“A massive shale formation found in the Kiwi Nation is so huge and untouched, the New Zealand Herald reports: ‘It’s literally leaking oil and gas’
“An independent report released in October 2012 says this shale field could hold more oil than the combined reserves of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell…
“Geologists have discovered at least 300 spots where oil and gas are bubbling at the surface.
“These two companies (both trading below $10 a share) control over 5,000 square miles of the emerging oil field… and production has already started….
“On the North Island of New Zealand — about 268 miles from Auckland — sits the small town of Hastings.
“For decades there’s been nothing remarkable about this small port town… until now.
“Massive oil deposits surrounding Hastings have been found that are 10x larger than the infamous Bakken oil field.
“And the major permit holders to these deposits are two companies that I’m about to detail for you today….
“The geographical similarities between the Bakken and East Coast Basin are striking.
“And the government can already see the dollar signs.
“The Taranaki Basin on the North Island is already under development. So it’s clear the officials there are embracing fracking as a tool to their economic growth.
“‘I would love to see other regions experience the same economic boost, and fracking is one of the technologies than can allow that to happen.’ — Energy and Resources Minister Phil Heatley”
[lprent: How many aliases does one person need? There are 5 handles being used from this IP today, several of them new.
Adding your IP to auto-spam for my attention until I either find out this is an organisation with a static IP or I get a reduction in the numbers of handles being used. ]
[lprent: An explanation would be more useful. At present I’m allowing through a couple of handles like the one you wrote 8 minutes before this one. Lexing the comments tends to indicate a single person rather than many.
The previous slow shift in handles could be just outright laziness. But three new handles in a day is clearly deliberate.
I could always ban that IP from being able to even read the site. Any resulting screams will allow me to find out if the IP is shared. ]
Don’t know if this was intentional Lynn, but I just posted a comment, went off while it was loading and when I came back to the tab I found that wiki astroturfing page had loaded. I used the back button on the browser and got the “Your access to this site has been limited” message page. Funny.
Edit: I actually lost the comment I was making – couldn’t back space to the text box page, and reloading gave me a blank text box. I did recover it using Lazarus, but normally I can find a way to get ts to let me reuse the txt I’d typed before.
Some of the numbers highlight the extreme wealth and inequality within our country now.
What a sad shadow of the nation Micky Savage envisioned.
(The corporate media just loves telling the stories and tittle tattle of ‘the rich and famous.’)
This explains why Auckland house prices are continuously increasing, this possibly means (Spithall investing in Auckland residential property market) that their are some pretty sophisticated investment advisors backing the Auckland property market…scarey for renters because rental cost tends to increase with the value of homes.
Tim Watkin on the RNZ panel on Monday reckoned that given the demand for housing in Auckland it would be nearly impossible to bring the cost of housing down in Auckland…he was responding to Chris Trotter suggesting that the Greens/Labour housing policy would reduce house prices in NZ. Auckland house prices are a huge problem, I cant see how the problem can be fixed without reducing the cost of homes?
Really need to reduce the attractiveness of investment housing I think.
Yes multiple property ownership is a huge problem.
More houses for some, like Coutts and Spithill, so none left for others.
Easy one to solve.
Capital gains tax.
Inheritance tax.
And bring down houses in the common good.
Selfish property speculators need to make some sacrifices.
Unfortunately neither Capital gains nor inheritance taxes will effect the Auckland property market,
The middle class have a love affair, fueled off of tax breaks and accommodation supplement payments for 2nd and 3rd properties as rental invesments,
”The surge of former owner-occupied houses becoming rentals was most evident in Mt Eden,(up 19%), Mt Wellington(up 24%), and Remuera (up 10%)”, unquote Bernard Hickey,
In 20 years across New Zealand 100,000 formerly owner-occupier homes have become rental investments, like Working for Families paid to the middle class, no political party is willing to directly address the real problem of ‘housing affordability’ for first home buyers,
Besides more than a few of the politicians being heavily ‘invested’ themselves it would be political suicide for any Government to directly threaten the middle classes fatted golden cow…
And it’s more than that. It’s also physical. You can’t cram 35% of your country’s population in 0.21% of your land area and not expect serious problems. It’s stupid.
“And it’s more than that. It’s also physical. You can’t cram 35% of your country’s population in 0.21% of your land area and not expect serious problems. It’s stupid.”
Not necessarily. It would depend on population density overall.
What is also obvious is that with so many MP’s having rental properties (and Trusts to hide them) one would not expect any MP’s to vote for any bill that affected their income streams.
Maybe a good socialist government could expect its MP’s to not be involved in property speculation?
Yes, but the main group affected by over priced housing isnt 1st home buyers, it is actually people who rent homes (Rent is a function of the house valuation). This is why over priced housing is the No 1 issue in New Zealand’s poverty issue. House price increases have contributed more to inequality than any other one factor. But it is an incredibly difficult issue, because a reduction in house valuations will probably slow the economy/spending down leading to all of the negative consequences that this brings.
Many people over the years have been picking a housing bubble burst in Auckland but it keeps climbing, and it does seem that governments (Both L & N) havent been keen on reigning it in regardless of the negative consequences for home renters, generally our poorest.
Obviously one answer is for state houses to do away with market based rents, to break the relationship between house valuation and rental cost. Labours existing policy will help increase supply of housing, combine this with CGT I would imagine that these initiatives will be helpful. But apparently demand in Auckland is still going to outstrip supply by quite a margin so I reckon stopping the tax deductibility of investment housing will have the biggest impact. I cannot understand what the point of encouraging people to invest in rental housing is…it simply transfers wealth from the poor to the wealthy.
The Labour/Green housing plans removes some of the demand from the Auckland housing market, building and selling 10,000 100m homes in a year would remove that whole segment of new home buyer from the market while not unduly effecting that market as the homes will not be sold on the free market,
There will still be a huge demographic wishing to buy into the current Auckland market including those who are upwardly mobile wanting a bigger, better home and a large swathe of the middle class still in love with rental property,
While that middle class get to claim interest payments on the rental from their personal tax and also collect the accommodation supplement via the tenants this form of investment will continue unabated,
i would assume that if rules are not put in place for the Labour/Green housing to have a Government buy back based upon original price plus equity those lucky enough to be put onto the ‘property ladder’ by such Government largesse will go on to continue the house price inflation in Auckland by using these properties as leverage in the future to gain ‘rental investments’,
i had a little chuckle at last nights Campbell Live which featured a school teacher earning 50 grand a year who could not ‘afford’ to live in a house Her mother had sold Her,
My pick is that She not only gets the tax rebate on interest paid on that property but the tenant also collects the maximum amount of accommodation subsidy which all up gives Her an extra dip into the tax base of 2 or 300 a week,
The monetarism attached to the Neoliberal ethos finds this ‘rewarding’ of the winners in society to be a far better use of the tax base than it does the building of State Housing which would have achieved the same dampening effect in the Auckland housing market by removing a mass of tenants thus dampening the demand for rental properties,
The faces may change,but, i fear the song, as far as the bread and butter issues for those who occupy the bare seats of the ‘have not’s’ table, will remain largely the same…
The trouble with the housing market is it is very heavily geared and therefore prices are strongly driven by mortgage interest rates. International interest rates have been close to 200-300 year lows with central banks worldwide printing money in an attempt to kickstart the global economy after the GFC.
