John Key’s New Zealand.
People living in cars, garages, in cold mouldy houses and on the street.
Children go to school without food.
Our suicide rates, imprisonment rates, domestic abuse rates, obesity and levels of inequality soars.
Unemployment levels rise.
Debt levels keep climbing.
Housing both owned and rented becomes unaffordable to more and more people.
Meanwhile our corrupt and venal ruling class, led by an ex banker Key, takes the side of the global uber rich against the interests of NZ citizens.
What an ugly, selfish and cruel place we have become.
I don’t think Winz has Security guards at the door to keep people with weapons out. More likely the people trying to access all this HELP that Mr Key is confident that Winz is just waiting there to immediately assist. He would be “very surprised”!!! if Winz didn’t do this. I would be BLOODY AMAZED and SHOCKED! if they DID.
The Salvation Army and the Mangere Budgeting Service say the government can’t continue to ignore the growing numbers of people forced to live in cars, shipping containers and garages.
Of course it can. National have been ignoring poverty for decades now and haven’t lost a wink of sleep over it.
“People are sort of halving their garage and having one family on one side of the garage, and another family on the other. These are the sorts of situations that are now emerging in this housing crisis,” he said.
And probably charging a pretty penny for it as well.
Speaking to Morning Report today, Prime Minister John Key said it was not acceptable that people were living in cars or under bridges.
Mr Key said people in those circumstances should seek help from Work and Income.
He said he would be amazed if the agency left people living in cars, particularly if children were involved.
Says all the right words while putting in place policies that prevent that from actually happening.
Mr Key said the government was doing what it could to help people in housing difficulty…
Yeah, like kicking people off of benefits for no reason whatsoever.
Mr Key said the government’s approach, including encouraging community groups to provide housing, would help.
Well, I suppose that it will help a few rich people get richer. Won’t help the people actually in trouble though.
$1.2 billion of state money is apparently going to private landlords to house poor people in often poor housing. A lot of good quality state and public housing could be built or renovated with that money. With some firm regulations to keep rents down we could house everyone well again. This has happened in the past in NZ so could be done again.
I was appalled at Nick Smiths arrogance and denial on the weekend political shows. Especially so in light of the damning footage of people living in cars and the proliferation of families living in garages. The human cost especially for the kids brought up in those situations must be horrendous. Not the New Zealand I ever thought id see.
It seems his Namesake in Kaikoura is afflicted with a similar dose of arrogance.
“Smith said he had visited various social agencies around Blenheim but had not spent time at John’s Kitchen. He said he had a full diary and had no plans to visit the Blenheim social service.”
Just like Todd Barclay. Another arrogant and entitled Nat in a safe rural seat.
I see Winston is taking it to the Nats with a public meeting in Gore next week. I think they smell blood with Barclay. Maybe he should stop in at Kaikoura on the way home.
A 17 minute video which does a really good job of summing up what happening in USA. I’d suggest you skip across the clapping part at start and get into the real meat of the topic Abby Martin is talking about.
Like her observation that Bernie Sanders, for all the criticism that anyone may want to throw at him, has taken the essential message of Occupy: the sentiment the mainstream wanted to shut down and shut out – and he’s taken it right into the heart of the mainstream.
I have real problems with Sanders, but when Abby said that – I thought she is right. And I think the longer Sanders keeps in the race, the more the message will sink in.
17 more attack pieces on Sanders in the New York Journal last week. That is 16 more than against Trump. So he must be doing something right.
Is there a market in NZ for an Abby Martin or a Bernie Sanders? Andrew could maybe but where could he get a forum? TV? Radio? Newspaper? Live audience? With the News tied up by the Right and a well oiled machine to undermine alternative voices how can we get such a message as Abby’s out there? Oh Dear!
We have voices like Abby Martin. Did you forget you were commenting on an alternative news source ianmac.
The idea is not to despair. Indeed, voices are being heard. Ideas are out there. It’s not all about the labour party.
We have a voice, we only have this system, because we let it happen. And the more people react around the globe, slowly but surly people here will get the message too.
Because tax cut, and the free market are not delivering freedom and liberty for all.
Not sure what you mean by alternative news source though. We are interested so we click “play”, but can you imagine Puckish Rogue or Matthew Hooton clicking on?
You may have noticed I don’t read much NZ news, a few links from here. For me it’s the evening report, and scoop every-other day. I just don’t do the so call MSM or as I call them, the corporate media.
I read a lot of international news, and that take on NZ is rather different. Actually, I find it funny when I read the likes of Puckish and others, they have no idea what the rest of the world thinks. And seem to enjoy it that way.
I don’t care what Puckish or Hooten click or not. I’m more interested in a informed, engaged, hopeful, and democratic readership.
