The PM has been doing geopolitics. And with some finesse!
Hipkins said that in his visit two weeks ago to Beijing he "encouraged China to play a constructive role" to attempt to influence Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. "China's increasing assertiveness is resulting in geopolitical change and competition," he said.
Noteworthy is the conceptual link between his second and third statements. If you comprehend his linkage, appreciate the subtlety of the nuance he's using.
Nudge theory has been influential quite a while now. Hints are a traditional part of human discourse, so nudge theory uses them as the basis for tactical influence.
Another thing worth noting about his geopolitical stance is that it deploys a paradox: we are both friend and foe to China simultaneously. Using a paradox to send a geopolitical signal to other nations is extremely sophisticated political behaviour. I wonder who's pulling his strings. Bilderbergers? Not that NATO didn't do so directly, of course, but we don't know that unless he tells us. Perhaps his dance with NATO includes a dance with the truth, in which case default Labour obfuscation could produce a dance with 7 veils. Traditional cultural play, so likely to appeal to the PM as a true conservative…
Yeah, you're not wrong but I'm agnostic on any updated TPP, the devil being in the detail. Speaking of which, note the warning about the devil issued by Xi's underling to Aotearoa (reported in that link above).
Ultimately God's will will prevail & since he's omnipotent and omniscient the devil will act accordingly. Theologians are always strangely quiet on this topic…
Blinken seems a typical Democrat thus far, straight out of the classic mould. No sign of him growing into the job.
Stop hiking the OCR and therefore stop encouraging the NZ$ exchange rate to increase, if you want to boost exporters. This is the fundamental basis for Germany's trade success, they have been either part of an exchange rate or monetary union which lowers their exchange rates in relation to other neighbour economies (for 40+ years). NZ is not part of such a union and as a developed economy isn't going to compete on price with other still developing economies in Asia.
I wouldn't particularly name this as any alternative ideology. I just think its important to recognize that the same kinds of politicians and commentators who are supposedly in favour of exporters are also cheering often whenever the exchange rate hits at new peek. I think only Winston Peters ever released an official policy position at any time.
Also its not exactly dissent from my point of view. I'm highlighting that NZ is not that geared up for exports primarily and doesn't really commit to that kind of policy without these kinds of contradictions anyway. NZ mostly runs current account deficits and that's fine but could do better at recognizing the effects of that.
You're on fire today Ad; it is more accurately a less-tax policy as it would result in 95% of people getting a tax cut, but you keep banging that drum, it sure distracts from what Labour have said they'll do!
Taxing unearned wealth is an incentive to "invest" in real wealth building, including export earning business, instead of speculation focused on pushing prices of existing assets into the stratosphere.
The Greens tax policy may well do more for our overall wealth, than any number of Corporate welfare (free trade agreements).
Taxing unearned wealth is an incentive to "invest" in real wealth building, including export earning business, instead of speculation focused on pushing prices of existing assets into the stratosphere
But this did not apply to The Greens wealth tax. It was going to tax farms, businesses including taxing export earning businesses.
KJT I think we need a definition of what 'real wealth building' is. I for one would have thought investing in a export businesses in shares in export businesses. Or are you meaning a growth in Govt bonds say an opportunity to invest in tied capital raising by the govt to say pay for roads or specific programmes.
This used to be a quite attractive investment for civic minded people who did not mind a slightly less than market rates, with the difference being a combination of feel good plus security of investment.
Shanreagh. Businesses, real businesses, already pay tax. I invested in business and pay tax on income at my marginal rate. This will add buggerrall to my tax apart from a few percent at the margin which Ihave no problem paying so others can live a little better.
Those that are in the business of land speculation or the "chain in the river" rental income, that takes without adding to real wealth, however. https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/13-03-2022/sunday-essay-the-chain-across-the-river “The landlords aren’t doing anything useful for that extra money. They’re just using political power to extract value from the productive economy, same as the lord chaining his river. And when the artificial scarcity of housing drives up property values then all homeowners extract rent from people trying to enter the market, who have to pay inflated prices. The quality of the housing hasn’t gone up. (The quality of our housing stock is mostly terrible.) It just costs more”.
Taxing unearned income streams such as "Capital gains tax farming" would long term have benefited farming and other businesses, by reducing the cost of land for farming, business rentals and premises, and the hemorrhaging of farm income to banks, that pays the interest on inflated land prices.
Farms are now technically loss making businesses, expecting to only make a profit when the land is sold, because their is no way farm income can cover the interest cost on the land. Leading to over stocking, soil depletion and other effects of having to cover excessive interest bills. Only the banks and finance interests gain long term.
I'm also aware that export businesses provide the lifeblood of NZ. They bring new money into the country. We (Govt) should support any business that does this. We (citizens) should be behind any Govt that recognises the important role of exporting..
I have never said or implied that land speculators are export businesses or bring new money into the economy.
I was hoping you would have had comments on the ideas of Govt Bonds being a postive mechanism for people to invest in NZ
Our Goverments have largely signed away the ability to help our export businesses, in favour of so called " free trade agreements" which have sacrificed most of our export businesses for the "sacred cow" of dairy commodity exports, which has questionable long term net benefits.
Government bonds are a legitimate way of investing in the countries future. Noting that gains on them are already taxed.
There is a problem with the taxing of "unrealised gains" which has still to be addressed in both the Greens and TOP's wealth tax proposals.
Noting that you get taxed on interest earned from monetary investments, and share dividends, even if you don't "realise" withdraw, the money.
It would be simpler to tax at realisation, such as inheritance or sale, and much easier to determine values. Then loopholes such as "gifting" need to be addressed.
The "family home" is another glaring loophole. Key's 10 million "family home" is just one example. I can see every child in a wealthy family with a "family home". Setting a threshold such as two million per person makes it harder to make such a loophole. A million per person automatically exempts most "family homes". Two million leaves most peoples savings untaxed.
Lastly. Reducing the huge deadweight cost and mis-directed speculation, sorry, investment, on our economy, of inflation of existing assets caused by speculation driven by unequal tax treatment, is essential for all our future.
Salmon co-founded the Native Forest Action Council – now the Ecologic Foundation– which launched the petition, the Maruia Declaration, in 1975… Forty-six years on, Salmon has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the environment.
He was competing with us during the early '90s – Stephen Rainbow left us, joined him & Gary Taylor to try a blue-green political party:
In the 1996 election, conducted under the new MMP system, the Progressive Green Party won 0.26% of the vote, considerably below what they had hoped for, and had no members elected to Parliament. The Party did not contest any further elections, and eventually disbanded. In December 1998 the Progressive Greens were de-registered by the Electoral Commission.
Many of the party's members are now associated with the Bluegreens, an environmental "task force" within the National Party – Fenwick was the first convener of the Bluegreens and went on to co-found the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Given the opportunity to set policy towards a more progressive future Labour "baulked at the fence" again.
Labour has again failed to institute and defend more progressive policy.
Which makes you wonder if their heart is really in it?
When the right wing say Labour "squandered" their time in power they mean that Labour spent on people other than themselves. What Labour has really squandered is opportunity to reset the future for everyone. The only positive is that it is still better than NACT "competently" stealing our future.
I agree Ad. While I have been critical that more was not done on reversing things like the energy sell-off I accept that it would be an enormously complex undertaking.
I think the value of not being dead and also running a low unemployment model is worth megabucks. The scourge of unemployment & the move to keep high employment rates is something worth fighting for.
Rightist Govts often use rates of unemployment to crudely make progress ie to get money into their supporters hands they are willing to tolerate a higher rate of unemployment
The govts in the 80s & 90s altered the relationships and rights of workers drastically and this work by the Labour govt helps workers.
Michael Woods and his work will have a long lasting effect.
Fair Pay Agreements were a 2020 Labour manifesto commitment, which we have extensively consulted on, taking a balanced approach to the final design,” Michael Wood said.
Italians have reacted with outrage after a 66-year-old school cleaner escaped punishment for groping a female pupil because it “only lasted about ten seconds”.
The 17-year-old schoolgirl was walking up a flight of stairs between classes when the janitor, Antonio Avola, put his hand inside the waistband of her trousers and inside her underwear from behind.
When she confronted him, he responded: “Come on darling, you know I’m only joking,” according to other students who witnessed the incident, which happened at a high school in Rome in April last year.
But a court in Rome ruled that his groping had “only lasted between five and 10 seconds” and that his hand had not “lingered” down her underpants for very long. He had not intended to seriously molest the teenager, the court said. Putting his hand inside her trousers was “bumbling” but had not been a sign of “sexual desire”.
The notion that judges get it right is extremely traditional, even if crazy. So we can assume a resurgence of the patriarchy in Italy. Will it become contagious?
Last week, an Italian minister, Vittorio Sgarbi, faced calls to resign after he used an appearance at a modern art museum in Rome to praise the penis as “an organ of knowledge, that is to say penetration” and boasted of sleeping with 1500 women.
Macho art critics could become a thing here quite easily, eh? Those Maori carvings of erections are extremely traditional, so one can imagine the possibility of pakeha finally getting over 19th century puritanical values and embracing an iconic macho stance.
True if you focus on the mastermind producing the design but spare a thought for the practice of responsible government – our constitutional praxis. Cabinet agreed to the policy. Therefore it is a Labour/Green solidarity position.
No need to weasel, so long as James is able to use leverage to tweak the thing. Best to point to the market failure. Neolibs are in perpetual denial when it comes to market failures even when surrounded by them. Eyes tight shut. One must get up close with a megaphone & point it at their ears and yell into it. He will have to do so.
Weasel bullshit, as useful as saying that Budget 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 is Green policy. Or any other Cabinet level decision.
Shaw has had 2 terms to make any distinction between himself and beige custard. Shaw is through and through a market-focused solution guy. Which is if course why they are solid at 8% now not crashing: they don't scare the horses. Even Hosking gives him an easy ride.
Given that the ETS was developed and introduced by the Fifth Labour Government in 2008 and James Shaw entered parliament in 2014, it certainly seems that someone's trying to weasel out of something here, but it's not the Greens.
Oh please. James Shaw drafted the law, was and is the Minister responsible for the policy, got all sides of Parliament except Act to agree, and implemented it. Do yourself a solid and just take an ounce of responsibility.
In the 2014 Election when Shaw first entered parliament, the Greens policy was a Carbon Tax. Labour and National wanted a market, which is what they made.
‘Take the responsibility’ you say of a minister outside of cabinet. Very very normal, and not at all panicked lashing out.
Not sure why the Greens want further Cabinet positions if they can’t take responsibility for the primary Cabinet position they wanted in the first place.
this is stupid. The Greens have limited power. If they'd had their way they would have developed a different kind of system for NZ's climate response. But they didn't have that power, so they worked with what they could.
Shaw doesn't have a magic wand to force Labour to change Labour policy nor to get GP policy implemented and it's really weird that you keep pretending that he does.
thanks for this. I never got my head around the ETS because polluter pays is a very poor form of climate action. It's my memory that the Greens had to swallow a bitter pill on the ETS because they didn't have the power to get something better through. I'd like to write a post on this, do you have any further thoughts or links? I will need to understand the scheme and the history.
I think it is a pragmatic acceptance that since both Labour and National govts maintained it, improving the existing ETS would have more permanence and therefore effectiveness.
Here's an example prior to that in 2014 when they still advocated scrapping it:
The Green Party announced last month it would scrap the ETS and introduce a fair and transparent carbon tax, the revenue from which will all be returned to households and businesses in the form of tax cuts.