As wages have moved up little in the last decade a large component driving house prices is the reduction in interest rates.
For example interest rates were around 11% in 2008 and now are around 5.5%. Effectively a homebuyer with a small deposit borrowing just $400,000 in 2009 can today effectively service a loan of $800,000. This is particularly true with rental investors as they heavily gear to capture tax advantages.
The thing that will really bring property prices down with a thump is an upward movement in interest rates. This is starting to happen internationally as central banks tentatively remove the life support of QE. Select 1year at the bottom of this graph to see the almost doubling of rate in 10year US treasurys during the last few months.
The current situation in Auckland looks like a very fast inflating bubble. Any trend upwards in interest rates is likely to deflate this market rapidly as landlords and homeowners struggle to service the increase in loan repayments and the sellers overwhelm the buyers.
Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates,
What you are saying is a recipe for the Government presiding at the point where interest rates start the upward lurch to not be the Government at the election following…
Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates
Trouble is that’s not really practical for a Government to take control of interest rates particularly in a small country like NZ. If the international cost of money goes up because lenders are demanding a bigger risk premium then there’s little the Government can do to control the cost of lending under current legislation.
What you are saying is a recipe for the Government presiding at the point where interest rates start the upward lurch to not be the Government at the election following…
Not neccessarily – would depend on who the electorate decided to blame. The finger could well be pointed at the banking community rather than the Government. It would also depend on how the Government dealt with any such “crisis”. If they chose to protect the banks rather than the electorate, as in Cyprus, they would certainly be out at the next election.
“Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates”
Yes because that generally works out so well.
Why do you persist in pursuing fantasies? The next Labour/Green Government is not going to take control of fixing interest rates. For so many reasons that seem obvious to the whole world except for you sitting in your safe subsidised house.
The NZ Government already subtly controls interest rates, via the nominally independent Reserve Bank. I think what Bad12 is suggesting is that the guidance and parameters be changed, presumably along with changes to the inflation band targetting.
Perhaps if you ever decide to holiday in NZ you might spend some time familiarising yourself with how things are done here. In the meantime, you could learn a thing or two here:
Which basically requires the reserve bank to kill the rest of the economy, whenever Auckland house prices, or wages, rise.
Originally enacted, as a circuit breaker, to cap excessive inflation in the 80’s, politicians have kept it, long past its use by date, because in their limited view, what works once, briefly, will work perpetually.
It could be argued that it was somewhat successful in curbing very high inflation, on that limited occasion, though others would note that the end of very high inflation ended with the slowing of the rise in oil prices.
Now, every time the New Zealand productive economy struggles off its knees, the reserve bank delivers another knockout.”
Actually the State, us, should take over the issuance of debt altogether. And get away from paying through the nose for US banks to lend us money “printed” in the USA and China”.
I do believe that without any significant increase in median incomes the bubble will burst in the more over extended areas such as Auckland. Whether this happens slowly over time, with real values falling gradually, or suddenly, really depends on what happens in global financial markets.
What I am sure of is that being highly leveraged in the Auckland market at the moment is a high risk place to be.
The next step is a policy programme to take Labour into the 2014 election. Whether or not I vote for Labour will depend on what policies that Labour will adopt for that particular campaign.
Policies that could be of use to Labour (which can capture core votes and can be appealing to centre voters):
Encourage co-ops in all shapes and sizes
An investment fund for oil, gas and mining royalties
A grand accord on mining — allowing mining to go ahead in some areas with other areas being locked up and having the key thrown away.
two things I would love to see considered
1. Establishing worker representation on boards of private companies.
2. Identifying what we could call Companies of significant interest to NZ and the state taking a shareholding. We could model it along the lines of the current regimes sell off of state assets. I am sure we would get support from National if we did that
I would suggest a stake in Fletcher’s and Fulton Hogan’s as a good start to further the interests of the people of New Zealand
EPMU members should be wondering why their execs wanted to make a recommendation to vote for Robertson.
Seems like Union members should bring their execs back to planet Labour
It has parallels with the Caucus: too many MP were out of synch with the membership and the country.
Er, not actually the case, Boadicea. The EPMU senior leadership made no recommendation and asked the voting delegates to consult with their members and vote accordingly. Which is what happened and I assume the EPMU vote was similar to the overall affiliate vote; overwhelmingly in favour of DC.
“Thing is, merely saying someone is not sexist does not alter reality if they truly are. Tony Abbott has been Prime Minister for a week and has just announced his ministry and cabinet. Of eighteen cabinet ministers chosen by Abbott, only one, Julie Bishop, the new Foreign Minister, is a woman. In Gillard’s cabinet, there were seven. Of the 12 parliamentary secretaries chosen by Abbott, only one there is female, too. Abbott has excused his selection by saying that he’s “disappointed” there aren’t more women in his cabinet, but that it’s been chosen “on merit” and there are women “knocking on the door” of cabinet in the outer ministry – still, of course, heavily outnumbered by men. That Abbott’s cabinet contains a Treasurer who couldn’t correctly add up a costings document, an Attorney General who believes religious rights trump human rights and an agriculture minister who thinks equal marriage rights for gay couples might somehow affect his daughters’ chances of finding husbands, the “merit” defence does not carry much weight. Especially not, as the Labor Opposition Leader pointed out today, Australia now has less female representation at cabinet level than Afghanistan.”
“Unruly, reckless, often crude, and always curious, the Franks (as Muslims called them) were, like the Japanese at the other end of Eurasia, aware of the innumerable ways in which civilized neighbours excelled their own attainments. By 1500, therefore, Western Europeans had acquired an impressive array of learning from their Byzantine and Muslim neighbours, and had imported an equally impressive array of technologies from distant China. In short, they profited greatly in terms of wealth and power from their uninhibited sampling of ideas, goods, and practices circulating within the Old World Web. This held fateful consequences for America and world history after 1500.