The point is that many of us on the “Left” are sympathetic to the urgency for a fair and inclusive society, but this does not reach the PRs or the Hootens. The Key believers who I know are allergic to any such talk. So the question is still how do we engage at least “middle” swinging voters?
“Prime Minister John Key has signalled National will campaign in 2017 on a $3 billion package of tax cuts.”
English says not likely. Key says yes.
See what they are doing? Testing the waters since tax cuts benefit mostly the rich, it may not be politic to actually deliver more tax cuts for the rich.
Yeah – I’ve just read that as well. Today’s Herald online. You think they”re testing the waters, ianmac ? Maybe they are.
Or maybe they’re preparing everyone for a big fudging of the country’s economy (ie hey we have a surplus, we can now give that away to our voters !) Whichever it is, I’m pretty sure we’re going to see some big pork barrel politics rolled out next year.
Yuk ! and it’ll be very grubby …….
I think Jenny, that previous tax cuts were seen as good for the rich and the Middle-poor saw it as pretty mean. So they are careful this time to make sure that it is their supporters who are happy. Litmus test?
I am attracted to the notion that the gov create money to say build state houses, and then use the income to help repay the notional debt.
Keeps the bankers out of the cycle too.
“A frantic backlash has followed a remark by London’s ex-mayor, Boris Johnson, who said modern EU bureaucracy pursues the same goals as previous European “integrators” Napoleon and Hitler did and thus creates a “massive democratic void.”…
At the moment, the cost of getting electricity from the source to the consumer is spread evenly….regardless of where you live.
This is about to change….
“Based on all the signals from the Electricity Authority to date, I am picking that the Transmission Pricing Methodology will go significantly towards a beneficiary-pays approach rather than a one-price-for-everyone that is in place at the moment,” he said.
“It is likely to produce much more efficient investments in transmission assets over time.”
In its proposal last June, the authority estimated some power bills would fall and some stay the same. However Auckland and Northland would pay 4.5 percent more and the Far North and the West Coast 10 percent more.”
OK…so power users are now “beneficiaries” and those “beneficiaries” living in two of the most economically challenged areas of New Zealand will be paying 10% more for transmission charges.
Consumers in the Far North already pay eye watering power bills…
Marlborough had its own dam to supply much of our electricity, but under the Bradford reforms small dams such as ours were instead given to the main grid. Our daily line charge is $1.99 per day or $61.69 per month. In the city I believe it is far less per day.
So I think the line charges will increase under the User Pays plan that the Electricity Authority is looking for. And those in the country at the end of a line will pay more. Great for Dairy farms?
Ouch dv. Recently I changed from my $1.99 per day to 33cents per day by signing up as a Low User. We pay more per Kw @ 33cents per kw. But as long as we stay under 8,000 kw per year we gain on the deal. ie 22kw per day is the break even point.
I read somewhere yesterday that a person working for a provider (Mercury?) was told to avoid offering Low User and try to divert customers onto different contract. Mmm.
Maybe that was because they are trying to protect people who sign up for the low rate getting pummeled when they go over the limit. It’s not going to be suitable for most customers with families.
User pays strikes again by pushing the price up. More profits for the already rich sourced from the most impoverished.
You’d almost think that the government was trying to push people out of those places by making it so that the people already there can’t afford to live there. Is this about cleaning out the impoverished from desirable areas to make way for the uber rich that NZs becoming a bolt-hole for?
It’s the opposite. It is passing costs on to those that are not located close to power sources. That should advantage many regional consumers and businesses who live close to power sources. This is good for most places except Auckland north. The west coast would be better off if they had managed to be allowed to build the hydro schemes they wanted
Wow. Do you actually read the tripe that you write?
Advantaging people who live closer to power supply than those that live further away pushes people who live further away to move closer thus causing those regional towns to close down, to become Zombie Towns.
Most of the so called zombie towns are closer to power supplies than Auckland . So cheaper power would (in theory) help make them more attractive and less zombie like.
You want to deny much of regional NZ the benefit of lower power costs by forcing them to pay the same as wealthy aucklanders
As it is if there’s any subsidies, and I doubt if there are, it will be from Auckland to the rest of the country. If this change goes ahead then there really will be subsidies – from the rest of the country to Auckland as the rest of the countries prices go up – especially those in poorer areas.
At a national level it really doesn’t cost any more to maintain the lines in Northland than in Auckland. Charging some areas more and some areas less isn’t about economics or incentives but about making more profit for the lines companies/generators.
At a national level it really doesn’t cost any more to maintain the lines in Northland than in Auckland.
Maybe not (although I suspect there’s more in the way of tree trimming and suchlike in rural areas, and farther travel times for the crews).
However, the cost of getting the power from the source to the local 240V area would vary wildly according to distance (both in maintenance and power loss), durability, and accessibility.
You’re wrong. We are talking about the relative cost of shifting power from a generator to a consumer. It is in fact a lot more expensive to build 100km of power line than it is to build 50km.