Here is James Shaw praising a rising carbon price, while also saying it is insufficient and still too low, and advocating for a carbon tax in 2016:
“The price is still far too low to be an effective incentive to business to shift investment towards low-carbon alternatives. Even at the price we have today, emissions will continue to rise. Businesses need more certainty that the carbon price won’t crash again.
“We would prefer the Government move to a simpler carbon tax system, but if it’s going to review the ETS we hope it takes it seriously and restores its integrity. This should include instituting a minimum carbon price of $25, scrapping the subsidies to polluters, and giving agriculture a deadline for entering the scheme.
“A gradual increase in the price of carbon will be good news for the economy. It will mean New Zealand businesses are more likely to invest in clean sectors of the economy, making New Zealand more competitive with the rest of the world.
In 2022 Shaw addressed some of the history while announcing the changes the current government made to the ETS. There is still an emphasis on a more effective pricing structure:
“When the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) began it was decided that some companies would receive up to 90 percent of their pollution credits for free. The purpose of this was to protect these companies from more lightly regulated competitors outside of New Zealand. However, the baseline used to decide how many credits each company would receive is exactly the same today as it was 12 years ago.
“Over the last decade, major polluters have changed how they do business and are now receiving many more credits than they need. The government at the time said it would begin phasing down the free allocation of credits from 2013, slowly driving up the cost of pollution. However this did not happen, meaning we’ve been stuck with an out of date system that has directed large amounts of taxpayers’ money towards big polluters, while keeping emissions higher than they should be. Allowing this to continue would be incompatible with the climate targets we have set – so we’re stepping in to fix it.
“From 2024, our biggest polluters will receive only the pollution credits they need – making sure they play a major role in meeting the Government’s second emissions budget. The changes will remove a major obstacle to innovation, to industrial decarbonisation and the proper functioning of our carbon market. Together with our plan to phase out free allocation over time, this will push the big polluters to make a larger contribution towards meeting our goal of building a net-zero future.
“Today’s announcement builds on the work we have already done to make the ETS fit-for-purpose, including reforms that have put a proper price on pollution and raised about $4.5 million for climate action.
“A well-functioning ETS that puts a proper price on pollution is a critical tool in our climate action toolbox. But it cannot do the job alone. The actions and initiatives in the Emissions Reduction Plan will ensure we meet the first emissions budget and lay the foundation for future climate action,”
In 2020, we declared a climate emergency, committing to urgent action to reduce emissions. In 2019, we passed the Zero Carbon Act – aiming to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 – and reformed the Emissions Trading Scheme to more effectively reduce climate-polluting emissions.
In government, Labour took significant steps to address climate change, including:
Fixing the Emissions Trading Scheme
or maybe Shaw was just the surrogate and Labour the buying parent. As you wish, but that shite is bi-partisan, and its Labour and their Green surrogates.
The NZ ETS was not develped de novo in a vacuum. I'd say, look to trends and political pressures internationally at the time – and at which consulting firms pushed the government towards this option.
It's vitally important that left-wingers signal a virtue to everyone. It's what they were born to do. They can't be authentic without doing so! https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/suasion
If it finds itself in a position to do so, the Green Party will “explore” the return of land “wrongfully alienated from the tangata whenua”.
Exploration is not a bad thing. Explorers have mana traditionally. Heroic adventuring into the wild Green yonder is also fun.
Love the grab-bag of RW slogans I see you sprinkle into your comments. Struggling with what idea you're trying to communicate with the slogan 'virtue signalling' here. What do you actually mean to say?
No big deal, merely irony. That you see me recycling RW slogans is perception – the accuracy of those being more to the point. Note the moral guidance of suasion. That inherent part of leftism is a valid component. It signals useful common ground and is therefore an eternal survival skill for humans.
Despite that sensibility, leftists defaulting into banality when talking at people rather than to them is a herding drift that they often use to render themselves politically impotent. I try to be helpful by pointing to it every now & then…
As trotter points out this would not be price-setting in any shape or form..
That iwi/hapu purchases would meet the market price…"
Until it is and how can enforce it?. If they have first right of refusal, can the vendor refuse if they offer too low a price or will they have to accept any offer – or will they have to go to court to be allowed any other offer if the Iwi/hapu offer is to low, and how could that be legislated and who would enforce it.
You can hope, but then hope costs nothing and generally has no worth other then it makes one feel better for a moment until reality hits again square in the face.
What this reminds me of the Landreforms in Eastern Europe/Germany during the times of the Communists and to some extend in West Germany.
The land reforms in both East and West Germany had three main goals:
to end the conservative political influence of land barons[clarification needed].
to reallocate and integrate refugees from the former eastern territories and citizens displaced by bombings.[12][13]
to enforce greater flexibility and efficiency in short-term agricultural production.[14]
The communist Bodenreform in East Germany nationalised all private property exceeding an area of 100 hectares (247 acres), and redistributed it to publicly owned estates.[15]
Since 1990, after German reunification, some Junkers tried to regain their former estates through civil lawsuits, but the German courts have upheld the land reforms and rebuffed all claims for compensation.
On part for the refusal to pay out any damages etc is simply the understanding that you can't undo and go back to the past, and at the same time you can not burden any other new generation with the costs of the past, and that to destroy the current for the past makes no sense.
Sometimes what is done is done.
this might be a good read on that decision of the courts.
A Bitter Inheritance: East German Real Property and the Supreme Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision of April 23, 1991 Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision of A
What are we trying to achieve here should be the first question, second would be does it benefit all or just a select few, if it only benefits a select few is it then not against the greater good for all? Or we go full Zimbabwe. That too would be an option.
Moving out of where you are at retirement age (or thereabouts) to where you think you'll be happy is a basic Kiwi instinct. Call it neocolonial if you want.
Is this just another manifesto of Tall Poppy Syndrome and the politics of envy? Horrible whatever it is.
I have every admiration for the likes of Marc Ellis and do not begrudge him his good fortune. he was a talented sports figure, built his juice empire…….good on him.
I somehow think that an intensive updating of knowledge about the history of kiwi home ownership & its importance to Kiwi battlers from the year dot would be a good thing. Perhaps along with Civics we can get this in the school curricula.
Why is it horrible to point out that he can buy a cheaper house in Italy, that food in Italy is cheaper then here, that he feels alienated by his country? That he no longer feels welcome in his own country due to various reasons.
I mean if he were the only one leaving i would say maybe…..
but,
The net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 23,500, the highest since the October 2013 year.12/05/2023
and i would like to point out that those that leave are the ones that have the skill set, the youth, the money, the connection. And to make up for it we employ lots of people from elsewhere, i guess that is the future 'settler' generation, after all they migrated here and 'settled'?
How on earth can you really justify calling someone who was born into this country a 'settler'.- I man can you even in any meaningful term define 'settler'?
Pakeha in most people mind means New Zealander born to the country not of Maori ethnicity.
Pretty much all of Maori have settlers blood in them. Who is the purest then, and at what stage can a Maori be a settler, is that like African Americans dabbling in White Supremacy?
How big is the percentage of Maori that are married to their settler overlords and have children?
The white, brown, asian children born into this country should have the right to be not insulted by being called settler (implying some sort of inherited 'oppressor' status) by people who want to feel righteous and who like to bask in the purifying light of moral supremacy. Until of course these righteous settlers are happy to leave, after all this is not heir country. And that would include anyone of us who is not sufficiently maori, and who much % of Maori must one have to be sufficiently pure? Just asking, cause as a German i can't really put my finger on it, but……..it feels vaguely familiar.
See, I don't identify as a Pakeha. I am not. I am german, born in germany, raised in the culture etc etc etc, I am like that Maori Guy that lives in my hometown with his German wife and his German/Maori son an 'expat' or an immigrant. So I really don't identify with all that settler crap that is designed to put down todays white, non maori/pi brown kids and asian kids down a nudge as an intruder of sorts.
I also have a place to go to, should that settler crap here explode and become mean as it seems to go atm, do you? Are you enough Tangata Whenua to not be considered a settler? How racially pure are you Sanctuary.
As for the tone of his reasoning for leaving, it resonates with many, and we are losing our best to OZ and any other country that will have them, to import the cheapest laborer we can find in asia. Go figure.
It is a pretty straight forward rule to me. Is your relationship with your homeland transactional or unconditional? Like all of us, Ellis won huge in the lottery of birth – the country he was born into, the genetics he was blessed with that made him a skilled athlete and the infrastructure that existed to allow to achieve his full potential. By all means, he should go and enjoy your wealth as you see fit. But a thank you and a bit of humility and love for his country would be nice, don’t you think?
NZ made him a rich man – yet his relationship remians entirely transactional and transitory and he feels the need to dump on the place before he buggers off. It is this entitled, transitory and transactional mindset that irks me and for me sets apart the settler and colonist from the native. You find few Maori who feel the need to bag the country in public, even when they migrate for better jobs or opportunites. Taika Waititi might be clear eyed enough to know NZ is "racist as" but it doesn't stop him showing his affection for the people of this land in "Hunt for the Wilderpeople".
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of Victorians and Edwardians, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in London?
You can also read it as a vote of no confidence in National and ACT though, eh? Isn't that a better way of seeing his move? Since his explanation isn't visible.
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of Victorians and Edwardians, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in London?
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of foreigners, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in Wanaka? 🙂
Now that is the problem, you don't ask yourself why a born and bred Kiwi, who made good money and made the country good money, leaves his comfortable life here to start a new comfortable life elsewhere. I mean the sunshine is a reason, but its not the only one.
Fact is that he is one of the few lucky that can just retire, and that will be given citizenship in Italy, as they clearly see him as a law abiding gentlemen, with his family, bringing money and a bit of prestige to a i Italian town, maybe he even coaches a youth club or something. Who knows.
What you prefer to not mention is the 25.299 others that are also leaving, Maori and 'Settler' alike, for the same reason to any country that will have them, whilst we are trying to import as cheap a laborer as we can find to make up for the shortfall.
Cheaper housing, cheaper food, better services, and hopefully no constant divide and conquer on the grounds of race, which for the most part of NZ'lers mean a mix of maori and 'settler'. That is why people leave. And you who has nothing of substance to that point say trot out your idiotic last century talking points about colonies and settlers. Mind me asking, did you get a Lolly with that critical race theory? .
Young people with education, and those with money are voting with their feet.
Highest number since 2013. That would be at John Key level. Well done Labour, you have achieve equality.
I remember hearing when young, "The party's boring, I'm going."
Which often seemed a way of saying "The party's boring, and I don't have the ability or personality to make it not boring. I'll go somewhere else where someone else will provide an environment for me that I find not boring."
Another aspect of the Mark Ellis perspective: He is like many career sports journalists who moan about rules in the game of rugby. I have yet to see one come out with their 'book of laws and rules' for the game. Whingeing from the sideline? Plenty of that. Sit down and come up with a comprehensive re-write (with some from the multitude of discontented) and use their influence and reach to try to get change? No way. It's easier to chip and run. To the backblocks, or Italy.
Nope that was net migration outwards as per the Government.
No one is coming back really, but many leave. Heck, even the Maori leave – the young ones. Better money, healthcare, and education, houses and cheaper food. All good reasons to leave.