By 1000, in the lands between the Loire and Elbe rivers, mounted knights and moldboard plow teams capable of cultivating flat, water-logged clay soils protected and supported one another very efficiently. From this core area, knights of Latin Christendom expanded their domain in every direction. Moldboard agriculture followed behind, but never caught up with the military frontier because climatic differences made the heavy plows impracticable in dry Mediterranean lands, as well as in Irish bogs and in the freezing winters of northeast Europe.
Within limits set by the mild winters and year-round rainfall the Gulf Stream and prevailing westerly winds brought to the plains, agricultural production swelled as peasant villagers developed a sustainable type of farming that employed labour almost uniformly throughout the year. By dividing arable land into three fields- one sown in autumn to harvest in late spring, one sown in spring for autumn harvest and one left fallow to be plowed (for weed control) in summer- plow teams could work almost all year round, interrupted only for Christmas and during weeks when planting and harvesting required everyone’s urgent effort. This regime allowed a single plowman’s share of cultivated land to amount to about thirty acres- far more than needed to feed himself, family and domestic animals.
Cooperative cultivation of open fields in NW Europe therefore permitted peasants to sustain fighting men who had a clear self-interest in guarding them against destructive raiders, together with priests and monks who attended to their relations with God. Surpluses extended the demand for artisans’ wares into peasant homes, furthering urban skills and tightening local trade and transport links. And when noble and clerical rent and tax receivers developed a taste for superior artisan products and commodities from afar, urban dwellers, recruited from the fringes of society, often led by pirate traders, began to supply them with their wants.
Tightening their links with the rest of the Old World Web, Western Europeans encountered far more sophisticated and more highly skilled peoples than themselves.Yet, as long as local agricultural and artisanal production expanded as rapidly as they did between 1000 and 1270, and Christian knights continued to be generally successful in battle, crude Westerners could feel confidant that God was on their side as they plumbed foreigners’ knowledge and skills for purposes of their own.
By 1500, Europe’s population was little, if at all, larger than in 1300 (famine and plague) even though by that time transport and industry were far more efficient. Stout, seaworthy ships now connected all the coasts of Europe, and interregional specialization and exchange had gathered momentum as an ever larger proportion of the population began to enter the market, thus replicating China’s commercialization after a delay of three to four centuries (dumbasses 😉 ); but unlike in China, European rulers and clerics failed to maintain control over the merchants and bankers who managed the new interregional economy.
European merchants and bankers attended to their own defense by gaining political control of a number of sovereign city-states. They could then deal more or less as equals with other local rulers, who found it impossible to do without loans or to repay their debts without concessions to bankers’ and merchants’ interests.Since moneyed men were continually on the lookout for anything that might turn a profit, a self-sustaining process of economic, social and technological change gathered headway wherever political conditions conceded it the freedom to operate. Time and again, local interests and traditional ways of doing things were displaced by politically protected economic innovators. This situation still persists today, having first transformed European society, and then infected the whole world, marking modern times off from earlier, more stable forms of society.
Urban self-government in Europe had another distinctive dimension. In Muslim and Chinese society, members of a single, sometimes extended family managed most economic enterprises. The strength of family ties made it difficult or impossible to trust outsiders, thus limiting the scale of most undertakings. Europeans found it easier to trust fellow citizens, regardless of blood relations or not.Extended family ties were unusually weak in most of Western Europe.
Self-government, in short, could be applied to common enterprises far afield as well as at home, so that large-scale private undertakings, far beyond the scope of any single family became routine and familiar. Shipbuilding and mining attained special vigor due to this sort of risk sharing among multiple private investors. As a result, by 1500 the supply of base metals- especially iron- available to Europeans far surpassed what other peoples had at their disposal.
It is plausible to believe that transfamilial commercial enterprise in the towns of medieval Europe derived from the practices of rural plow teams. Towns were unhealthful places and had to maintain themselves by attracting manpower from the countryside. In the heartlands of Western Europe, such rural recruits brought with them the habit of working in plow teams whose members came from different families. If a plowman failed to do his share of the work, or did not deal honestly with his fellows, penalties were dire indeed. Aggrieved neighbours could easily exclude him from plow teams.Such discipline, requiring mutual trust and cooperation beyond the limits of blood relations and short-sighted investment, prepared Europeans to trust one another.
However, such commercial flexibility came at the cost of the security and human warmth that extended families can provide, and the peace that imperial states can impose.
Indeed, endless rivalry and violence prevailed. 😎
When is John Key going to stop his private sector ways of doing business over the phone, and follow the LAWFUL requirements of the Public Records Act 2005 and ensure full and accurate records are created and maintained, in his ‘public service’ role as Prime Minister of New Zealand?
“At question time in Parliament today, Prime Minister John Key defended comments that Chorus may go broke if the Commerce Commission pressed ahead with plans for a sharp cut in the regulated price on the copper lines, saying Cabinet had received advice based on commercial and in-confidence briefings between Chorus and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
In his post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Key said he could not recall where the advice had come from.
He said today that those briefings probably would have come after he received a phone call from Chorus chair Sue Sheldon in December last year when she shared her view on the impact of the regulator’s draft decision and gave the government “some understanding of the issues they would face.”
From the many, consistent and frustrated comments I get from people from overseas who have moved here, NZ would have to have the worst quality of media information in the English speaking world (and prob beyond). Including America; where at least you can get some intelligent channels and well-thought out articles in news papers.
Congratulations NZ Media. /sarc
(**How about you re-assess your audience, you fuck-wits.**)
Release of Previously Classified August 29, 2013 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Opinion
Today the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court released a previously classified opinion reauthorizing the collection of bulk telephony metadata under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The opinion affirms that the bulk telephony metadata collection is both lawful and constitutional. The release of this opinion is consistent with the President’s call for more transparency on these valuable intelligence programs.
ooh, 300 Tractors organised by the Grower Action Group (Hort.) churn into protest the HBRC management of water at Hastings today; “RWSS takes focus away from the very real concerns of the Heretaunga Plains.
oh, and fingerprints and DNA to be exchange between NZ and The US.
Welcome to Stuckyville, Have a Nice Day 🙂
Acc changes afoot. Newer and bigger cars which guzzle petrol will have lower levies and older cheaper cars higher. Guess which part of society owns which cars?
You mean because they weigh more and can only be built bigger to reach those lower emission standards, whereas an electric car can have its engine in its wheel opening up space in the car proper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water
Did you know water at just above freezing actually gets slightly more dense at 4 degrees. Can you imagine that, that the sea warming from 0 at the poles actually gets denser for a time and so shrinks, and once globally water is all above 4 degrees, the real effects of sea expansion will begin as the water is not linear as it gets warmer.
Economically young people, those wanting to have time and money to spare, are refraining from buying cars, and demanding to live and work in cities that have good public transport and housing spread. Unlike Auckland, our one and only, where the elite still dithers over public transport, still has to finalize plans to build density, where all the incentives to build at the top tier of housing still exist, and make it hard for those property developers to build where the demand is.