Auckland has no substantial power plants nearby except Huntley, which doesn’t run all the time and is reducing output. So Auckland’s power has to travel a lot further than say Dunedin’s. You also get greater line losses. Yet Dunedin power companies are basically charged the same per mw as Auckland power companies and for no other reason than it’s easier.
It is not in the interest of the lines companies to promote a distributed renewable generation model and they have by anti-competitive and pricing models held the inevitable move to such a system back for as long as they could . now the end game begins
It is in fact a lot more expensive to build 100km of power line than it is to build 50km.
Good job I didn’t say build then isn’t it.
Yet Dunedin power companies are basically charged the same per mw as Auckland power companies and for no other reason than it’s easier.
And fairer considering that we all paid to build the infrastructure equally.
Splitting things up like this actually breaks the economy and the scale that building nationally produces. That’s what we’ve been seeing for the last thirty years and why things keep getting more expensive.
You cant just maintain the grid you sometimes have to build new stuff. Just recently 470m was spent on new lines in auckland. Another billion was spent on lines to Auckland. All this gets paid for by consumers. Your method makes it much more expensive because there is no pressure to keep down costs. If aucklanders were faced with fully funding the infrastructure they benefit from, they might have gone for less costly options. Remember much of this new investment was the result of socialized transpowwer not actually maintaining the network adequately.
Yeah, but do you appreciate the factors involved – distance, voltage, conductor size, equipment sizing, selection and siting, workmanship, power factor, unbalanced/unequal phase/load distribution, leakage, overloading, abnormal operating conditions – and that’s only transmission.
And to my mind, a better system would be to require those that use over a standard amount – a higher usage charge.
I remember a few years ago, hearing that some households have a power bill of over $700/wk. This usage reflected the need to keep the pool heated, the landscaping lights on, the multiple power vampire appliances on standby.
At the time, a discussion was being had regarding the necessity to upgrade the power infrastructure. I thought then – and I still do – that charges (like taxes) should be progressive, if you are using significantly more than a standard amount for the number of people living in your household then you pay a higher usage charge.
Yep. Nationalised power generation and reticulation. Each household/business gets a set amount per month free (fully covered by taxes) which is enough to run a household on and after that they get charged and as they use more they get charged more per kilowatt.
This implements actual supply and demand. The people who demand more pay more. As it is we actually have it around the other way with those who demand more paying less per unit. This incentivises incredibly poor economics.
I think National are in deep trouble and are becomingly increasingly desperate.
Key’s “ejection” from debating chamber, Matt Hooton’s “deeply “sanitised column, and now “look here, tax cuts” are panic responses to the current mess.
NZers are not happy at links to corruption and the smirching of our country’s reputation. More principled conservatives are uneasy.
The TPP ram-it-through-as-quickly-as-possible approach is not going down well, the housing situation is beyond crisis and younger people are becoming more politised as they see their future being affected detrimentally by poor current political choices.
Parata’s school funding changes will probably initiate a revolt…all good!
Well it is possible that National are in deep trouble I don’t think they are, they certainly would have been had the Panama Papers come up with anything substantial but as it is its reinforced the notion that Labour are crying wolf and, surprisingly to my mind at least, that the Greens are more level headed of the opposition
I suspect that the worries you share are not shared with the voting public however as its my own opinion I may well be wrong so, unfortunately, we’ll just have to wait for the next opinion polls to come out
I think it’ll be bad news for Labour, minor negative news for National, good news for Winston First and minor positive news for the Greens in that whatever voted National loses will go to Winston and some of what Labour loses will go to the Greens
The first time the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement was brought before Whanganui District Council, it sparked a walkout……..
The TPP will be back before council this month when the local authority will again be asked to consider the impact the 12-nation deal will have on its business.
TPPA Action Whanganui has made a submission to the annual plan, asking council to consider a range of areas it believes to be threatened by the agreement.
Among the action group’s concerns are the council’s ability to control water rights, to procure work from local businesses and its support of iwi rights.
“The demands of the TPP threaten all of the above and council needs to do its homework and plan to put measures in place, removing all present weaknesses around these matters before possible ratification of the TPP,” spokeswoman Denise Lockett said. She believed some council business would be undermined by the trade agreement and urged council to fight to retain its decision-making power.
According to the Director General of the UN office in Geneva, the number one reason people leave Syria is not to escape war, it’s to find educational opportunities for their vast numbers of children – well their solution is really simple: stop mindless shooting, build your own universities, and work hard to pay for them like we in the West do – simple really. Pretending to be refugees to come and mooch off people in the West is just not on. Thanks for finally telling us the truth Mr Moller! The people of the West don’t appreciate being lied to over and over again! http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/refugee-crisis-facts-un-michael-moller_uk_5734277ee4b01359f6866db0
Someone whos whole career is built on quack medicine ( unless he one of the few who do follow more mainstream ideas) will always pluck unsupported views out of the ether.