Migration, in most cases is driven by economic decisions, that is why people from Asia like to come here, and that is why people from here like to go to OZ or elsewhere in the search of Opportunity and wealth.
You have those that are coming into the country with spouses, but would they have migrated here if they had not married a kiwi? Chances are not.
Kiwis are migrating away from NZ in order to seek a better more affordable future elsewhere and it would behoove us all to even just consider why they do that. Rather then go in a rant about colonists coming to make holidays in the colonies or other such assorted academic bullshit.
Pfft. People come and people go. Not everyone gets on with their birth family, or suits the temperament of their birth culture. Some are ambitious and see better chances for themselves elsewhere. Not much point in trying to get the leavers to stay.
However, I agree that putting the boot in before you slam the door on your way out is ungracious.
I got myself into a bit of trouble with the mods yesterday using output from Chat GPT
On reflection, I think the criticism was fair enough. I asked it to produce a list of studies which I didn't bother to investigate which I should have.
But one of the big weaknesses I can see (confirmed by Chat GPT itself, asking it today) is that it is unable to access the full studies if these are not publicly available. Therefore, it may not be aware of weaknesses in those studies, or how directly applicable they are.
This probably isn't such an issue with well investigated areas, as it will be able to access relevant text books etc I suspect. But, in those areas, there probably isn't much need to ask Chat GPT anyway. Though, I think it is best to use that output as a starting point, rather than as the final word on anything.
But in more obscure areas, I think any output from Chat GPT needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Because Chat GPT seems almost omnipresent, it is easy to assume it knows everything. But, this clearly isn't the case.
Always check what ChatGPT or similar generates. It can and does make up stuff (BS), including links. Click on the links, check that they are real, and check that the info matches the burbles generated by ChatGPT. This is critical when you are in unfamiliar topic territory (NB incorrect title, authors, publication/journal name, or date/year are signs that it was made up or at least part of it – you won’t know which part)
ChatGPT is not a magical key or wand that gets past (most) firewalls or subscriptions. If you cannot see the full text then ChatGPT cannot either. However, ChatGPT has no shame or moral handbrake on filling in the blanks and generate something plausible. (NB it sounds plausible because it is probable text based on its training set, but this does not make it correct or even accurate)
ChatGPT has an in-built bias because it was trained on a biased training set.
ChatGPT responds to your prompts; different prompts generate different burbles.
ChatGPT is a powerful tool when used correctly but it can also be a formidable weapon in the wrong hands. TS Mods will follow a hard line against misuse and abuse of AI tools for political gain, such as propagating talking points & propaganda or dumping large amounts of unchecked (and unlinked) misinformation.
This site is for robust political debate and all commenters are expected to take ownership & responsibility of their comments. TS is not a notice board or a free-for-all forum to indulge your personal pet projects with a plethora of copy-pasta and spam the site with your favourite links to your preferred sites (aka spamming or link-whoring). When you copy & paste ChatGPT burble, for example, it becomes your burble (aka your baby) and you must defend it accordingly.
The opinion of others rarely matters (much) here and you cannot hide behind the opinions or comments of others; it is considered bad-faith. In general, for the sake of robust debate, the only opinions that matter here are the ones expressed & debated by commenters (and Authors), as they are the only people who exist on this site. (NB we cannot debate with a person who’s not commenting here nor can that person explain or defend themselves if they are not active on this site – this should be as obvious as an open door)
Remember this when you use ChatGPT or similar. It will be a learning curve for all, but ignorance is not an excuse.
ChatGPT has been accused of engaging in biased or discriminatory behaviors, such as telling jokes about men and people from England while refusing to tell jokes about women and people from India, or praising figures such as Joe Biden while refusing to do the same for Donald Trump. Conservative commentators accused ChatGPT of having a bias towards left-leaning perspectives.
Additionally, in a 2023 research paper, 15 political orientation tests were conducted on ChatGPT, with 14 of them indicating left-leaning viewpoints, which appeared to contradict ChatGPT's claimed neutrality.
In response to such criticism, OpenAI acknowledged plans to allow ChatGPT to create "outputs that other people (ourselves included) may strongly disagree with". It also contained information on the recommendations it had issued to human reviewers on how to handle controversial subjects, including that the AI should "offer to describe some viewpoints of people and movements", and not provide an argument "from its voice" in favor of "inflammatory or dangerous" topics (although it may still "describe arguments from historical people and movements"), nor "affiliate with one side" or "judge one group as good or bad". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT
The style & tone modifier provided to users seems to portend a dimension of idiosyncrasy – almost whimsical potential, if you include that with the capacity to dissent from favoured views as mentioned above.
A senior editor at The Atlantic has written that ChatGPT and other similar technology make the previously absurd idea of the dead internet theory a little more realistic, where most web content could someday be created by AI in order to control society.
Seems likely to add a surreal dimension at the leading edge, which will seep into the mainstream in ratio to the number of users.
The share price of Buzzfeed, a digital media company unrelated to AI, increased 120% after announcing OpenAI technology adoption for content creation.
Looks like law clerks could lose part of their duties…
While GPT-3 demonstrated impressive results in AI language processing, GPT-3.5 pushed the boundaries even further and incorporated improvements in both processing and output quality.
However, GPT-4 goes even further and is much more concise than 3.5, so much so that it was able to pass the law bar exam with ease!
I wonder how long it will take till one of these gizmos gets to provide testimony on case law in court. Soon as we hear of top US legal firms using this system to expedite precedent research we'll know it won't take much longer.
'Government by swing voters". Otherwise known as "focus groups".
It is obvious that our laughable, "Representative Democracy" is going to result in policy that somewhere between 53% and 80% of voters polled, want! is being dumped in favour of policy to sway approximately 10% of voters, that will swing between Labour and National.
Up to 80% of the electorate support left or right leaning political parties. The levels of 'left' and 'right' might change but that is roughly what happens. Up to 20% 'don't know' for a variety of reasons but mostly because they don't bother to take an interest. Some of those 'don't knows' make up their minds on polling day or in the days leading up to it. The rest don't vote.
Yet 'they' are usually the ones who decide the outcome which pretty much defeats the purpose of a democratically elected government.
Your last point is worthwhile considering at length. Everyone ought to. Imagine if the govt set up a website called Public Opinion. Framed it to elicit feedback on current issues. Allowed crowd-sourced wisdom to tweak that framing by demand, driven by numbers dissenting in ratio to numbers favouring govt framing.
If the tech design & system worked out right, we'd all get a user interface with direct democracy. We couldn't compel the govt – but we could provide a useful simulation of the overall public mood on issues. Way better than focus groups!!
Ha! Immediately subject to capture by those politically invested in the outcome of any one vote. Not to mention the political framing of the question to start with (who gets to decide this, I wonder)
Given that we can't persuade voters to come out and cast their ballot once every 3 years – what would make you think that we could get people to invest their time more regularly? Especially after the first time, they didn't get the outcome they wanted.
Anyone who's been involved in market surveys and focus groups, knows the challenge they face to get ongoing participation…..
It seems much like governing by referendum….. And we've all seen the dubious outcomes those can generate….
Valid points but seems to me the incentive-structure does enable participatory democracy to an indicative extent. Sort of organised virtue-signalling, but in a methodica design. If you chartered a public service organisation to administer the interface, you could insert a clause in their employment contracts requiring them to design and operate it in accord with the public interest.
That kind of pragmatic consensus-generating model usually works due to the extent of common ground becoming evident to all players. It is essentially an activist-driven arena.
I'd advocate, for instance, a class-based module within the overall system, plus an identity-politics module as well, leaving it flexible enough to respond to other crowd-sourced framings too. Those to be incorporated when surpassing a threshold of activation to be consensually decided…
I think, however, you are wildly over-estimating the willingness of the general NZ public to participate. The TS commentariat is a wild outlier in terms of general political engagement.
Have you been monitoring the progress of Action Station? Since launch, I mean, around a decade or so back (I was involved in designing it prior to that). Last I noticed the membership count it was several thousand.
Unfortunately it got captured by left-wingers early but it still has leverage on politics and sometimes gets results from collective pressure that even I have been able to feel good about.
My point is that the system I propose caters for all shades of political opinion & tribalism gets relegated into holistic context.
Dennis Frank, sounds a little like Switzerland's semi-direct democracy
'Switzerland features a system of government not seen in any other nation: direct representation, sometimes called half-direct democracy (this may be arguable, because theoretically, the sovereign of Switzerland is actually its entire electorate). Referendums on the most important laws have been used since the 1848 consitution.
'Amendments to the Federal Constitution of Switzerland, the joining of international organisations, or changes to federal laws that have no foundation in the constitution but will remain in force for more than one year must be approved by the majority of both the people and the cantons, a double majority.
'Any citizen may challenge a law that has been passed by parliament. If that person is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days, a national vote has to be scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority of the voters whether to accept or reject the law.'
The cantons are parts of the federal system that have their own decision-making power.
Indeed. I recall making a similar comment on their system onsite here a while back actually. However blending it with high tech design and a user-interface seems the best way to go. I read a book called User Friendly from the library and it emphasised the role of design in operational systems, and how that could produce optimal engagement of people. Made Apple top corporation globally.
I'd say that both Labour and National have a tribal vote of around 20% (maybe a little higher) – of voters who will vote that way, regardless of what is happening to the party. We see this reflected in the election numbers when the party crashes for some reason (2002 National; 2014 Labour) They each have another 10% of 'soft' vote (usually vote Labour/National – but can jump ship for tactical reasons, or because they don't like what the party is doing).
Note this group can cross the right/left divide (e.g. 'right' voters voting for Ardern in 2020).
The GP probably has a tribal vote of 4-5%. And again another 3-4% who will usually vote Green – but can be lost to other parties (again for tactical or disenchantment reasons).
ACT might have 1% historically of tribal voters. Although if they maintain their momentum for another couple of elections – this may well shift up to the 5% mark.
NZF (i.e. Winston) historically had around 3% tribal voters. However, these have been dying off – and it's probably around 1% ATM. The bulk of the NZF vote has always been a protest one.
TPM – is really too new to say. The party in its current iteration is quite different to the earlier one – and the voter base has changed as well. Given that their election strategy is a seat-based one, rather than a party vote – it doesn't matter too much. I'd say that, like NZF, the bulk of their vote is a protest vote, rather than tribal loyalty [NB: 'tribal' in a political sense, here]
So: Around 47% of the vote is 'locked' into one party or another. Another 25% is a mobile right/left vote – which can choose to vote tactically, or be disenchanted and protest vote. Leaving around 28% of the vote being truly mobile – no particular loyalty to either right or left philosophies. The group most subject (I think) to capture by glossy policies or leaders.
I know English is not your first language Sabine but do take note of what I said – "up to"!
It varies from anywhere between say 60% and 80%. Voting patterns are not static. They can vary dramatically depending on the political climate of the time. Any stat or poll that claims to be an accurate assessment of general voting percentages is bullshit. Nor even political polls make that assumption.
However, anyone who has been around the political traps for 40 plus years can tell you that the majority of people who change their vote do so within the parameters of 'left' and 'right' political parties. Its the small percentage (up to 10% at most) who do change sides who decide the outcome.
That is what we are discussing so I suggest you stop your silly game playing.
the majority of people who change their vote do so within the parameters of 'left' and 'right' political parties.
Sorry, Anne, but this is rubbish. There is a highly mobile centrist vote (at least 20%) who regularly move between National and Labour (sometimes with NZF or another centrist party in the mix).