Welcome to NZ, the rest of the world is doing away high emission vehicles and so not engaging in stupid comparisons with our notorious fleet of old bombers. If its a good idea, you can be assured that NZ will talk it to death, and delay the solutions.
This is the latest in a overall plot — yes, I will call it that — to have ACC behave like just another insurance companies and start turning down more and more claims.
When people enjoy their levy cuts, they need to realise that they came in the the backs of long term claiment, thrown off ACC, onto a benefit and into hardship.
I’d prefer they spent what they have on ensuring as full rehabilitation as possible e.g. physio, pain management and psychological needs, and for them to stop declining accidents as ‘degenerative conditions’ just because someone isn’t 20 anymore or had a medical condition way back when.
The problem will be under Part 6A the staff from Novopay will all need to be taken on by a new contractor…. Lets hope Novopay behave like Labour and ignore the intent of this policy Labour plan to make everyone else abide by.
[lprent: You haven’t explained what 6A is, nor its relevance to the topic. Moved to OpenMike. Banned for a week for what looks like a out of context comment without explanation. Banned for a further 6 weeks – one per comment I had to move. ]
Yep – On the subject of rewarding failure … I can see why you lovers of power at any price and say anything to get elected get shitty when Part 6A is pointed out – Part 6A is all about rewarding failure.
Guess it’s too much to ask for you people to objectively look at how insane that policy is ?
What do you see are the National-led government’s main successes in the last 5 years?
– Asset sales? How’s that MRP price going.
– Economic growth? Yeah right.
– Assisted exporters? That dollar’s still 6th-highest traded in the entire world
– Run the books into a surplus? Not yet and not likely.
– Reconstructed Christchurch? Tui billboard
– Made the place less violent to children, or decreased poverty? Nope.
Looking forward to going to the hustings on all of that.
Count the days pal because your allies are walking dead.
Surely it would be possible to write a program to keep mentioning Part 6A automatically regardless of relevance or context like this, and isn’t there something in the site policy about that?
Reading all the things he worked on and is credited with discovering – he was amazing. And his name is engraved on the Eiffel Tower with 72 other great French brains. Do we have a place in New Zealand that has this sort of graffiti on it? All our clever people noted on marble or something and which we could hear details through a headset as we walked around looking at them?
8 New areas of oil exploration up for offer from the Nacts next year.
Twice as big as the previous auctions.
434,000 km2
yet,
of the original 23 proposed last auction, only 10 were eventually taken up.
Companies are struggling to find investment; competing internationally.
Government struggling to find buyers.
been another EQC privacy mix-up apparently; Wellington and Seddon clients receiving combinations of theirs and others claim details, etc. (I could mail them a chisel, or whip up a filing cabinet, flatpack will do).
Getting referred to the wiki page for astroturfing when I try thestandard.org.nz – I only got in to post by clicking a link in my web history.
Either someone’s hacked into the site or the admins joke is on me.
If I were clever I’d have linked straight to the poem and not the yahoo q+a.
If I were dishonest I’d have edited my post once I found out who actually wrote it.
clever is for jugglers
the unedited was seen
thoughts are not final
the printed word is.
as a two finger 😉 typer , assembling as I go, oftentimes the intention is incomplete on some comments ie, the closing quote marks and refs. for eg. J.R McNiell and William H. McNeil, The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View 😉 of World History. New York. 2003; pp 137-142. sigh. know lie, and numbers once you have them are TooLish.
Look! Chum, no hands at 60MPH; beware looking over the shoulder and ride that Full Moon Fever.
(easy-peasy Japanesee) no more do’h. Old Hat.sigh. nostalgia aye. Abandon romanticism. (great link) Still synthesizing music.
A person who used 5 different identities this morning, has seen my warning, not responded, and who now can read a page on astroturfing whenever they look at the site – at least until they get another IP, start to use a direct RSS feed through our proxy, or discover the joys of getting a proxy through our anti-spam software. I like to spread the workload…
apparently there has been another privacy breach by EQC, mailing combinations of two claiments details combined to a number of folk. Maybe I could mail them a chisel, or a flatpack filing cabinet to assemble.
“Please be aware that EQC has received a substantial increase of Official Information requests in recent months and a response will take longer to prepare than the 20 working day statutory timeframe. If you consider that your request should be given priority, for example you are experiencing severe health or financial issues, please advise us as soon as possible with supporting documentation so that we may consider whether your request should be escalated.
Presently your request may face a 5-6 month delay as EQC works through the significant demand for such information. EQC is addressing this by employing further staff and implementing smarter systems. This timeframe will be periodically reviewed with the aim of getting a response to you sooner.”
(Emphasis added).
@#&*%$* what can I say, if you follow me and do as your told and don’t cause any trouble we have a nice room where you can shower with your friends, otherwise sit in the rain and mud till you change your mind, EQC the stone in your shoe.
It seems no lessons have been learned from the GFC. When you read anything about it, it’s likely to blame sub-prime mortgages, but these were only a symptom. The real problem is the derivatives market, played with fantasy money and run by computers using algorithms based on an equation which the operators don’t understand. Within capitalism, there are no long term solutions, but short term ones could be:
1. Prison for anyone involved in the derivatives market. Fraud is the only word to adequately describe what they are doing.
2. A financial transactions tax, which would act to slow down the rate of transactions and damp out the problems a little.
3. An enforced limit on the number of speculative transactions that any dealer can make over a given time period. One a week might be reasonable.
4. Computers running trading algorithms should only be available to a trader who can publish an article on financial mathematics and the applicability of the Black-Scholes equation in a peer reviewed mathematical journal. In the hands of anyone else, they are weapons of mass destruction and severe penalties should be applied.
In defence of mathematics – the actual equation is good maths. It just doesn’t describe the economy or the financial market in any way, shape or form. The “econophysicists” and others who try to use Fokker-Planck or stochastic differential equations to do this are modelling it as Brownian motion with a few bells and whistles. They are assuming that the Central Limit Theorem applies and the distribution of events will be Gaussian – the famous Bell curve. That’s what these equations describe. Following this approach, we should get an average of one financial crisis every century or two, at the most. Extreme events should be very rare, but they’re not. The maths is great, it’s just irrelevant.
The main problem is that the traders don’t care. They know that we’ll bail them out. Again and again. Well, about time we bailed them up instead. Against a wall.
Very good Murray, that’s nicely put, and on the mark!
The underwriting of many orders of magnitude worth of planetary energy supply, or human existence, is most likely past the point of no return, but they knew the outcomes when the path was cleared back in the 90’s.