Its a common error to confuse weather with climate.
For Dunedin http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/dunedin
Monthy highest for April is 25 , historical average 24….. yyawn nothing to see but chooks flapping their wings who will never fly
Perhaps you could give the temperature data for your location to show the Dunedin numbers are against the trend.
NZ long term trend is 1C per century. Thats what its called baby, global warming.
So you arent with the medical community who believe most chiropractric is modern quackery ?
And mum or dad gets angry and mouthy under the pressure of it when they’re basically told to go away and come back in three weeks once they’ve seen the budgeter – for whom there’s actually a month long waiting list anyway.
“Oh well……trespass notice for you if you can’t behave !”
More in the narrative – “These people are scum who’ve done it to themselves !”
Theres room here for Labour, I need them to be the opposite of National before they get my vote, also imagine debating National on this with a Nat trying to justify homelessness. Like we saw with Key defending not paying tax (“if you are a Mexican worried about your countries inheritance laws”), they look weak & out of touch.
Why? Your post concerned climate change. I observed that Labour has nothing in the way of policy to deal with the issue. Is criticism of Labour fobidden on this site then?
[lprent: No – read the policy. Idiots who are just trolling lines written by a PR wanker and who don’t say anything worth reading are. If you’d have been serious then you would have pointed that out, and have been pointed to those really easy to google links like this page. It took me all of 10 seconds to find.
Banned for one week.
I figure that with your obviously piss-poor comprehension levels this will should hopefully be enough time to read the site policy. However if you get stuck on the big words – like policy and self-martyrdom, then I suggest you consult a dictionary. (Drat that may be beyond a trolls comprehension).
It is a book or a website that defines words.
Try this word as a test and clear description of you – “dickhead” ]
“You want a running mate who can take the fight to the other side with relish,” said a Clinton veteran. “Geography doesn’t matter, but attitude and talent and energy and bringing excitement to the campaign, Senator Warren does all that.”
In many ways, a Warren pick makes perfect sense. She’s widely respected and admired for her anti-Wall Street crusades, and she is already playing a lead role in the Democratic fight against Trump on social media. As a hero to many of the same people who currently support Clinton’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, her presence in the Clinton campaign could help unite the party. And she would bring extra firepower to what is sure to be a brutal general election.
There’s just one problem: She’s a woman. Is a presidential ticket big enough for two of them?
For voters who are already uneasy about the prospect of a woman in the White House (hint: mostly white men), a Warren addition might be the final straw. They’d go Trump for good. But it seems unlikely that those who pine for the days of Mad Men were going to vote for Clinton anyway. And some argue that Clinton doesn’t really need more white men, as they’re a declining portion of the electorate.
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Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
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This cartoon by Sharon Murdoch is brilliant and sums up the government’s attitude to New Zealand and the super rich.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CicjGnrU4AAp7t9.jpg:large
John Key’s New Zealand.
People living in cars, garages, in cold mouldy houses and on the street.
Children go to school without food.
Our suicide rates, imprisonment rates, domestic abuse rates, obesity and levels of inequality soars.
Unemployment levels rise.
Debt levels keep climbing.
Housing both owned and rented becomes unaffordable to more and more people.
Meanwhile our corrupt and venal ruling class, led by an ex banker Key, takes the side of the global uber rich against the interests of NZ citizens.
What an ugly, selfish and cruel place we have become.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/303946/auckland-housing-'we've-lost-the-plot‘
According to key on henry the cause of people living in cars is because we aren’t hard enough on moving people out of housing nz houses.
Ah, the merry go round approach. They’re using it for benefits and jobs so why not housing?
PM says, “contact Work and Income”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80013933/prime-minister-john-key-says-homeless-families-should-contact-work-and-income
A cynical response.
What a repulsive man.
I don’t think Winz has Security guards at the door to keep people with weapons out. More likely the people trying to access all this HELP that Mr Key is confident that Winz is just waiting there to immediately assist. He would be “very surprised”!!! if Winz didn’t do this. I would be BLOODY AMAZED and SHOCKED! if they DID.
+1
Yeah, I’d be very surprised if the homeless man had ID to get past the guard.
@Paul, Ugly Selfish & Cruel sums it up . I am reminded of NZ in the days of John A Lee as described in ‘Children of the Poor’ sad and disgusting.
Of course it can. National have been ignoring poverty for decades now and haven’t lost a wink of sleep over it.
And probably charging a pretty penny for it as well.
Says all the right words while putting in place policies that prevent that from actually happening.
Yeah, like kicking people off of benefits for no reason whatsoever.
Well, I suppose that it will help a few rich people get richer. Won’t help the people actually in trouble though.