That's the political definition of a centrist voter – one that may vote 'right' or 'left' depending on political circumstance.
And the reason that National is a centre/right, and Labour is a centre/left party. Both know that the centrist voters are key to any election.
And another 20%+ who are not tied to any political loyalty at all. This relatively high level of voter mobility is why our political ecology has times when party votes crash.
I doubt we are too far apart on this one. I agree there is a significant group who sit around the so-called centre and are capable of moving left or right but the vast majority remain on one side of the left/right equation.
From my standpoint the so-called centre is an amorphous area where nothing happens. All the action occurs around the periphery with Labour and National taking the bulk of the support.
In theory there may be a political centre but in practice I don't really think it exists. Some people just happen to move over the dividing line depending on the way the wind happens to be blowing on the day.
But then again my standpoint may be coloured by a former career. 🙂
Well, yes, that's what democracy is.
The idiot-down-the-road's vote is worth just as much as your intelligent, politically-nuanced one.
There is no entry bar (apart from age) and no exit condition (apart from serious incarceration). There is no intelligence test, or political awareness test.
Democracy (even the variant MMP democracy) requires political parties to convince the majority of Kiwis to support their policies (or their leaders, if you subscribe to the great man/woman theory of politics). It does not demand an overwhelming consensus of the population (which would probably be unachievable)
If 51% (or whatever the MMP majority is) favours your coalition – that group of parties gets to form a government (and arm-wrestle over which policies get enacted). That is precisely what a democratically elected government is.
Yes – that15-20% of 'mobile' voters (i.e. they don't have tribal loyalty to any one party) – often the derided 'centrist' voters – are the ones who decide elections. [They are also, BTW, the ones who 'waste' votes on unelectable parties]
Indeed that is the *only* way that a government can change – if everyone was tribal – then government would never change (or at least, only generationally, as new voters graduated into the pool)
I believe that we have a civic duty to vote. But I know that view is not universally shared. People choose not to vote for a variety of reasons (everything from apathy to anarchy). And, non-voters don't affect the result.
That mobile vote swept Ardern's government into an unprecedented under MMP absolute majority government in 2020. I don't recall you complaining about democracy, then.
What alternative form of government would you like to see?
if b were to be the majority of votes, leave the last government as a care takers government for a few more month and then vote again, hopefully that would be enough time for the suited ones to come up with policies that represent the wishes and needs of the people rather then the wishes of the needs of the policy writers.
While, intellectually, I like the "none of the above" or "no confidence" option on the ballot paper. In reality, elections are hugely expensive operations – and as a taxpayer I don't really want to have any more than are truly necessary.
If people just don't care – and indicate this at the ballot – their vote hasn't changed anything. I don't feel that this is any way to encourage them to care…..
If people just don't care – and indicate this at the ballot – their vote hasn't changed anything. I don't feel that this is any way to encourage them to care…
It's about making politicians change their policy to better reflect what voters want.
Why would politicians change their policies to appeal to a group of 'don't care' politically disengaged voters?
It's only voters who are going to vote against them that matter electorally.
Under Sabine's scenario, you'd have to have somewhere around 40+% of the electorate voting 'don't care' before the result would cause a new election. I think that it would never happen….
People who care enough to vote – already have plenty of unelectable parties – effectively the spoilt vote scenario. This doesn't inspire them to vote now….
I agree with you. But at some stage we either accept the non voters as the cheap option of 'non of the above' or we find a way to include that into the voting process.
In parliament we have Yes, No, or Abstain, we should have the same right, or at least abolish 'abstain' for any vote in parliament.
People care, but they can't in good conscience vote for any of the above. It is not that their vote has not changed anything, it is that they know/feel that their vote is of no importance.
Maybe that should be addressed before we judge those that no longer want to participate in a system they feel is designed to be simply rubberstamped by voters in order to keep a sheen of legitimacy.
People care, but they can't in good conscience vote for any of the above. It is not that their vote has not changed anything, it is that they know/feel that their vote is of no importance.
I agree that this is true for some voters… some are simply completely uninterested politically at all.
However, simply having a 'no confidence' vote isn't going to inspire them – since, once again, their vote won't have changed anything.
i have never met anyone who is not interested but i have many who simply state that they don't see a difference between any of them. And that is where the political parties fail.
At some stage the failure to attract voters is a problem created by parties who expect people to vote for soundbites and not on the result of their actions.
And partisanship has also something to do with this, and frankly that is a question that some should ask themselves, how many soft voters are now nowhere to be seen thanks to a lot of vitriol coming their way for not sufficiently supporting L and their excesses.
According to twitter, they are to be replaced by the grand Grant Robertson, person beloved my some. thus no J.A effect. That card can't not be played again.
I listened to Bernard Hickey interviewing Danyl McLaughlin on the Kaka (25 mins), first on Fukuyama’s theory of vetocracy then current context here, folks becoming disillusioned with democracy due to leftist failure etc.
Around 22 mins in they got onto something else interesting: Danyl mentioned that mental health reform had failed due to govt doing suitable policy but the public service not having a clue what to do with the funding of it. He said the Infrastructure Commission issued a report to that effect – I never saw that reported in the media.
He's also a narcissistic ex-junkie who traded smack for an addiction to himself, is proud of his own ignorance, and has all the confidence that goes with a lifetime of privilege, excess, and special treatment.
Yep intelligent courageous and despite a fairly acute voice impediment articulate can speak for hours knowledgably off the cuff isnt afraid to say hes wrong or made a mistake or needs to think about something a bit more has humility and compassion [ unlike some !! ]
Yes but if you put them in jail for 5 years that is a million dollars we all have to pay.
Remember the kid has already been on electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements.
If his name becomes known he will be labelled for life-it doesn't exactly help trying to turn him into a useful member of society. Neither does slamming him inside for 5 years.
Remember the kid has already been on electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements.
It seems that the current round of offending before the courts occurred while he was on this strictly monitored bail for previous crimes…. so not very effective, was it….
At the time the man, then 18, was on bail after he was charged with an aggravated robbery, for which he was sentenced in September to home detention.
We have no evidence, either way, whether he has been charged with other crimes committed while on bail for this offence.
He committed this ram raid while on the "electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements." that you mention so a fat lot of good that was!
I believe it costs around $193k a year to keep someone in jail, but having him out in the community is costing a lot more than that.
You and Grannie completely missing the point of judges and a justice system there. What would it look like if your court of public opinion set judicial sentences on the basis of a social media story, or a done-once-over-lightly Herald article, as you are doing here? Not much need for judging then. Just rubber-stamp the writ for hanging.
Clearly the judge had reasons for their sentence that you do not know about.
Drescher says this is a crossroads for many workers, not just actors and screenwriters. She describes the industry as having changed the business model fundamentally with streaming services, while not accepting that the payment structures for creatives need renegotiating. Examples are the lack of residual payments for digital media. AI challenges the future of creatives as well.
I agree disruptor tech needs to be critiqued, challenged, and reigned in because personal profit driven people will always take advantage of artists and workers, but this industrial action is really tough on film crews, many of who are not unionised/syndicated because it’s very expensive in the US. And globally crews have zero worker protection (in NZ see the Hobbit law).
On the surface it seems incongruous for headline wealthy actors to be walking out of London premiers midway because 'they are the victims' but in a way it generates huge publicity for workers rights.
There will be real pain for ordinary film crew workers and their families because of the disruption to productions but the long view is a chance to set some real ground rules for the new era of entertainment consumption, ie streaming, AI content etc.
I went to Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny the other day and the first 20 mins shows a young Harrison Ford (he's now 81 years old). The first few shots you can tell it's CGI but after that you don't notice. A sign of things to come…
Two examples of AI used to steal from performers, in comments under this video:
Background actors who came in for a multi-day shoot did some scenes on day one, and were 3D-scanned. They were then dismissed and paid only for one day, despite being told beforehand they would be paid for use of their image and movements.
A dancer in a live show filmed for additional distribution had another face pasted over hers by AI and received no income from the distribution of the tape. Under standard condition, use of her image/performance would have needed her signed permission, with associated fee/residual payments.
It’s essential for creatives to get fair payment, as most of the 160,000 AG union members cannot support themselves on their acting work alone, and they have to cover audition and presentation costs.
Gloriavale lawyer interviewed on 3News gave the govt a roasting. He meant the departmental heads involved. Negligence, delinquent behaviour is my framing of his gist. Newshub doesn't have it onsite yet.
He's disgusted the Nat/Lab duopoly have allowed a cult to get away with slavery in Aotearoa. Correctly so, it seems. PM & ministers will look around wildly, going "We're not responsible. Just because it says so in our constitutional law doesn't mean it's true!"
Yeah, that's the one. Funny, I scanned the front page of Newshub last night & again this morning and it wasn't there…
lawyer Dennis Gates said the women shouldn't have had to go to court, rather the Government should have stepped in a long time ago to liberate them from slavery.
Thing is, his critique of Labour hinges on whether it is reasonable or not. I'm agnostic. I can see how the PM may reasonable respond "Their slavery was a matter of opinion which the court decision may have changed. I'll seek advice from our lawyers, but it may require a Supreme Court determination."
Funny, I scanned the front page of Newshub last night & again this morning and it wasn't there…
It was published last night shortly after 7 pm. With the short news cycles, news items get pushed down & off rapidly. To find an item you often have to put some effort into it and search, not simply scroll up & down the main page (aka ‘scanning’).
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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 ...
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. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
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 ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
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 ...
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The PM has been doing geopolitics. And with some finesse!
Noteworthy is the conceptual link between his second and third statements. If you comprehend his linkage, appreciate the subtlety of the nuance he's using.
Nudge theory has been influential quite a while now. Hints are a traditional part of human discourse, so nudge theory uses them as the basis for tactical influence.
Another thing worth noting about his geopolitical stance is that it deploys a paradox: we are both friend and foe to China simultaneously. Using a paradox to send a geopolitical signal to other nations is extremely sophisticated political behaviour. I wonder who's pulling his strings. Bilderbergers? Not that NATO didn't do so directly, of course, but we don't know that unless he tells us. Perhaps his dance with NATO includes a dance with the truth, in which case default Labour obfuscation could produce a dance with 7 veils. Traditional cultural play, so likely to appeal to the PM as a true conservative…
If Hipkins or any future PM wanted to do 'honest broker' work with China, he could figure out how to persuade China to get into the CPTPP.
That's an actual prize of use to all, rather than reciting endless lists of threats real or imagined.
Would be more use than Blinken popping over to China again to get his butt kicked as he is shortly on climate measures.
Yeah, you're not wrong but I'm agnostic on any updated TPP, the devil being in the detail. Speaking of which, note the warning about the devil issued by Xi's underling to Aotearoa (reported in that link above).
Ultimately God's will will prevail & since he's omnipotent and omniscient the devil will act accordingly. Theologians are always strangely quiet on this topic…
Blinken seems a typical Democrat thus far, straight out of the classic mould. No sign of him growing into the job.
Imagine if the Greens had an export policy aimed at growing wealth, not just a more-tax policy.
Nurturing a/the local fake/lab-grown meat industry… would seem to make sense..
For reasons green…for export..and to service the local market..
Anyone got any better ideas..?