Now everything that is necessary to keep it together, is laid out, and when the time is right, they will collapse the lot, but that’s a little way off still, IMO!
well, that was worth waiting up for Murray Olsen. (had a primary teacher Mr. Olsen, seemed like a kind chap). All the best for the improvement of your health.
Nick Smith old lizard eyes continuing govt sleaze misleading public and parliament yesterday PinoKeyo lied about sue sheldon of Chorus ph call $600 million bail out today leak of internal email at doc proves nick smith sent a directive demanding to read any recommendations opposing hawksbay dam!
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Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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“A massive shale formation found in the Kiwi Nation is so huge and untouched, the New Zealand Herald reports: ‘It’s literally leaking oil and gas’
“An independent report released in October 2012 says this shale field could hold more oil than the combined reserves of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell…
“Geologists have discovered at least 300 spots where oil and gas are bubbling at the surface.
“These two companies (both trading below $10 a share) control over 5,000 square miles of the emerging oil field… and production has already started….
“On the North Island of New Zealand — about 268 miles from Auckland — sits the small town of Hastings.
“For decades there’s been nothing remarkable about this small port town… until now.
“Massive oil deposits surrounding Hastings have been found that are 10x larger than the infamous Bakken oil field.
“And the major permit holders to these deposits are two companies that I’m about to detail for you today….
“The geographical similarities between the Bakken and East Coast Basin are striking.
“And the government can already see the dollar signs.
“The Taranaki Basin on the North Island is already under development. So it’s clear the officials there are embracing fracking as a tool to their economic growth.
“‘I would love to see other regions experience the same economic boost, and fracking is one of the technologies than can allow that to happen.’ — Energy and Resources Minister Phil Heatley”
http://stockgumshoe.com/reviews/crisis-and-opportunity/new-zealands-bakken-sniffing-around-christian-dehaemers-oil-teaser/
[lprent: How many aliases does one person need? There are 5 handles being used from this IP today, several of them new.
Adding your IP to auto-spam for my attention until I either find out this is an organisation with a static IP or I get a reduction in the numbers of handles being used. ]
Have a nice day, lprent ! Kia Ora.
[lprent: An explanation would be more useful. At present I’m allowing through a couple of handles like the one you wrote 8 minutes before this one. Lexing the comments tends to indicate a single person rather than many.
The previous slow shift in handles could be just outright laziness. But three new handles in a day is clearly deliberate.
I could always ban that IP from being able to even read the site. Any resulting screams will allow me to find out if the IP is shared. ]
No answer. I hope you like this page… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
Because that is all you will see of this site for a while.
file? pls.
Don’t know if this was intentional Lynn, but I just posted a comment, went off while it was loading and when I came back to the tab I found that wiki astroturfing page had loaded. I used the back button on the browser and got the “Your access to this site has been limited” message page. Funny.
Edit: I actually lost the comment I was making – couldn’t back space to the text box page, and reloading gave me a blank text box. I did recover it using Lazarus, but normally I can find a way to get ts to let me reuse the txt I’d typed before.
Sorry made a slip in .htaccess while consigning a non responsive malefactor to an informative page… (not you)
Ah, jiust like the Bakken shale…splendid…and the energy return on energy invested is?????? Probably too fekken much.
A beautiful morning light today. Not a Mallard to be seen.
Delightful.
Are you some kind of duck hunter ?
[lprent: suspected astroturfer now on auto-spam until I get an explanation. ]
I heard that the big DC sat sat and sat patiently in the mai mai then bang, duck dinner.
The media’s fascination with multi-millionaires and their big toys.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11126180
It is even more disturbing that his tenants didnt know who he was or what he did….
Some of the numbers highlight the extreme wealth and inequality within our country now.
What a sad shadow of the nation Micky Savage envisioned.
(The corporate media just loves telling the stories and tittle tattle of ‘the rich and famous.’)
and Herne Bay cougars who are drooling over Spithill…eewwww I wish I haven’t read that article.
uh 75 may be a couple of steps beyond “cougar” methinks…
This explains why Auckland house prices are continuously increasing, this possibly means (Spithall investing in Auckland residential property market) that their are some pretty sophisticated investment advisors backing the Auckland property market…scarey for renters because rental cost tends to increase with the value of homes.
Tim Watkin on the RNZ panel on Monday reckoned that given the demand for housing in Auckland it would be nearly impossible to bring the cost of housing down in Auckland…he was responding to Chris Trotter suggesting that the Greens/Labour housing policy would reduce house prices in NZ. Auckland house prices are a huge problem, I cant see how the problem can be fixed without reducing the cost of homes?
Really need to reduce the attractiveness of investment housing I think.
Yes multiple property ownership is a huge problem.
More houses for some, like Coutts and Spithill, so none left for others.
Easy one to solve.
Capital gains tax.
Inheritance tax.
And bring down houses in the common good.
Selfish property speculators need to make some sacrifices.
Yes. Lecturing the plebs on the need of diversifying the investment portfolios while they’re pumping their dollars predominantly into real estate.
Unfortunately neither Capital gains nor inheritance taxes will effect the Auckland property market,
The middle class have a love affair, fueled off of tax breaks and accommodation supplement payments for 2nd and 3rd properties as rental invesments,
”The surge of former owner-occupied houses becoming rentals was most evident in Mt Eden,(up 19%), Mt Wellington(up 24%), and Remuera (up 10%)”, unquote Bernard Hickey,
In 20 years across New Zealand 100,000 formerly owner-occupier homes have become rental investments, like Working for Families paid to the middle class, no political party is willing to directly address the real problem of ‘housing affordability’ for first home buyers,
Besides more than a few of the politicians being heavily ‘invested’ themselves it would be political suicide for any Government to directly threaten the middle classes fatted golden cow…
And it’s more than that. It’s also physical. You can’t cram 35% of your country’s population in 0.21% of your land area and not expect serious problems. It’s stupid.
“And it’s more than that. It’s also physical. You can’t cram 35% of your country’s population in 0.21% of your land area and not expect serious problems. It’s stupid.”
Not necessarily. It would depend on population density overall.
Well, no need for theorising, just look at Auckland house prices.
What is also obvious is that with so many MP’s having rental properties (and Trusts to hide them) one would not expect any MP’s to vote for any bill that affected their income streams.
Maybe a good socialist government could expect its MP’s to not be involved in property speculation?
Yes, but the main group affected by over priced housing isnt 1st home buyers, it is actually people who rent homes (Rent is a function of the house valuation). This is why over priced housing is the No 1 issue in New Zealand’s poverty issue. House price increases have contributed more to inequality than any other one factor. But it is an incredibly difficult issue, because a reduction in house valuations will probably slow the economy/spending down leading to all of the negative consequences that this brings.