$1.2 billion of state money is apparently going to private landlords to house poor people in often poor housing. A lot of good quality state and public housing could be built or renovated with that money. With some firm regulations to keep rents down we could house everyone well again. This has happened in the past in NZ so could be done again.
It is probably higher than that. Amounts over AS limits are picked up by TAS.
I was appalled at Nick Smiths arrogance and denial on the weekend political shows. Especially so in light of the damning footage of people living in cars and the proliferation of families living in garages. The human cost especially for the kids brought up in those situations must be horrendous. Not the New Zealand I ever thought id see.
It seems his Namesake in Kaikoura is afflicted with a similar dose of arrogance.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/79943215/johns-kitchen-coordinator-janette-walker-labels-kaikoura-mp-stuart-smith-out-of-touch
No wonder he is too busy to attend to his constituents issues, he has been too busy spruiking baby formula for Chinese donors to the National Party.
Cowboy Agreed what a waste of space he is.
Crooked, amoral bastards !
(1) Deny, deny, deny the problem…..
(2) Belatedly acknowledge we’ve lost our way…..
(3) Declare that kids living in cars is not OK…..
(4) Mock-earnestly wank on about what must be done…..
(5) Borrow $3 billion for tax cuts to buy votes 2017…..
(6) 2018 – “What’s that you say, children living in cars ?”
From the top, altogether now, (1)…..(2)…..(3) etc etc etc.
Crooked, amoral bastards ! They simply do not care…..
Stuart Smith National MP……arrogant pig !
“Smith said he had visited various social agencies around Blenheim but had not spent time at John’s Kitchen. He said he had a full diary and had no plans to visit the Blenheim social service.”
Just like Todd Barclay. Another arrogant and entitled Nat in a safe rural seat.
I see Winston is taking it to the Nats with a public meeting in Gore next week. I think they smell blood with Barclay. Maybe he should stop in at Kaikoura on the way home.
Someone is making a bunch of money “decontaminating” state houses that’s for sure.
A 17 minute video which does a really good job of summing up what happening in USA. I’d suggest you skip across the clapping part at start and get into the real meat of the topic Abby Martin is talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbEUsFxcdpo
Like her observation that Bernie Sanders, for all the criticism that anyone may want to throw at him, has taken the essential message of Occupy: the sentiment the mainstream wanted to shut down and shut out – and he’s taken it right into the heart of the mainstream.
I think that’s true.
I have real problems with Sanders, but when Abby said that – I thought she is right. And I think the longer Sanders keeps in the race, the more the message will sink in.
17 more attack pieces on Sanders in the New York Journal last week. That is 16 more than against Trump. So he must be doing something right.
Is there a market in NZ for an Abby Martin or a Bernie Sanders? Andrew could maybe but where could he get a forum? TV? Radio? Newspaper? Live audience? With the News tied up by the Right and a well oiled machine to undermine alternative voices how can we get such a message as Abby’s out there? Oh Dear!
We have voices like Abby Martin. Did you forget you were commenting on an alternative news source ianmac.
The idea is not to despair. Indeed, voices are being heard. Ideas are out there. It’s not all about the labour party.
We have a voice, we only have this system, because we let it happen. And the more people react around the globe, slowly but surly people here will get the message too.
Because tax cut, and the free market are not delivering freedom and liberty for all.
Not sure what you mean by alternative news source though. We are interested so we click “play”, but can you imagine Puckish Rogue or Matthew Hooton clicking on?
You may have noticed I don’t read much NZ news, a few links from here. For me it’s the evening report, and scoop every-other day. I just don’t do the so call MSM or as I call them, the corporate media.
I read a lot of international news, and that take on NZ is rather different. Actually, I find it funny when I read the likes of Puckish and others, they have no idea what the rest of the world thinks. And seem to enjoy it that way.
I don’t care what Puckish or Hooten click or not. I’m more interested in a informed, engaged, hopeful, and democratic readership.
The point is that many of us on the “Left” are sympathetic to the urgency for a fair and inclusive society, but this does not reach the PRs or the Hootens. The Key believers who I know are allergic to any such talk. So the question is still how do we engage at least “middle” swinging voters?
“Prime Minister John Key has signalled National will campaign in 2017 on a $3 billion package of tax cuts.”
English says not likely. Key says yes.
See what they are doing? Testing the waters since tax cuts benefit mostly the rich, it may not be politic to actually deliver more tax cuts for the rich.
Yeah – I’ve just read that as well. Today’s Herald online. You think they”re testing the waters, ianmac ? Maybe they are.
Or maybe they’re preparing everyone for a big fudging of the country’s economy (ie hey we have a surplus, we can now give that away to our voters !) Whichever it is, I’m pretty sure we’re going to see some big pork barrel politics rolled out next year.
Yuk ! and it’ll be very grubby …….