Stop hiking the OCR and therefore stop encouraging the NZ$ exchange rate to increase, if you want to boost exporters. This is the fundamental basis for Germany's trade success, they have been either part of an exchange rate or monetary union which lowers their exchange rates in relation to other neighbour economies (for 40+ years). NZ is not part of such a union and as a developed economy isn't going to compete on price with other still developing economies in Asia.
Interesting. How the RB uses the OCR for leverage is fundamental to neolib economic practice & the essence of Nat/Lab common ground.
Your dissent, does it indicate an alternative ideology you can name?? If so, could be a game-changer.
I wouldn't particularly name this as any alternative ideology. I just think its important to recognize that the same kinds of politicians and commentators who are supposedly in favour of exporters are also cheering often whenever the exchange rate hits at new peek. I think only Winston Peters ever released an official policy position at any time.
Also its not exactly dissent from my point of view. I'm highlighting that NZ is not that geared up for exports primarily and doesn't really commit to that kind of policy without these kinds of contradictions anyway. NZ mostly runs current account deficits and that's fine but could do better at recognizing the effects of that.
You're on fire today Ad; it is more accurately a less-tax policy as it would result in 95% of people getting a tax cut, but you keep banging that drum, it sure distracts from what Labour have said they'll do!
Taxing unearned wealth is an incentive to "invest" in real wealth building, including export earning business, instead of speculation focused on pushing prices of existing assets into the stratosphere.
The Greens tax policy may well do more for our overall wealth, than any number of Corporate welfare (free trade agreements).
But this did not apply to The Greens wealth tax. It was going to tax farms, businesses including taxing export earning businesses.
KJT I think we need a definition of what 'real wealth building' is. I for one would have thought investing in a export businesses in shares in export businesses. Or are you meaning a growth in Govt bonds say an opportunity to invest in tied capital raising by the govt to say pay for roads or specific programmes.
This used to be a quite attractive investment for civic minded people who did not mind a slightly less than market rates, with the difference being a combination of feel good plus security of investment.
Shanreagh. Businesses, real businesses, already pay tax. I invested in business and pay tax on income at my marginal rate. This will add buggerrall to my tax apart from a few percent at the margin which Ihave no problem paying so others can live a little better.
Those that are in the business of land speculation or the "chain in the river" rental income, that takes without adding to real wealth, however. https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/13-03-2022/sunday-essay-the-chain-across-the-river “The landlords aren’t doing anything useful for that extra money. They’re just using political power to extract value from the productive economy, same as the lord chaining his river. And when the artificial scarcity of housing drives up property values then all homeowners extract rent from people trying to enter the market, who have to pay inflated prices. The quality of the housing hasn’t gone up. (The quality of our housing stock is mostly terrible.) It just costs more”.
Taxing unearned income streams such as "Capital gains tax farming" would long term have benefited farming and other businesses, by reducing the cost of land for farming, business rentals and premises, and the hemorrhaging of farm income to banks, that pays the interest on inflated land prices.
Farms are now technically loss making businesses, expecting to only make a profit when the land is sold, because their is no way farm income can cover the interest cost on the land. Leading to over stocking, soil depletion and other effects of having to cover excessive interest bills. Only the banks and finance interests gain long term.
Thanks KJT.
I'm aware that businesses pay tax.
I'm also aware that export businesses provide the lifeblood of NZ. They bring new money into the country. We (Govt) should support any business that does this. We (citizens) should be behind any Govt that recognises the important role of exporting..
I have never said or implied that land speculators are export businesses or bring new money into the economy.
I was hoping you would have had comments on the ideas of Govt Bonds being a postive mechanism for people to invest in NZ
Our Goverments have largely signed away the ability to help our export businesses, in favour of so called " free trade agreements" which have sacrificed most of our export businesses for the "sacred cow" of dairy commodity exports, which has questionable long term net benefits.
Government bonds are a legitimate way of investing in the countries future. Noting that gains on them are already taxed.
KJT, fabulous exposé on NZ's rentier capitalism. Thanks for putting that link up. All explained in a nutshell.
There is a problem with the taxing of "unrealised gains" which has still to be addressed in both the Greens and TOP's wealth tax proposals.
Noting that you get taxed on interest earned from monetary investments, and share dividends, even if you don't "realise" withdraw, the money.
It would be simpler to tax at realisation, such as inheritance or sale, and much easier to determine values. Then loopholes such as "gifting" need to be addressed.
The "family home" is another glaring loophole. Key's 10 million "family home" is just one example. I can see every child in a wealthy family with a "family home". Setting a threshold such as two million per person makes it harder to make such a loophole. A million per person automatically exempts most "family homes". Two million leaves most peoples savings untaxed.
Lastly. Reducing the huge deadweight cost and mis-directed speculation, sorry, investment, on our economy, of inflation of existing assets caused by speculation driven by unequal tax treatment, is essential for all our future.
My points exactly. Until the "unrealised gains" are crystallised by sale or inhertance it is taxing on book or notional values.
Noting that "book values" are part of our tax system already. Depreciation on business assets, for example, which is then adjusted on their sale.
Greens do allow defferral to realisation which will obviously be adjusted to actual sale prices.
What I do like is the principle.
That earnings, from owning wealth, is taxed same as income from productive work.
Adam Smith, the Capitalist guru, would agree with that one.
In fact, he believed rentiers should be taxed, not workers.
The rest is details to be ironed out when it comes into practice.
But then they'd be on the wavelength of the BlueGreens. That line of thinking was used by Guy Salmon in his book Green Tiger 30 years ago.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/123836390/proud-history-of-collaboration-for-veteran-environmentalist
He was competing with us during the early '90s – Stephen Rainbow left us, joined him & Gary Taylor to try a blue-green political party:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Green_Party_(New_Zealand)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Rainbow
If only Labour had a policy to reverse the Neo-Liberal disaster inflicted on us since 1984.
Had some hopes, but Hipkins just dashed them again, in favour of tinkering around the edges with policies NACT will reverse in a heartbeat.
Fucking gutless Labour, strikes again.
Your labels are a waste of time.
Since 2008 Labour has run a low-unemployment highly subsidised export economy, and done so better than most other OECD countries.
They have also continued to trash the environment..
And to do s.f.a. about ending poverty…
(Something j.ardern ..(with a catch in her voice)…vowed to do..eh..?)
Labour since '84…
..have been neoliberal-incrementalist..
..to their core..
chippy is just the latest do-nothing political iteration of that poxy ideology..
Given the opportunity to set policy towards a more progressive future Labour "baulked at the fence" again.
Labour has again failed to institute and defend more progressive policy.
Which makes you wonder if their heart is really in it?
When the right wing say Labour "squandered" their time in power they mean that Labour spent on people other than themselves. What Labour has really squandered is opportunity to reset the future for everyone. The only positive is that it is still better than NACT "competently" stealing our future.
I agree Ad. While I have been critical that more was not done on reversing things like the energy sell-off I accept that it would be an enormously complex undertaking.
I think the value of not being dead and also running a low unemployment model is worth megabucks. The scourge of unemployment & the move to keep high employment rates is something worth fighting for.
Rightist Govts often use rates of unemployment to crudely make progress ie to get money into their supporters hands they are willing to tolerate a higher rate of unemployment
The govts in the 80s & 90s altered the relationships and rights of workers drastically and this work by the Labour govt helps workers.
Michael Woods and his work will have a long lasting effect.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/major-step-towards-fairer-system-new-zealand-workers
Fair Pay Agreements were a 2020 Labour manifesto commitment, which we have extensively consulted on, taking a balanced approach to the final design,” Michael Wood said.
Name the subsidies, please. Film-making is the only one I can think of with overt subsidies.
Wot kjt said…
The patriarchy strikes back: https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300927567/italians-outraged-after-judge-allows-10-seconds-groping-rule
The notion that judges get it right is extremely traditional, even if crazy. So we can assume a resurgence of the patriarchy in Italy. Will it become contagious?
Macho art critics could become a thing here quite easily, eh? Those Maori carvings of erections are extremely traditional, so one can imagine the possibility of pakeha finally getting over 19th century puritanical values and embracing an iconic macho stance.
In that case, if that 17 yo grabbed and squeezed the custodian's balls for 10 seconds, then, no damage or crime either. Fair's fair.
A kick in the balls often works better though: "Yer honour, God made me do it. I'm a good catholic so I had to obey."
https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/132546099/government-admits-it-made-a-mistake-when-keeping-a-lid-on-the-carbon-price?utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=discover&utm_campaign=CCwqGQgwKhAIACoHCAowzLiSCzDT-KcDMMCV0gEwzP3uAQ&utm_content=bullets
The ets farce rolls on,
Ardern proves to have been all talk when it came to climate change action,
The ETS is a Green Party James Shaw system beginning to end.
There's no weaseling out of it.
True if you focus on the mastermind producing the design but spare a thought for the practice of responsible government – our constitutional praxis. Cabinet agreed to the policy. Therefore it is a Labour/Green solidarity position.
No need to weasel, so long as James is able to use leverage to tweak the thing. Best to point to the market failure. Neolibs are in perpetual denial when it comes to market failures even when surrounded by them. Eyes tight shut. One must get up close with a megaphone & point it at their ears and yell into it. He will have to do so.
Weasel bullshit, as useful as saying that Budget 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 is Green policy. Or any other Cabinet level decision.
Shaw has had 2 terms to make any distinction between himself and beige custard. Shaw is through and through a market-focused solution guy. Which is if course why they are solid at 8% now not crashing: they don't scare the horses. Even Hosking gives him an easy ride.
Given that the ETS was developed and introduced by the Fifth Labour Government in 2008 and James Shaw entered parliament in 2014, it certainly seems that someone's trying to weasel out of something here, but it's not the Greens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Emissions_Trading_Scheme
Oh please. James Shaw drafted the law, was and is the Minister responsible for the policy, got all sides of Parliament except Act to agree, and implemented it. Do yourself a solid and just take an ounce of responsibility.
That's just not true though.
In the 2014 Election when Shaw first entered parliament, the Greens policy was a Carbon Tax. Labour and National wanted a market, which is what they made.
‘Take the responsibility’ you say of a minister outside of cabinet. Very very normal, and not at all panicked lashing out.
Looks like Ad is differentiating between Shaw's update law & that original ETS enactment. Market failure resulted both times…
Shane Jones was Minister for Climate Change all along, apparently.
Obviously Some Other Guy praised his guidance of the Carbon Zero Act through parliament in his own Parliamentary bio.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/biography/james-shaw
And it wasn’t the Greens that were in charge of getting the legislation through Parliament at all.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20200602_20200602_20
Probably some other Minister for Climate Change being taken to court for his own scheme being inconsistent with his own carbon reduction targets.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/489579/climate-change-minister-taken-to-court-over-emissions-trading-scheme-cabinet-decision
Was obviously Some Other Guy being told by the Commission in writing how crap his own policy was under the Climate Change Response Act.
https://www.climatecommission.govt.nz/public/Advice-to-govt-docs/16-02-2023-Letter-from-Dr-Rod-Carr-to-Minister-James-Shaw-ETS-Settings.pdf
Not sure why the Greens want further Cabinet positions if they can’t take responsibility for the primary Cabinet position they wanted in the first place.
this is stupid. The Greens have limited power. If they'd had their way they would have developed a different kind of system for NZ's climate response. But they didn't have that power, so they worked with what they could.