Many people over the years have been picking a housing bubble burst in Auckland but it keeps climbing, and it does seem that governments (Both L & N) havent been keen on reigning it in regardless of the negative consequences for home renters, generally our poorest.
Obviously one answer is for state houses to do away with market based rents, to break the relationship between house valuation and rental cost. Labours existing policy will help increase supply of housing, combine this with CGT I would imagine that these initiatives will be helpful. But apparently demand in Auckland is still going to outstrip supply by quite a margin so I reckon stopping the tax deductibility of investment housing will have the biggest impact. I cannot understand what the point of encouraging people to invest in rental housing is…it simply transfers wealth from the poor to the wealthy.
“Easy one to solve.
Capital gains tax.
Inheritance tax.”
Also, make interest non deductible for tax purposes. Not just for rental properties but for businesses generally.
The Labour/Green housing plans removes some of the demand from the Auckland housing market, building and selling 10,000 100m homes in a year would remove that whole segment of new home buyer from the market while not unduly effecting that market as the homes will not be sold on the free market,
There will still be a huge demographic wishing to buy into the current Auckland market including those who are upwardly mobile wanting a bigger, better home and a large swathe of the middle class still in love with rental property,
While that middle class get to claim interest payments on the rental from their personal tax and also collect the accommodation supplement via the tenants this form of investment will continue unabated,
i would assume that if rules are not put in place for the Labour/Green housing to have a Government buy back based upon original price plus equity those lucky enough to be put onto the ‘property ladder’ by such Government largesse will go on to continue the house price inflation in Auckland by using these properties as leverage in the future to gain ‘rental investments’,
i had a little chuckle at last nights Campbell Live which featured a school teacher earning 50 grand a year who could not ‘afford’ to live in a house Her mother had sold Her,
My pick is that She not only gets the tax rebate on interest paid on that property but the tenant also collects the maximum amount of accommodation subsidy which all up gives Her an extra dip into the tax base of 2 or 300 a week,
The monetarism attached to the Neoliberal ethos finds this ‘rewarding’ of the winners in society to be a far better use of the tax base than it does the building of State Housing which would have achieved the same dampening effect in the Auckland housing market by removing a mass of tenants thus dampening the demand for rental properties,
The faces may change,but, i fear the song, as far as the bread and butter issues for those who occupy the bare seats of the ‘have not’s’ table, will remain largely the same…
The trouble with the housing market is it is very heavily geared and therefore prices are strongly driven by mortgage interest rates. International interest rates have been close to 200-300 year lows with central banks worldwide printing money in an attempt to kickstart the global economy after the GFC.
New Zealand is no exemption as this graph shows.
As wages have moved up little in the last decade a large component driving house prices is the reduction in interest rates.
For example interest rates were around 11% in 2008 and now are around 5.5%. Effectively a homebuyer with a small deposit borrowing just $400,000 in 2009 can today effectively service a loan of $800,000. This is particularly true with rental investors as they heavily gear to capture tax advantages.
The thing that will really bring property prices down with a thump is an upward movement in interest rates. This is starting to happen internationally as central banks tentatively remove the life support of QE. Select 1year at the bottom of this graph to see the almost doubling of rate in 10year US treasurys during the last few months.
The current situation in Auckland looks like a very fast inflating bubble. Any trend upwards in interest rates is likely to deflate this market rapidly as landlords and homeowners struggle to service the increase in loan repayments and the sellers overwhelm the buyers.
Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates,
What you are saying is a recipe for the Government presiding at the point where interest rates start the upward lurch to not be the Government at the election following…
Trouble is that’s not really practical for a Government to take control of interest rates particularly in a small country like NZ. If the international cost of money goes up because lenders are demanding a bigger risk premium then there’s little the Government can do to control the cost of lending under current legislation.
Not neccessarily – would depend on who the electorate decided to blame. The finger could well be pointed at the banking community rather than the Government. It would also depend on how the Government dealt with any such “crisis”. If they chose to protect the banks rather than the electorate, as in Cyprus, they would certainly be out at the next election.
“Trouble is that’s not really practical for a Government to take control of interest rates particularly in a small country like NZ”
Its really easy to do if you wanted to; the trade off is that of reduced policy space available to the govt eg in monetary policy and taxation.
“Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates”
Yes because that generally works out so well.
Why do you persist in pursuing fantasies? The next Labour/Green Government is not going to take control of fixing interest rates. For so many reasons that seem obvious to the whole world except for you sitting in your safe subsidised house.
The NZ Government already subtly controls interest rates, via the nominally independent Reserve Bank. I think what Bad12 is suggesting is that the guidance and parameters be changed, presumably along with changes to the inflation band targetting.
Perhaps if you ever decide to holiday in NZ you might spend some time familiarising yourself with how things are done here. In the meantime, you could learn a thing or two here:
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary_policy/about_monetary_policy/0072140.html
Lolz, we shall see how you squeal like the little stuck piglet when interest rates turn you into an even bigger cash cow milked by the banks…
Funny how idiots like Srylands have never noticed the interest rate fixing that already happens.
Because the reserve bank fixing interest rates has worked so well??
Not to mention “LIBOR”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal
http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/the-reserve-bank-debt-and-property.html
“In New Zealand we have the “Reserve Bank Act”.
Which basically requires the reserve bank to kill the rest of the economy, whenever Auckland house prices, or wages, rise.
Originally enacted, as a circuit breaker, to cap excessive inflation in the 80’s, politicians have kept it, long past its use by date, because in their limited view, what works once, briefly, will work perpetually.
It could be argued that it was somewhat successful in curbing very high inflation, on that limited occasion, though others would note that the end of very high inflation ended with the slowing of the rise in oil prices.
Now, every time the New Zealand productive economy struggles off its knees, the reserve bank delivers another knockout.”
Actually the State, us, should take over the issuance of debt altogether. And get away from paying through the nose for US banks to lend us money “printed” in the USA and China”.
The Shibor had a similar scandal (looks interesting too). 😉
Nice post, Steve. So do you think the NZ housing bubble will burst?
Thanks Geoff.
I do believe that without any significant increase in median incomes the bubble will burst in the more over extended areas such as Auckland. Whether this happens slowly over time, with real values falling gradually, or suddenly, really depends on what happens in global financial markets.
What I am sure of is that being highly leveraged in the Auckland market at the moment is a high risk place to be.
Nope, house prices are driven by the availability of money and the private banks print that stuff with, effectively, no restrictions.
To pull house prices back two things need to happen:
1.) Foreign buyers to be banned
2.) The government creates our money and not the private banks
This will reduce demand and reduce the amount of money available to buy houses.
Anything else, especially if it’s routed in the failed neo-liberal paradigm, won’t work.