So even less for the unemployed , abused women, mental health, schools, hospitals, the poor, the vulnerable……
Ugly, selfish, cruel.
2016 New Zealand.
+1
I think Jenny, that previous tax cuts were seen as good for the rich and the Middle-poor saw it as pretty mean. So they are careful this time to make sure that it is their supporters who are happy. Litmus test?
Mean while national debt
NZ$ 116,890,480,060
Interest
5,577,213,742 per year
And if the government simply created the money that it needs then that interest bill would disappear.
Yes.
I am attracted to the notion that the gov create money to say build state houses, and then use the income to help repay the notional debt.
Keeps the bankers out of the cycle too.
Worked well for the first Labour government.
Labour Social credit coalition.
Yes!!
Another distraction.
It will be if you vote for us deal just before the election their will be cuts to get more wait till after the election.
‘Boris Johnson likens EU drive for ‘superstate’ to Hitler’s, prompts shower of anger’
https://www.rt.com/uk/343090-johnson-eu-hitler-napoleon/
“A frantic backlash has followed a remark by London’s ex-mayor, Boris Johnson, who said modern EU bureaucracy pursues the same goals as previous European “integrators” Napoleon and Hitler did and thus creates a “massive democratic void.”…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/303970/electricity-industry-shake-up-on-the-cards
At the moment, the cost of getting electricity from the source to the consumer is spread evenly….regardless of where you live.
This is about to change….
“Based on all the signals from the Electricity Authority to date, I am picking that the Transmission Pricing Methodology will go significantly towards a beneficiary-pays approach rather than a one-price-for-everyone that is in place at the moment,” he said.
“It is likely to produce much more efficient investments in transmission assets over time.”
In its proposal last June, the authority estimated some power bills would fall and some stay the same. However Auckland and Northland would pay 4.5 percent more and the Far North and the West Coast 10 percent more.”
OK…so power users are now “beneficiaries” and those “beneficiaries” living in two of the most economically challenged areas of New Zealand will be paying 10% more for transmission charges.
Consumers in the Far North already pay eye watering power bills…
Marlborough had its own dam to supply much of our electricity, but under the Bradford reforms small dams such as ours were instead given to the main grid. Our daily line charge is $1.99 per day or $61.69 per month. In the city I believe it is far less per day.
So I think the line charges will increase under the User Pays plan that the Electricity Authority is looking for. And those in the country at the end of a line will pay more. Great for Dairy farms?
Our charge is $2.18 per day in city.
Ouch dv. Recently I changed from my $1.99 per day to 33cents per day by signing up as a Low User. We pay more per Kw @ 33cents per kw. But as long as we stay under 8,000 kw per year we gain on the deal. ie 22kw per day is the break even point.
I read somewhere yesterday that a person working for a provider (Mercury?) was told to avoid offering Low User and try to divert customers onto different contract. Mmm.
Damn I hadn’t noticed till I noticed!!!
Maybe that was because they are trying to protect people who sign up for the low rate getting pummeled when they go over the limit. It’s not going to be suitable for most customers with families.
User pays strikes again by pushing the price up. More profits for the already rich sourced from the most impoverished.
You’d almost think that the government was trying to push people out of those places by making it so that the people already there can’t afford to live there. Is this about cleaning out the impoverished from desirable areas to make way for the uber rich that NZs becoming a bolt-hole for?
Straight out of the “How To Make a Zombie Town” manual.
But the opportunity is there for those towns to get out of the system entirely, via schemes such as the Blueskin Power Co-operative.
It’s the opposite. It is passing costs on to those that are not located close to power sources. That should advantage many regional consumers and businesses who live close to power sources. This is good for most places except Auckland north. The west coast would be better off if they had managed to be allowed to build the hydro schemes they wanted
Wow. Do you actually read the tripe that you write?
Advantaging people who live closer to power supply than those that live further away pushes people who live further away to move closer thus causing those regional towns to close down, to become Zombie Towns.
Most of the so called zombie towns are closer to power supplies than Auckland . So cheaper power would (in theory) help make them more attractive and less zombie like.
You want to deny much of regional NZ the benefit of lower power costs by forcing them to pay the same as wealthy aucklanders
So you think that relatively rich Auckland should be subsidised by relatively poor Dunedin?
As it is if there’s any subsidies, and I doubt if there are, it will be from Auckland to the rest of the country. If this change goes ahead then there really will be subsidies – from the rest of the country to Auckland as the rest of the countries prices go up – especially those in poorer areas.
At a national level it really doesn’t cost any more to maintain the lines in Northland than in Auckland. Charging some areas more and some areas less isn’t about economics or incentives but about making more profit for the lines companies/generators.
Maybe not (although I suspect there’s more in the way of tree trimming and suchlike in rural areas, and farther travel times for the crews).