Shaw doesn't have a magic wand to force Labour to change Labour policy nor to get GP policy implemented and it's really weird that you keep pretending that he does.
thanks for this. I never got my head around the ETS because polluter pays is a very poor form of climate action. It's my memory that the Greens had to swallow a bitter pill on the ETS because they didn't have the power to get something better through. I'd like to write a post on this, do you have any further thoughts or links? I will need to understand the scheme and the history.
I think it is a pragmatic acceptance that since both Labour and National govts maintained it, improving the existing ETS would have more permanence and therefore effectiveness.
Here's an example prior to that in 2014 when they still advocated scrapping it:
https://www.greens.org.nz/new-multi-million-dollar-bill-taxpayers-under-failed-ets
Here is James Shaw praising a rising carbon price, while also saying it is insufficient and still too low, and advocating for a carbon tax in 2016:
https://www.greens.org.nz/govt-has-opportunity-rebuild-new-zealands-carbon-market
In 2022 Shaw addressed some of the history while announcing the changes the current government made to the ETS. There is still an emphasis on a more effective pricing structure:
https://www.greens.org.nz/big_emitters_will_have_to_do_more_to_cut_emissions
There's likely more instances in news archives too.
Excellent, thank-you.
Here's the 2014 policy intro pages for the Climate Protection Plan.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200115165424/https://www.greens.org.nz/climate_protection
I can't find the full policy document, but guess it was similar to the one for teh 2017 election,
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/beachheroes/pages/9592/attachments/original/1573442488/policy-climate_protection_plan.pdf
Also useful here is the 1.2B tree planting plan, which ended up being fucked with by NZF and Labour.
@ arkie…
Boom…!
Heh..!
(Tho I have always thought the ets was a crock..)
And Labour latched onto it, and supported it, and the Greens are – other the Shaw / Davidson – no where in government.
So it may be that Shaw is the birther of the scheme, but Labour then adopted it. Labour is currently the Government with a full Majority.
There is no weaseling out of it.
This comes up when you put ETS and Labour into the Google machine.
https://www.labour.org.nz/environment
https://www.labour.org.nz/release-labours-next-steps-to-reduce-climate-emissions
or maybe Shaw was just the surrogate and Labour the buying parent. As you wish, but that shite is bi-partisan, and its Labour and their Green surrogates.
I think the talk came before the realisation….and may well be the reason for stepping aside.
The NZ ETS was not develped de novo in a vacuum. I'd say, look to trends and political pressures internationally at the time – and at which consulting firms pushed the government towards this option.
"Ardern proves to have been all talk when it came to climate change action,"
3.2 is my response
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2023/07/an-extraordinary-promise.html?m=1
Another unnecessary green party policy that'll cost more votes than it earns.
Maori are quiet capable of buying anything they want in nz, if they can raise the funds,
The biggest limiting factor is the multiple ownership modal they have on rural land limiting the ability to raise capital.
It's vitally important that left-wingers signal a virtue to everyone. It's what they were born to do. They can't be authentic without doing so! https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/suasion
Exploration is not a bad thing. Explorers have mana traditionally. Heroic adventuring into the wild Green yonder is also fun.
Love the grab-bag of RW slogans I see you sprinkle into your comments. Struggling with what idea you're trying to communicate with the slogan 'virtue signalling' here. What do you actually mean to say?
No big deal, merely irony. That you see me recycling RW slogans is perception – the accuracy of those being more to the point. Note the moral guidance of suasion. That inherent part of leftism is a valid component. It signals useful common ground and is therefore an eternal survival skill for humans.
Despite that sensibility, leftists defaulting into banality when talking at people rather than to them is a herding drift that they often use to render themselves politically impotent. I try to be helpful by pointing to it every now & then…
That is a well-argued piece from trotter…
And the green policy makes sense…
Both in righting historical wrongs..and in making economic sense ..
Giving local iwi/hapu the right of first refusal on formerly owned land they seem significant..
As trotter points out this would not be price-setting in any shape or form..
That iwi/hapu purchases would meet the market price…
What's to argue against there..?
(And I see this column was published in the otago local rag..
That'll have them clutching their pearls in unison..in the deep/racist south..)
Until it is and how can enforce it?. If they have first right of refusal, can the vendor refuse if they offer too low a price or will they have to accept any offer – or will they have to go to court to be allowed any other offer if the Iwi/hapu offer is to low, and how could that be legislated and who would enforce it.
You can hope, but then hope costs nothing and generally has no worth other then it makes one feel better for a moment until reality hits again square in the face.
What this reminds me of the Landreforms in Eastern Europe/Germany during the times of the Communists and to some extend in West Germany.
The communist Bodenreform in East Germany nationalised all private property exceeding an area of 100 hectares (247 acres), and redistributed it to publicly owned estates.[15]
On part for the refusal to pay out any damages etc is simply the understanding that you can't undo and go back to the past, and at the same time you can not burden any other new generation with the costs of the past, and that to destroy the current for the past makes no sense.
Sometimes what is done is done.
this might be a good read on that decision of the courts.
https://core.ac.uk/reader/232702770
A Bitter Inheritance: East German Real Property and the Supreme Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision of April 23, 1991 Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision of A
What are we trying to achieve here should be the first question, second would be does it benefit all or just a select few, if it only benefits a select few is it then not against the greater good for all? Or we go full Zimbabwe. That too would be an option.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform_in_Zimbabwe#:~:text=Land%20reform%20in%20Zimbabwe%20officially,superior%20political%20and%20economic%20status.
"White european colonist extracts fortune from Antipodes, retires to Europe"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/marc-ellis-on-why-hes-leaving-nz-rugbys-problems-razor-and-world-cup-concerns/CSULXAD3CRARTL3ZTHWGJ22G5A/
As I have said before, if Pakeha resent being called settlers, then they should stop behaving like it.
Don’t subscribe to the Herald.
What does Ellis say?
Moving out of where you are at retirement age (or thereabouts) to where you think you'll be happy is a basic Kiwi instinct. Call it neocolonial if you want.
Yes some go further than others and good on them.
Is this just another manifesto of Tall Poppy Syndrome and the politics of envy? Horrible whatever it is.
I have every admiration for the likes of Marc Ellis and do not begrudge him his good fortune. he was a talented sports figure, built his juice empire…….good on him.
I somehow think that an intensive updating of knowledge about the history of kiwi home ownership & its importance to Kiwi battlers from the year dot would be a good thing. Perhaps along with Civics we can get this in the school curricula.
Why is it horrible to point out that he can buy a cheaper house in Italy, that food in Italy is cheaper then here, that he feels alienated by his country? That he no longer feels welcome in his own country due to various reasons.
I mean if he were the only one leaving i would say maybe…..
but,
The net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 23,500, the highest since the October 2013 year.12/05/2023
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/migration-numbers-new-zealand-records-net-gain-of-65-000-people-but-a-large-number-of-kiwis-leaving.html#:~:text=The%20net%20migration%20loss%20of,since%20the%20October%202013%20year.
and i would like to point out that those that leave are the ones that have the skill set, the youth, the money, the connection. And to make up for it we employ lots of people from elsewhere, i guess that is the future 'settler' generation, after all they migrated here and 'settled'?
How on earth can you really justify calling someone who was born into this country a 'settler'.- I man can you even in any meaningful term define 'settler'?
Pakeha in most people mind means New Zealander born to the country not of Maori ethnicity.
Pretty much all of Maori have settlers blood in them. Who is the purest then, and at what stage can a Maori be a settler, is that like African Americans dabbling in White Supremacy?
How big is the percentage of Maori that are married to their settler overlords and have children?
The white, brown, asian children born into this country should have the right to be not insulted by being called settler (implying some sort of inherited 'oppressor' status) by people who want to feel righteous and who like to bask in the purifying light of moral supremacy. Until of course these righteous settlers are happy to leave, after all this is not heir country. And that would include anyone of us who is not sufficiently maori, and who much % of Maori must one have to be sufficiently pure? Just asking, cause as a German i can't really put my finger on it, but……..it feels vaguely familiar.
See, I don't identify as a Pakeha. I am not. I am german, born in germany, raised in the culture etc etc etc, I am like that Maori Guy that lives in my hometown with his German wife and his German/Maori son an 'expat' or an immigrant. So I really don't identify with all that settler crap that is designed to put down todays white, non maori/pi brown kids and asian kids down a nudge as an intruder of sorts.
I also have a place to go to, should that settler crap here explode and become mean as it seems to go atm, do you? Are you enough Tangata Whenua to not be considered a settler? How racially pure are you Sanctuary.
As for the tone of his reasoning for leaving, it resonates with many, and we are losing our best to OZ and any other country that will have them, to import the cheapest laborer we can find in asia. Go figure.
It is a pretty straight forward rule to me. Is your relationship with your homeland transactional or unconditional? Like all of us, Ellis won huge in the lottery of birth – the country he was born into, the genetics he was blessed with that made him a skilled athlete and the infrastructure that existed to allow to achieve his full potential. By all means, he should go and enjoy your wealth as you see fit. But a thank you and a bit of humility and love for his country would be nice, don’t you think?
NZ made him a rich man – yet his relationship remians entirely transactional and transitory and he feels the need to dump on the place before he buggers off. It is this entitled, transitory and transactional mindset that irks me and for me sets apart the settler and colonist from the native. You find few Maori who feel the need to bag the country in public, even when they migrate for better jobs or opportunites. Taika Waititi might be clear eyed enough to know NZ is "racist as" but it doesn't stop him showing his affection for the people of this land in "Hunt for the Wilderpeople".
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of Victorians and Edwardians, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in London?
You can also read it as a vote of no confidence in National and ACT though, eh? Isn't that a better way of seeing his move? Since his explanation isn't visible.
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of foreigners, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in Wanaka? 🙂
Now that is the problem, you don't ask yourself why a born and bred Kiwi, who made good money and made the country good money, leaves his comfortable life here to start a new comfortable life elsewhere. I mean the sunshine is a reason, but its not the only one.
Fact is that he is one of the few lucky that can just retire, and that will be given citizenship in Italy, as they clearly see him as a law abiding gentlemen, with his family, bringing money and a bit of prestige to a i Italian town, maybe he even coaches a youth club or something. Who knows.
What you prefer to not mention is the 25.299 others that are also leaving, Maori and 'Settler' alike, for the same reason to any country that will have them, whilst we are trying to import as cheap a laborer as we can find to make up for the shortfall.
Cheaper housing, cheaper food, better services, and hopefully no constant divide and conquer on the grounds of race, which for the most part of NZ'lers mean a mix of maori and 'settler'. That is why people leave. And you who has nothing of substance to that point say trot out your idiotic last century talking points about colonies and settlers. Mind me asking, did you get a Lolly with that critical race theory? .
Young people with education, and those with money are voting with their feet.
Highest number since 2013. That would be at John Key level. Well done Labour, you have achieve equality.
I remember hearing when young, "The party's boring, I'm going."
Which often seemed a way of saying "The party's boring, and I don't have the ability or personality to make it not boring. I'll go somewhere else where someone else will provide an environment for me that I find not boring."
Another aspect of the Mark Ellis perspective: He is like many career sports journalists who moan about rules in the game of rugby. I have yet to see one come out with their 'book of laws and rules' for the game. Whingeing from the sideline? Plenty of that. Sit down and come up with a comprehensive re-write (with some from the multitude of discontented) and use their influence and reach to try to get change? No way. It's easier to chip and run. To the backblocks, or Italy.
25 thousand people as per the current stats – the highest since 2013 are feeling that the party is boring.