Indeed a lovely morning….how refreshing to have hope again. Wishing the united Labour Team all the very best for the months ahead.
+1
Ah,.. is that what that feeling is? Hope; yes, it’s been so long now that I’d almost forgotten what it feels like.
Interesting and valid ideas framework coming down the pipe from progressive uk purple book.
Valid ideas for nz too.
http://www.progressonline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The-Purple-Book.pdf
Quick read shock horror excess speculative investment priming the global market for another GFC
http://t.co/rX3OgVwfEk
We wants it, we needs it.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/63743/lehman-brothers-crash-inside-the-accounting-trick-that-destroyed-the-economy
So now what?
With Cunliffe at the helm, it is just a start.
The next step is a policy programme to take Labour into the 2014 election. Whether or not I vote for Labour will depend on what policies that Labour will adopt for that particular campaign.
Policies that could be of use to Labour (which can capture core votes and can be appealing to centre voters):
Encourage co-ops in all shapes and sizes
An investment fund for oil, gas and mining royalties
A grand accord on mining — allowing mining to go ahead in some areas with other areas being locked up and having the key thrown away.
That’s a good start Millsy.
Cooperative work places
Regional investment initiatives
Regional training schemes targeted to skill requirements.
two things I would love to see considered
1. Establishing worker representation on boards of private companies.
2. Identifying what we could call Companies of significant interest to NZ and the state taking a shareholding. We could model it along the lines of the current regimes sell off of state assets. I am sure we would get support from National if we did that
I would suggest a stake in Fletcher’s and Fulton Hogan’s as a good start to further the interests of the people of New Zealand
1. is an Excellent idea Ron.
Council elections update No94: some facebook number crunching.
Michael Laws for Mayor: 778 likes
Michael Laws is a Complete Twat: 3323 members
Mate, I see that union members backed Cunliffe ahead of Robertson more than 3:1. Good stuff eh!
I can’t take all the credit, CV. but thanks for noticing!
EPMU members should be wondering why their execs wanted to make a recommendation to vote for Robertson.
Seems like Union members should bring their execs back to planet Labour
It has parallels with the Caucus: too many MP were out of synch with the membership and the country.
Er, not actually the case, Boadicea. The EPMU senior leadership made no recommendation and asked the voting delegates to consult with their members and vote accordingly. Which is what happened and I assume the EPMU vote was similar to the overall affiliate vote; overwhelmingly in favour of DC.
lol
this one should really go viral..
..so if you can help make that happen..plse do..
http://www.upworthy.com/people-should-know-about-this-awful-thing-we-do-and-most-of-us-are-simply-unaware-jl2-36b
..it got me..i got/am quite emotional..anger/prickling-eyes and all..
phillip ure..
@ phillip ure
thanks for that……beautiful and tragic!…puts anthropocentrism in perspective
have passed it on
and bad/shocking news for shane jones..eh..?
..penthouse has filed for bankruptcy..
..(does he have a support-group..?..who can rush to his side..?..
..tissues at the ready..?..as it were..?..)
..phillip ure..
The UN report on the Ghouta attack and the HRW response.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/168606795/U-N-Report-on-Chemical-Attack-in-Syria
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/16/dispatches-yes-it-was-sarin-un-report-says-now-what
I had problems with the scribd link, so downloaded from here ..
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/full-text-of-u-n-report-on-chemical-attack-in-syria/?_r=0
Some people may find this amusing ..
‘Why some Australian women loathe Tony Abbott – especially now.’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/10313055/Why-some-Australia
n-women-loathe-Tony-Abbott-especially-now.html
“Thing is, merely saying someone is not sexist does not alter reality if they truly are. Tony Abbott has been Prime Minister for a week and has just announced his ministry and cabinet. Of eighteen cabinet ministers chosen by Abbott, only one, Julie Bishop, the new Foreign Minister, is a woman. In Gillard’s cabinet, there were seven. Of the 12 parliamentary secretaries chosen by Abbott, only one there is female, too. Abbott has excused his selection by saying that he’s “disappointed” there aren’t more women in his cabinet, but that it’s been chosen “on merit” and there are women “knocking on the door” of cabinet in the outer ministry – still, of course, heavily outnumbered by men. That Abbott’s cabinet contains a Treasurer who couldn’t correctly add up a costings document, an Attorney General who believes religious rights trump human rights and an agriculture minister who thinks equal marriage rights for gay couples might somehow affect his daughters’ chances of finding husbands, the “merit” defence does not carry much weight. Especially not, as the Labor Opposition Leader pointed out today, Australia now has less female representation at cabinet level than Afghanistan.”
“….. and there are women “knocking on the door” of cabinet…..”
Let me guess….Abbott turns up the radio to drown out the knocking…
here is a how to monster tory warmongers..and corporate media-trouts..master-class..
..’tis beautiful to behold..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36255.htm
..phillip ure..
Another one bites the dust.
an odium for the moldboard plow.
“Unruly, reckless, often crude, and always curious, the Franks (as Muslims called them) were, like the Japanese at the other end of Eurasia, aware of the innumerable ways in which civilized neighbours excelled their own attainments. By 1500, therefore, Western Europeans had acquired an impressive array of learning from their Byzantine and Muslim neighbours, and had imported an equally impressive array of technologies from distant China. In short, they profited greatly in terms of wealth and power from their uninhibited sampling of ideas, goods, and practices circulating within the Old World Web. This held fateful consequences for America and world history after 1500.
By 1000, in the lands between the Loire and Elbe rivers, mounted knights and moldboard plow teams capable of cultivating flat, water-logged clay soils protected and supported one another very efficiently. From this core area, knights of Latin Christendom expanded their domain in every direction. Moldboard agriculture followed behind, but never caught up with the military frontier because climatic differences made the heavy plows impracticable in dry Mediterranean lands, as well as in Irish bogs and in the freezing winters of northeast Europe.
Within limits set by the mild winters and year-round rainfall the Gulf Stream and prevailing westerly winds brought to the plains, agricultural production swelled as peasant villagers developed a sustainable type of farming that employed labour almost uniformly throughout the year. By dividing arable land into three fields- one sown in autumn to harvest in late spring, one sown in spring for autumn harvest and one left fallow to be plowed (for weed control) in summer- plow teams could work almost all year round, interrupted only for Christmas and during weeks when planting and harvesting required everyone’s urgent effort. This regime allowed a single plowman’s share of cultivated land to amount to about thirty acres- far more than needed to feed himself, family and domestic animals.