However, the cost of getting the power from the source to the local 240V area would vary wildly according to distance (both in maintenance and power loss), durability, and accessibility.
You’re wrong. We are talking about the relative cost of shifting power from a generator to a consumer. It is in fact a lot more expensive to build 100km of power line than it is to build 50km.
Auckland has no substantial power plants nearby except Huntley, which doesn’t run all the time and is reducing output. So Auckland’s power has to travel a lot further than say Dunedin’s. You also get greater line losses. Yet Dunedin power companies are basically charged the same per mw as Auckland power companies and for no other reason than it’s easier.
It is not in the interest of the lines companies to promote a distributed renewable generation model and they have by anti-competitive and pricing models held the inevitable move to such a system back for as long as they could . now the end game begins
Good job I didn’t say build then isn’t it.
And fairer considering that we all paid to build the infrastructure equally.
Splitting things up like this actually breaks the economy and the scale that building nationally produces. That’s what we’ve been seeing for the last thirty years and why things keep getting more expensive.
You cant just maintain the grid you sometimes have to build new stuff. Just recently 470m was spent on new lines in auckland. Another billion was spent on lines to Auckland. All this gets paid for by consumers. Your method makes it much more expensive because there is no pressure to keep down costs. If aucklanders were faced with fully funding the infrastructure they benefit from, they might have gone for less costly options. Remember much of this new investment was the result of socialized transpowwer not actually maintaining the network adequately.
Yeah, but do you appreciate the factors involved – distance, voltage, conductor size, equipment sizing, selection and siting, workmanship, power factor, unbalanced/unequal phase/load distribution, leakage, overloading, abnormal operating conditions – and that’s only transmission.
And to my mind, a better system would be to require those that use over a standard amount – a higher usage charge.
I remember a few years ago, hearing that some households have a power bill of over $700/wk. This usage reflected the need to keep the pool heated, the landscaping lights on, the multiple power vampire appliances on standby.
At the time, a discussion was being had regarding the necessity to upgrade the power infrastructure. I thought then – and I still do – that charges (like taxes) should be progressive, if you are using significantly more than a standard amount for the number of people living in your household then you pay a higher usage charge.
Yep. Nationalised power generation and reticulation. Each household/business gets a set amount per month free (fully covered by taxes) which is enough to run a household on and after that they get charged and as they use more they get charged more per kilowatt.
This implements actual supply and demand. The people who demand more pay more. As it is we actually have it around the other way with those who demand more paying less per unit. This incentivises incredibly poor economics.
I think National are in deep trouble and are becomingly increasingly desperate.
Key’s “ejection” from debating chamber, Matt Hooton’s “deeply “sanitised column, and now “look here, tax cuts” are panic responses to the current mess.
NZers are not happy at links to corruption and the smirching of our country’s reputation. More principled conservatives are uneasy.
The TPP ram-it-through-as-quickly-as-possible approach is not going down well, the housing situation is beyond crisis and younger people are becoming more politised as they see their future being affected detrimentally by poor current political choices.
Parata’s school funding changes will probably initiate a revolt…all good!
Well it is possible that National are in deep trouble I don’t think they are, they certainly would have been had the Panama Papers come up with anything substantial but as it is its reinforced the notion that Labour are crying wolf and, surprisingly to my mind at least, that the Greens are more level headed of the opposition
I suspect that the worries you share are not shared with the voting public however as its my own opinion I may well be wrong so, unfortunately, we’ll just have to wait for the next opinion polls to come out
I think it’ll be bad news for Labour, minor negative news for National, good news for Winston First and minor positive news for the Greens in that whatever voted National loses will go to Winston and some of what Labour loses will go to the Greens
+100 TMM…no matter what Hooton and jonkey’s Nact supporters spin….jonkey has been shown up !
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11639520
According to the Director General of the UN office in Geneva, the number one reason people leave Syria is not to escape war, it’s to find educational opportunities for their vast numbers of children – well their solution is really simple: stop mindless shooting, build your own universities, and work hard to pay for them like we in the West do – simple really. Pretending to be refugees to come and mooch off people in the West is just not on. Thanks for finally telling us the truth Mr Moller! The people of the West don’t appreciate being lied to over and over again!
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/refugee-crisis-facts-un-michael-moller_uk_5734277ee4b01359f6866db0
Any links to IPCC for that ?
“My guess is that we will hit 2 deg C by 2030.”
Surely it will all come right by vertebral subluxation or some such discovery
[Flaming and trolling. Shifting to Open Mike.] – Bill
You think that the IPPC knows what CV thinks? CV just posted his best guess based on being informed.
“Surely it will all come right by vertebral subluxation or some such discovery”
That’s out and out flaming. Reread the post and see if you still think picking a fight is appropriate.
Someone whos whole career is built on quack medicine ( unless he one of the few who do follow more mainstream ideas) will always pluck unsupported views out of the ether.
