both. I keep hoping and trusting and believing in how our society should progress.
Thanks Mac1. Well expressed.
Ok, you don't like the wording.
What adjectives would you use to describe the problems? Ones that come to my mind are systemic, chronic, under-resourcing, under-staffing, entrenched. Most of which come down to senior management and governance.
To describe out health system as just having 'problems' is equally "harmful because it limits the truth of the matter, the extent of the matter, the causes of the matter, and only serves narrow, sectional, shallow political purposes."
Ironically a measure you may be able to relate to, I have been to my GP in regards to an inguinal hernia. He referred me to our local hospital for an appointment. They said 'No'. I went back to him on Friday as things have worsened and he point blank told me, 'you won't get in.' His advice was going privately.
At the core of the problems is this market driven, neo-liberal approach to running hospitals. I had hopes when the reform was announced then discovered Ardern's pick for heading up the changes is from Ernst Young. Says it all really.
Andrew Little says everything is fine. Just a tough winter. 900 doctors say it's a crisis.
Of course the one person is right and the 900 doctors do not know what they are talking about.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/andrew-little-govt-responding-to-chronic-staffing-shortage-in-healthcare/GQT4WMCA6YGV3ZEODNNR3NZQL4/
Wishing Sean Plunkett all the very best for his recovery. He lost his brother to suicide last week. So an unbelievably difficult time.
When I visited Wellington ED just over a month ago, staff were calm and professional. It was remarkable given the numbers of sick people arriving by ambulaances and the beds stacked in corridors.
I'm sorry to hear that. I can but wish himself all the best.
Which is why I harp on about those who are not following the rules and who publicly demand that all Covid regulations be rescinded Anker.
I was in hospital earlier this year for major surgery. The professionalism of the doctors, nurses and the surgeon blew me away. I constantly think of them and wonder how they are coping with the enormous strain they are currently experiencing.
Anyone calling for the removal of all Covid restrictions (and I refer particularly to the Freedom crowd) are showing a lack of respect and consideration for the health workers in question.
With a country of around only 3 to 4 million tax-payers, there is never going to be enough money in the cookie jar to service entities like the health sector to our satisfaction. So, its up to each of us to be prepared to do whatever is required to alleviate the worst of the pandemic affects on those staffing the health services.
Getting vaccinated, wearing masks and keeping our distance is the very least we can do.
You might have heard Thomas Coughlan grinding his teeth as he had to concede that PM Ardern had a successful overseas trip. How it must have hurt. Anyway it is an interesting summary.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/thomas-coughlan-jacinda-ardern-finally-gets-lucky-break-on-overseas-trips/QKBCNI3Z7YCWB5MOCRHWMDG2G4/
In case it is behind the wall.
That reference to a 'lucky break' reminds me of the golfer who mused that the more he practised the luckier he got!
Jacinda is just so lucky. No way does she work hard to get her lucky breaks. Ha!
Remember when in her early PM days they denigrated her fluffy lack of substance.
Long may she reign!
They called her stardust. On Tuesday I had a coffee in town and sprinkled a sachet of sugar around the lovely design of a fern in the crema on top.
I called it stardust and saluted our Prime Minister. In a world of Putins, Johnsons, Trumps and that whole throng of narcissist, deluded and sociopathic crazies, we are indeed blessed.
Yes, covid and politics has made the world difficult, so thank you Jacinda Ardern and her fully supportive team, who instead of being assisted through the pandemic and the world scene, have been put down harried and generally denigrated.
For some this has reached the stage that any comment is leapt on quoted out of context and added to name calling and calls for dismissals.
Those same folk want change… but not that change.. go figure.
Angry Andy meme is again fashionable. Previously Nanaia Mahuta was the target.
The search for holes in the government's armour continues by the Nats and Act, to the point of even bad mouthing the country while overseas is sad.
Denying reputable evidence over and over. Flat out saying the opposite. Chipping away.
So some of us support, as we see the propaganda repeated endlessly and echoed in MSM.
I understand Little's frustration.
The kickback from those making money, and/or sitting in positions of power, due to the inefficiencies, duplication and partial privatisations that the DHB model enabled, is enormous. It has only just started.
You will hear more and more the mealy mouthed.. “We admit change is needed, but not this change”.
The "Salaried medical specialists" that use their position in State hospitals to prop up lucrative private businesses, the "Consultants", the "Private contractors" are just a few examples of those who have a vested interest in the continuation of the current shemozzle.
Careful KJT, you will be lumped in with me Hopelessly Left lol. Such good company.
Shows how much the Overton window has shifted,, that I, a definite capitalist businessman, is "extreme left". LOL.
Quoting a well known philosopher. "Heaven holds no attraction for me. The company would be so boring".