Well done Labour for organizing such a boring piss up that either no one shows up in the first place or those that did leave early to other shores.
well done.
How many of those are returning offshore, After coming back for the relative safety and tax subsidised health care during covid?
Nope that was net migration outwards as per the Government.
No one is coming back really, but many leave. Heck, even the Maori leave – the young ones. Better money, healthcare, and education, houses and cheaper food. All good reasons to leave.
Migration, in most cases is driven by economic decisions, that is why people from Asia like to come here, and that is why people from here like to go to OZ or elsewhere in the search of Opportunity and wealth.
You have those that are coming into the country with spouses, but would they have migrated here if they had not married a kiwi? Chances are not.
Kiwis are migrating away from NZ in order to seek a better more affordable future elsewhere and it would behoove us all to even just consider why they do that. Rather then go in a rant about colonists coming to make holidays in the colonies or other such assorted academic bullshit.
Read here
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/migration-numbers-new-zealand-records-net-gain-of-65-000-people-but-a-large-number-of-kiwis-leaving.html#:~:text=The%20net%20migration%20loss%20of,since%20the%20October%202013%20year
Pfft. People come and people go. Not everyone gets on with their birth family, or suits the temperament of their birth culture. Some are ambitious and see better chances for themselves elsewhere. Not much point in trying to get the leavers to stay.
However, I agree that putting the boot in before you slam the door on your way out is ungracious.
I got myself into a bit of trouble with the mods yesterday using output from Chat GPT
On reflection, I think the criticism was fair enough. I asked it to produce a list of studies which I didn't bother to investigate which I should have.
But one of the big weaknesses I can see (confirmed by Chat GPT itself, asking it today) is that it is unable to access the full studies if these are not publicly available. Therefore, it may not be aware of weaknesses in those studies, or how directly applicable they are.
This probably isn't such an issue with well investigated areas, as it will be able to access relevant text books etc I suspect. But, in those areas, there probably isn't much need to ask Chat GPT anyway. Though, I think it is best to use that output as a starting point, rather than as the final word on anything.
But in more obscure areas, I think any output from Chat GPT needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Because Chat GPT seems almost omnipresent, it is easy to assume it knows everything. But, this clearly isn't the case.
This is educational for all TS commenters!
Always check what ChatGPT or similar generates. It can and does make up stuff (BS), including links. Click on the links, check that they are real, and check that the info matches the burbles generated by ChatGPT. This is critical when you are in unfamiliar topic territory (NB incorrect title, authors, publication/journal name, or date/year are signs that it was made up or at least part of it – you won’t know which part)
ChatGPT is not a magical key or wand that gets past (most) firewalls or subscriptions. If you cannot see the full text then ChatGPT cannot either. However, ChatGPT has no shame or moral handbrake on filling in the blanks and generate something plausible. (NB it sounds plausible because it is probable text based on its training set, but this does not make it correct or even accurate)
ChatGPT has an in-built bias because it was trained on a biased training set.
ChatGPT responds to your prompts; different prompts generate different burbles.
ChatGPT is a powerful tool when used correctly but it can also be a formidable weapon in the wrong hands. TS Mods will follow a hard line against misuse and abuse of AI tools for political gain, such as propagating talking points & propaganda or dumping large amounts of unchecked (and unlinked) misinformation.
This site is for robust political debate and all commenters are expected to take ownership & responsibility of their comments. TS is not a notice board or a free-for-all forum to indulge your personal pet projects with a plethora of copy-pasta and spam the site with your favourite links to your preferred sites (aka spamming or link-whoring). When you copy & paste ChatGPT burble, for example, it becomes your burble (aka your baby) and you must defend it accordingly.
The opinion of others rarely matters (much) here and you cannot hide behind the opinions or comments of others; it is considered bad-faith. In general, for the sake of robust debate, the only opinions that matter here are the ones expressed & debated by commenters (and Authors), as they are the only people who exist on this site. (NB we cannot debate with a person who’s not commenting here nor can that person explain or defend themselves if they are not active on this site – this should be as obvious as an open door)
Remember this when you use ChatGPT or similar. It will be a learning curve for all, but ignorance is not an excuse.
Apparently it's both sexist & leftist:
The style & tone modifier provided to users seems to portend a dimension of idiosyncrasy – almost whimsical potential, if you include that with the capacity to dissent from favoured views as mentioned above.
Seems likely to add a surreal dimension at the leading edge, which will seep into the mainstream in ratio to the number of users.
Currently it has 200 million users, up from 100 million in January: https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/chatgpt-number-of-users
Bing AI seems pretty decent and it gives answers with hyperlinked references. It will admit that its answers are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate
Hyperlinks are generally genuine but URLs are often bogus.
Looks like law clerks could lose part of their duties…
I wonder how long it will take till one of these gizmos gets to provide testimony on case law in court. Soon as we hear of top US legal firms using this system to expedite precedent research we'll know it won't take much longer.
'Government by swing voters". Otherwise known as "focus groups".
It is obvious that our laughable, "Representative Democracy" is going to result in policy that somewhere between 53% and 80% of voters polled, want! is being dumped in favour of policy to sway approximately 10% of voters, that will swing between Labour and National.
You've never participated in consultation or market testing before?
Might want to try it.
I don't reset my core principles by "market testing"!
It's called selling out
Pretty sad KJT but it is reality.
Up to 80% of the electorate support left or right leaning political parties. The levels of 'left' and 'right' might change but that is roughly what happens. Up to 20% 'don't know' for a variety of reasons but mostly because they don't bother to take an interest. Some of those 'don't knows' make up their minds on polling day or in the days leading up to it. The rest don't vote.
Yet 'they' are usually the ones who decide the outcome which pretty much defeats the purpose of a democratically elected government.
Pretty much confirms that any idea we have a Democracy, is illusory.
Your last point is worthwhile considering at length. Everyone ought to. Imagine if the govt set up a website called Public Opinion. Framed it to elicit feedback on current issues. Allowed crowd-sourced wisdom to tweak that framing by demand, driven by numbers dissenting in ratio to numbers favouring govt framing.
If the tech design & system worked out right, we'd all get a user interface with direct democracy. We couldn't compel the govt – but we could provide a useful simulation of the overall public mood on issues. Way better than focus groups!!
Ha! Immediately subject to capture by those politically invested in the outcome of any one vote. Not to mention the political framing of the question to start with (who gets to decide this, I wonder)
Given that we can't persuade voters to come out and cast their ballot once every 3 years – what would make you think that we could get people to invest their time more regularly? Especially after the first time, they didn't get the outcome they wanted.
Anyone who's been involved in market surveys and focus groups, knows the challenge they face to get ongoing participation…..
It seems much like governing by referendum….. And we've all seen the dubious outcomes those can generate….
Valid points but seems to me the incentive-structure does enable participatory democracy to an indicative extent. Sort of organised virtue-signalling, but in a methodica design. If you chartered a public service organisation to administer the interface, you could insert a clause in their employment contracts requiring them to design and operate it in accord with the public interest.
That kind of pragmatic consensus-generating model usually works due to the extent of common ground becoming evident to all players. It is essentially an activist-driven arena.
I'd advocate, for instance, a class-based module within the overall system, plus an identity-politics module as well, leaving it flexible enough to respond to other crowd-sourced framings too. Those to be incorporated when surpassing a threshold of activation to be consensually decided…
I think, however, you are wildly over-estimating the willingness of the general NZ public to participate. The TS commentariat is a wild outlier in terms of general political engagement.
Have you been monitoring the progress of Action Station? Since launch, I mean, around a decade or so back (I was involved in designing it prior to that). Last I noticed the membership count it was several thousand.
Unfortunately it got captured by left-wingers early but it still has leverage on politics and sometimes gets results from collective pressure that even I have been able to feel good about.
My point is that the system I propose caters for all shades of political opinion & tribalism gets relegated into holistic context.
Dennis Frank, sounds a little like Switzerland's semi-direct democracy
'Switzerland features a system of government not seen in any other nation: direct representation, sometimes called half-direct democracy (this may be arguable, because theoretically, the sovereign of Switzerland is actually its entire electorate). Referendums on the most important laws have been used since the 1848 consitution.
'Amendments to the Federal Constitution of Switzerland, the joining of international organisations, or changes to federal laws that have no foundation in the constitution but will remain in force for more than one year must be approved by the majority of both the people and the cantons, a double majority.
'Any citizen may challenge a law that has been passed by parliament. If that person is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days, a national vote has to be scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority of the voters whether to accept or reject the law.'
The cantons are parts of the federal system that have their own decision-making power.
Indeed. I recall making a similar comment on their system onsite here a while back actually. However blending it with high tech design and a user-interface seems the best way to go. I read a book called User Friendly from the library and it emphasised the role of design in operational systems, and how that could produce optimal engagement of people. Made Apple top corporation globally.
Can you support your claim of up to 80% support this. Please. I would like to see that poll or stats. Thanks.
My take on this is that 80% is way too high.
I'd say that both Labour and National have a tribal vote of around 20% (maybe a little higher) – of voters who will vote that way, regardless of what is happening to the party. We see this reflected in the election numbers when the party crashes for some reason (2002 National; 2014 Labour) They each have another 10% of 'soft' vote (usually vote Labour/National – but can jump ship for tactical reasons, or because they don't like what the party is doing).
Note this group can cross the right/left divide (e.g. 'right' voters voting for Ardern in 2020).
The GP probably has a tribal vote of 4-5%. And again another 3-4% who will usually vote Green – but can be lost to other parties (again for tactical or disenchantment reasons).
ACT might have 1% historically of tribal voters. Although if they maintain their momentum for another couple of elections – this may well shift up to the 5% mark.
NZF (i.e. Winston) historically had around 3% tribal voters. However, these have been dying off – and it's probably around 1% ATM. The bulk of the NZF vote has always been a protest one.
TPM – is really too new to say. The party in its current iteration is quite different to the earlier one – and the voter base has changed as well. Given that their election strategy is a seat-based one, rather than a party vote – it doesn't matter too much. I'd say that, like NZF, the bulk of their vote is a protest vote, rather than tribal loyalty [NB: 'tribal' in a political sense, here]
So: Around 47% of the vote is 'locked' into one party or another. Another 25% is a mobile right/left vote – which can choose to vote tactically, or be disenchanted and protest vote. Leaving around 28% of the vote being truly mobile – no particular loyalty to either right or left philosophies. The group most subject (I think) to capture by glossy policies or leaders.
Good analysis.
I know English is not your first language Sabine but do take note of what I said – "up to"!
It varies from anywhere between say 60% and 80%. Voting patterns are not static. They can vary dramatically depending on the political climate of the time. Any stat or poll that claims to be an accurate assessment of general voting percentages is bullshit. Nor even political polls make that assumption.
However, anyone who has been around the political traps for 40 plus years can tell you that the majority of people who change their vote do so within the parameters of 'left' and 'right' political parties. Its the small percentage (up to 10% at most) who do change sides who decide the outcome.
That is what we are discussing so I suggest you stop your silly game playing.
Sorry, Anne, but this is rubbish. There is a highly mobile centrist vote (at least 20%) who regularly move between National and Labour (sometimes with NZF or another centrist party in the mix).
That's the political definition of a centrist voter – one that may vote 'right' or 'left' depending on political circumstance.
And the reason that National is a centre/right, and Labour is a centre/left party. Both know that the centrist voters are key to any election.