Its a common error to confuse weather with climate.
For Dunedin
http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/dunedin
Monthy highest for April is 25 , historical average 24….. yyawn nothing to see but chooks flapping their wings who will never fly
Troll. There’s probably a special name for denialist trolls, but I can’t be arsed with someone so blatantly stupid.
The name is definitely not “drolls” 🙂
Heh. I suppose it is a bit much to ask to be entertained while being trolled.
How about a trOllnialist 🙂
Perhaps you could give the temperature data for your location to show the Dunedin numbers are against the trend.
NZ long term trend is 1C per century. Thats what its called baby, global warming.
So you arent with the medical community who believe most chiropractric is modern quackery ?
Fuck off troll.
🙂
So you have better numbers than NIWA?
I leave it up to the experts
Little steps up….http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80013933/prime-minister-john-key-says-homeless-families-should-contact-work-and-income
“Labour leader Andrew Little: PM ‘out of touch’ with families in hardship”
If the comments section is anything to go by (and why not?) JK and Co are in deepest of smelly stuff…..
Tried to imagine a car family arriving at Work and Income asking for accommodation. Waiting list? Sorry. Can’t help.
And mum or dad gets angry and mouthy under the pressure of it when they’re basically told to go away and come back in three weeks once they’ve seen the budgeter – for whom there’s actually a month long waiting list anyway.
“Oh well……trespass notice for you if you can’t behave !”
More in the narrative – “These people are scum who’ve done it to themselves !”
Theres room here for Labour, I need them to be the opposite of National before they get my vote, also imagine debating National on this with a Nat trying to justify homelessness. Like we saw with Key defending not paying tax (“if you are a Mexican worried about your countries inheritance laws”), they look weak & out of touch.
https://imperatorfish.com/2016/05/10/a-brief-history-of-the-labour-party/
For those that have a sense of humour click on the link, I’m sure its not completely serious
Just as well Labour’s got such progressive policies to deal with climate change then, isn’t it?
[Shoddy attempt to derail. Shifted to Open Mike] – Bill
The RWNJs have obviously had their C/T lines handed to them.
Why? Your post concerned climate change. I observed that Labour has nothing in the way of policy to deal with the issue. Is criticism of Labour fobidden on this site then?
[lprent: No – read the policy. Idiots who are just trolling lines written by a PR wanker and who don’t say anything worth reading are. If you’d have been serious then you would have pointed that out, and have been pointed to those really easy to google links like this page. It took me all of 10 seconds to find.
Banned for one week.
I figure that with your obviously piss-poor comprehension levels this will should hopefully be enough time to read the site policy. However if you get stuck on the big words – like policy and self-martyrdom, then I suggest you consult a dictionary. (Drat that may be beyond a trolls comprehension).
It is a book or a website that defines words.
Try this word as a test and clear description of you – “dickhead” ]
Warren on the ticket and Trump really will get his hate on.
“You want a running mate who can take the fight to the other side with relish,” said a Clinton veteran. “Geography doesn’t matter, but attitude and talent and energy and bringing excitement to the campaign, Senator Warren does all that.”
In many ways, a Warren pick makes perfect sense. She’s widely respected and admired for her anti-Wall Street crusades, and she is already playing a lead role in the Democratic fight against Trump on social media. As a hero to many of the same people who currently support Clinton’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, her presence in the Clinton campaign could help unite the party. And she would bring extra firepower to what is sure to be a brutal general election.
There’s just one problem: She’s a woman. Is a presidential ticket big enough for two of them?
For voters who are already uneasy about the prospect of a woman in the White House (hint: mostly white men), a Warren addition might be the final straw. They’d go Trump for good. But it seems unlikely that those who pine for the days of Mad Men were going to vote for Clinton anyway. And some argue that Clinton doesn’t really need more white men, as they’re a declining portion of the electorate.
http://qz.com/684589/in-an-election-dominated-by-misogyny-a-clinton-warren-ticket-might-just-work/
A good pick but unlikely.
Democrats have their minimum core 18 states, which they have won every election since 1992, with 242 electoral votes
They just need an extra one or two like Florida , and 28 EVs, to win the Presidency,
Logic says a figire who can bring a state like Florida or another region has best chance of being VP pick
So did they really land an American man on the moon or not?…imo NOT! ( the biggest USA porky of all time?)
‘Invisible maelstrom: NASA flies spacecraft through magnetic explosions above Earth (VIDEO)’
https://www.rt.com/viral/343121-nasa-magnetic-explosions-spacecraft/
“NASA has made its first ever observations from the heart of a ‘magnetic reconnection’ event thanks to its Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS).
The mission, consisting of four identical spacecraft, was launched in March 2015 to observe these reactions in the magnetosphere – scientists had previously only witnessed reconnection in the laboratory…