And another 20%+ who are not tied to any political loyalty at all. This relatively high level of voter mobility is why our political ecology has times when party votes crash.
I doubt we are too far apart on this one. I agree there is a significant group who sit around the so-called centre and are capable of moving left or right but the vast majority remain on one side of the left/right equation.
From my standpoint the so-called centre is an amorphous area where nothing happens. All the action occurs around the periphery with Labour and National taking the bulk of the support.
In theory there may be a political centre but in practice I don't really think it exists. Some people just happen to move over the dividing line depending on the way the wind happens to be blowing on the day.
But then again my standpoint may be coloured by a former career. 🙂
Well, I'd have to say that you're pretty much alone in the political sphere in thinking that a group of centrist voters doesn't exist.
I know that English is not my first language in fact it is my third, but well done for remembering it Anne.
Again, please provide a link to a statistic or a poll that would support your comment of ” up to 80%” unless it is made up, or hoped for.
cheers
Well, yes, that's what democracy is.
The idiot-down-the-road's vote is worth just as much as your intelligent, politically-nuanced one.
There is no entry bar (apart from age) and no exit condition (apart from serious incarceration). There is no intelligence test, or political awareness test.
Democracy (even the variant MMP democracy) requires political parties to convince the majority of Kiwis to support their policies (or their leaders, if you subscribe to the great man/woman theory of politics). It does not demand an overwhelming consensus of the population (which would probably be unachievable)
If 51% (or whatever the MMP majority is) favours your coalition – that group of parties gets to form a government (and arm-wrestle over which policies get enacted). That is precisely what a democratically elected government is.
Yes – that15-20% of 'mobile' voters (i.e. they don't have tribal loyalty to any one party) – often the derided 'centrist' voters – are the ones who decide elections. [They are also, BTW, the ones who 'waste' votes on unelectable parties]
Indeed that is the *only* way that a government can change – if everyone was tribal – then government would never change (or at least, only generationally, as new voters graduated into the pool)
I believe that we have a civic duty to vote. But I know that view is not universally shared. People choose not to vote for a variety of reasons (everything from apathy to anarchy). And, non-voters don't affect the result.
That mobile vote swept Ardern's government into an unprecedented under MMP absolute majority government in 2020. I don't recall you complaining about democracy, then.
What alternative form of government would you like to see?
two things here,
a. make voting mandatory
b. add – non of the above
if b were to be the majority of votes, leave the last government as a care takers government for a few more month and then vote again, hopefully that would be enough time for the suited ones to come up with policies that represent the wishes and needs of the people rather then the wishes of the needs of the policy writers.
we will get neither, of course.
While, intellectually, I like the "none of the above" or "no confidence" option on the ballot paper. In reality, elections are hugely expensive operations – and as a taxpayer I don't really want to have any more than are truly necessary.
If people just don't care – and indicate this at the ballot – their vote hasn't changed anything. I don't feel that this is any way to encourage them to care…..
It's about making politicians change their policy to better reflect what voters want.
Here is a little more info on it:
Why would politicians change their policies to appeal to a group of 'don't care' politically disengaged voters?
It's only voters who are going to vote against them that matter electorally.
Under Sabine's scenario, you'd have to have somewhere around 40+% of the electorate voting 'don't care' before the result would cause a new election. I think that it would never happen….
People who care enough to vote – already have plenty of unelectable parties – effectively the spoilt vote scenario. This doesn't inspire them to vote now….
I agree with you. But at some stage we either accept the non voters as the cheap option of 'non of the above' or we find a way to include that into the voting process.
In parliament we have Yes, No, or Abstain, we should have the same right, or at least abolish 'abstain' for any vote in parliament.
People care, but they can't in good conscience vote for any of the above. It is not that their vote has not changed anything, it is that they know/feel that their vote is of no importance.
Maybe that should be addressed before we judge those that no longer want to participate in a system they feel is designed to be simply rubberstamped by voters in order to keep a sheen of legitimacy.
I agree that this is true for some voters… some are simply completely uninterested politically at all.
However, simply having a 'no confidence' vote isn't going to inspire them – since, once again, their vote won't have changed anything.
i have never met anyone who is not interested but i have many who simply state that they don't see a difference between any of them. And that is where the political parties fail.
At some stage the failure to attract voters is a problem created by parties who expect people to vote for soundbites and not on the result of their actions.
And partisanship has also something to do with this, and frankly that is a question that some should ask themselves, how many soft voters are now nowhere to be seen thanks to a lot of vitriol coming their way for not sufficiently supporting L and their excesses.
Voting is not just policies.
Question: ..
If chippys polling drops to Andrew little levels…
Signalling a rout..
Will he walk..?
And who would be his ardern to his little…?
According to twitter, they are to be replaced by the grand Grant Robertson, person beloved my some. thus no J.A effect. That card can't not be played again.
If you want to understand how a social media political marketing campign works:
Guardian Australia deconstructs how the No campaign organises its Facebook ads on The Voice referendum.
And see how cheap it is – under the $100k mark.
I listened to Bernard Hickey interviewing Danyl McLaughlin on the Kaka (25 mins), first on Fukuyama’s theory of vetocracy then current context here, folks becoming disillusioned with democracy due to leftist failure etc.
Around 22 mins in they got onto something else interesting: Danyl mentioned that mental health reform had failed due to govt doing suitable policy but the public service not having a clue what to do with the funding of it. He said the Infrastructure Commission issued a report to that effect – I never saw that reported in the media.
I know everyone always defaults to blind faith in democracy even when it fails but really folks ought to try to learn from those failures… https://thekaka.substack.com/p/matariki-special-interview-danyl#details
Jolly gd chat with JFKjr …head an shoulders over any other pres candidate imo
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGtwCvdCxxTFCkbFzHhKvRdTlSD?projector=1
Yr link just goes to google sign-in page.
Bugga sorry about that i got in the mail i guess i cant share it like that too bad its a podcast called ' All In ' four panelists + jfk
Do you mean RFK jr.? If so, he's very dangerous, as Samoa found out:
If Mehdi Hassan is going after him that just tells me the ' establishment ' thinks he's "very dangerous " as in a threat to them .
Kennedy's a killer of Samoan children.
He's also a narcissistic ex-junkie who traded smack for an addiction to himself, is proud of his own ignorance, and has all the confidence that goes with a lifetime of privilege, excess, and special treatment.
Of course you think he's …head an shoulders..
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-robert-f-kennedy-jr-distorted-vaccine-science1/
Head an shoulders etc
Yep intelligent courageous and despite a fairly acute voice impediment articulate can speak for hours knowledgably off the cuff isnt afraid to say hes wrong or made a mistake or needs to think about something a bit more has humility and compassion [ unlike some !! ]
This judge needs to be removed from the bench.
Judge says public, police and him are sick of the kid offending (last time while out on bail for previous offending).
Judge then promptly discounts sentence down to 14 months and gives him home detention and name suppression! FFS!
So he will probably be out in the public again breaking the law!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/retail-crime-almost-400-ram-raids-in-six-months-judge-tells-young-offender-the-public-have-had-enough/L7X4UDED5FB5PD74DEK7NJ5BZU/
Yes but if you put them in jail for 5 years that is a million dollars we all have to pay.
Remember the kid has already been on electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements.
If his name becomes known he will be labelled for life-it doesn't exactly help trying to turn him into a useful member of society. Neither does slamming him inside for 5 years.
A million? More like $600,000. Either way, probably a bargain considering the havoc he may cause before his short brutish life comes to an end.
It seems that the current round of offending before the courts occurred while he was on this strictly monitored bail for previous crimes…. so not very effective, was it….
We have no evidence, either way, whether he has been charged with other crimes committed while on bail for this offence.
He committed this ram raid while on the "electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements." that you mention so a fat lot of good that was!
I believe it costs around $193k a year to keep someone in jail, but having him out in the community is costing a lot more than that.
You and Grannie completely missing the point of judges and a justice system there. What would it look like if your court of public opinion set judicial sentences on the basis of a social media story, or a done-once-over-lightly Herald article, as you are doing here? Not much need for judging then. Just rubber-stamp the writ for hanging.
Clearly the judge had reasons for their sentence that you do not know about.
The kid was doing the ram raid while out on bail! Do you really think being on home D he will not commit another crime?
https://twitter.com/HaydenDonnell/status/1679349333416906752
Fran Drescher, Actors Guild negotiator with entertainment bosses, rallies union members in strike action.
Guardian article and Drescher's speech
Drescher says this is a crossroads for many workers, not just actors and screenwriters. She describes the industry as having changed the business model fundamentally with streaming services, while not accepting that the payment structures for creatives need renegotiating. Examples are the lack of residual payments for digital media. AI challenges the future of creatives as well.
I agree disruptor tech needs to be critiqued, challenged, and reigned in because personal profit driven people will always take advantage of artists and workers, but this industrial action is really tough on film crews, many of who are not unionised/syndicated because it’s very expensive in the US. And globally crews have zero worker protection (in NZ see the Hobbit law).
On the surface it seems incongruous for headline wealthy actors to be walking out of London premiers midway because 'they are the victims' but in a way it generates huge publicity for workers rights.
There will be real pain for ordinary film crew workers and their families because of the disruption to productions but the long view is a chance to set some real ground rules for the new era of entertainment consumption, ie streaming, AI content etc.
I went to Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny the other day and the first 20 mins shows a young Harrison Ford (he's now 81 years old). The first few shots you can tell it's CGI but after that you don't notice. A sign of things to come…
MSNBC interviews Drescher in more detail
Two examples of AI used to steal from performers, in comments under this video:
It’s essential for creatives to get fair payment, as most of the 160,000 AG union members cannot support themselves on their acting work alone, and they have to cover audition and presentation costs.
Gloriavale lawyer interviewed on 3News gave the govt a roasting. He meant the departmental heads involved. Negligence, delinquent behaviour is my framing of his gist. Newshub doesn't have it onsite yet.
He's disgusted the Nat/Lab duopoly have allowed a cult to get away with slavery in Aotearoa. Correctly so, it seems. PM & ministers will look around wildly, going "We're not responsible. Just because it says so in our constitutional law doesn't mean it's true!"
[Link required]
Newshub haven't posted it yet.
Is this the interview?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/07/lawyer-for-gloriavale-six-takes-aim-at-govt-in-anger.html
It was posted yesterday.
Yeah, that's the one. Funny, I scanned the front page of Newshub last night & again this morning and it wasn't there…
Thing is, his critique of Labour hinges on whether it is reasonable or not. I'm agnostic. I can see how the PM may reasonable respond "Their slavery was a matter of opinion which the court decision may have changed. I'll seek advice from our lawyers, but it may require a Supreme Court determination."
It was published last night shortly after 7 pm. With the short news cycles, news items get pushed down & off rapidly. To find an item you often have to put some effort into it and search, not simply scroll up & down the main page (aka ‘scanning’).
The onus was on you to put the effort into it.
onus
Then why don't you apply the same standard to all the other commentators onsite here who regularly post about the news without links??
I do, when I spot them and have time to respond, e.g., https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-06-2023/#comment-1955332 and https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-12-07-2023/#comment-1959454.
Why are you behaving as a belligerent little child?
debunking conspiracies aotearoa hosts spiderhoof's tiktok of National's debt blowout on the back of election promises in their last government.
View The debt… tiktok.