Cooperative cultivation of open fields in NW Europe therefore permitted peasants to sustain fighting men who had a clear self-interest in guarding them against destructive raiders, together with priests and monks who attended to their relations with God. Surpluses extended the demand for artisans’ wares into peasant homes, furthering urban skills and tightening local trade and transport links. And when noble and clerical rent and tax receivers developed a taste for superior artisan products and commodities from afar, urban dwellers, recruited from the fringes of society, often led by pirate traders, began to supply them with their wants.
Tightening their links with the rest of the Old World Web, Western Europeans encountered far more sophisticated and more highly skilled peoples than themselves.Yet, as long as local agricultural and artisanal production expanded as rapidly as they did between 1000 and 1270, and Christian knights continued to be generally successful in battle, crude Westerners could feel confidant that God was on their side as they plumbed foreigners’ knowledge and skills for purposes of their own.
By 1500, Europe’s population was little, if at all, larger than in 1300 (famine and plague) even though by that time transport and industry were far more efficient. Stout, seaworthy ships now connected all the coasts of Europe, and interregional specialization and exchange had gathered momentum as an ever larger proportion of the population began to enter the market, thus replicating China’s commercialization after a delay of three to four centuries (dumbasses 😉 ); but unlike in China, European rulers and clerics failed to maintain control over the merchants and bankers who managed the new interregional economy.
European merchants and bankers attended to their own defense by gaining political control of a number of sovereign city-states. They could then deal more or less as equals with other local rulers, who found it impossible to do without loans or to repay their debts without concessions to bankers’ and merchants’ interests.Since moneyed men were continually on the lookout for anything that might turn a profit, a self-sustaining process of economic, social and technological change gathered headway wherever political conditions conceded it the freedom to operate. Time and again, local interests and traditional ways of doing things were displaced by politically protected economic innovators. This situation still persists today, having first transformed European society, and then infected the whole world, marking modern times off from earlier, more stable forms of society.
Urban self-government in Europe had another distinctive dimension. In Muslim and Chinese society, members of a single, sometimes extended family managed most economic enterprises. The strength of family ties made it difficult or impossible to trust outsiders, thus limiting the scale of most undertakings. Europeans found it easier to trust fellow citizens, regardless of blood relations or not.Extended family ties were unusually weak in most of Western Europe.
Self-government, in short, could be applied to common enterprises far afield as well as at home, so that large-scale private undertakings, far beyond the scope of any single family became routine and familiar. Shipbuilding and mining attained special vigor due to this sort of risk sharing among multiple private investors. As a result, by 1500 the supply of base metals- especially iron- available to Europeans far surpassed what other peoples had at their disposal.
It is plausible to believe that transfamilial commercial enterprise in the towns of medieval Europe derived from the practices of rural plow teams. Towns were unhealthful places and had to maintain themselves by attracting manpower from the countryside. In the heartlands of Western Europe, such rural recruits brought with them the habit of working in plow teams whose members came from different families. If a plowman failed to do his share of the work, or did not deal honestly with his fellows, penalties were dire indeed. Aggrieved neighbours could easily exclude him from plow teams.Such discipline, requiring mutual trust and cooperation beyond the limits of blood relations and short-sighted investment, prepared Europeans to trust one another.
However, such commercial flexibility came at the cost of the security and human warmth that extended families can provide, and the peace that imperial states can impose.
Indeed, endless rivalry and violence prevailed. 😎
You have been talking to the Clydesdales and Quarter horses again have’nt you Rogue.
neigh
When is John Key going to stop his private sector ways of doing business over the phone, and follow the LAWFUL requirements of the Public Records Act 2005 and ensure full and accurate records are created and maintained, in his ‘public service’ role as Prime Minister of New Zealand?
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2005/0040/latest/DLM345729.html
______________________________________________________________________________
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/key-discounts-covec-report-copper-pricing-%E2%80%98fundamentally-flawed-ts-145981
“At question time in Parliament today, Prime Minister John Key defended comments that Chorus may go broke if the Commerce Commission pressed ahead with plans for a sharp cut in the regulated price on the copper lines, saying Cabinet had received advice based on commercial and in-confidence briefings between Chorus and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
In his post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Key said he could not recall where the advice had come from.
He said today that those briefings probably would have come after he received a phone call from Chorus chair Sue Sheldon in December last year when she shared her view on the impact of the regulator’s draft decision and gave the government “some understanding of the issues they would face.”
______________________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
Auckland Mayoral candidate
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
So, and important result from Cunliffe’s question to Key yesterday! MSM where are you? Gower? Garner? Young? Watkins?…
From the many, consistent and frustrated comments I get from people from overseas who have moved here, NZ would have to have the worst quality of media information in the English speaking world (and prob beyond). Including America; where at least you can get some intelligent channels and well-thought out articles in news papers.
Congratulations NZ Media. /sarc
(**How about you re-assess your audience, you fuck-wits.**)
It’s legal.
Release of Previously Classified August 29, 2013 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Opinion
Today the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court released a previously classified opinion reauthorizing the collection of bulk telephony metadata under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The opinion affirms that the bulk telephony metadata collection is both lawful and constitutional. The release of this opinion is consistent with the President’s call for more transparency on these valuable intelligence programs.
http://icontherecord.tumblr.com/post/61526105674/release-of-previously-classified-august-29-2013
http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/courts/fisc/br13-09-primary-order.pdf
ooh, 300 Tractors organised by the Grower Action Group (Hort.) churn into protest the HBRC management of water at Hastings today; “RWSS takes focus away from the very real concerns of the Heretaunga Plains.
oh, and fingerprints and DNA to be exchange between NZ and The US.
Welcome to Stuckyville, Have a Nice Day 🙂
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11126566
Another one bites the dust…
…and we’re off to a flying start.
Acc changes afoot. Newer and bigger cars which guzzle petrol will have lower levies and older cheaper cars higher. Guess which part of society owns which cars?
Newer and bigger cars also have lower emissions than older cars
True, but it is still CO2 and there are lots more of them………
You mean because they weigh more and can only be built bigger to reach those lower emission standards, whereas an electric car can have its engine in its wheel opening up space in the car proper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water
Did you know water at just above freezing actually gets slightly more dense at 4 degrees. Can you imagine that, that the sea warming from 0 at the poles actually gets denser for a time and so shrinks, and once globally water is all above 4 degrees, the real effects of sea expansion will begin as the water is not linear as it gets warmer.
Economically young people, those wanting to have time and money to spare, are refraining from buying cars, and demanding to live and work in cities that have good public transport and housing spread. Unlike Auckland, our one and only, where the elite still dithers over public transport, still has to finalize plans to build density, where all the incentives to build at the top tier of housing still exist, and make it hard for those property developers to build where the demand is.
Welcome to NZ, the rest of the world is doing away high emission vehicles and so not engaging in stupid comparisons with our notorious fleet of old bombers. If its a good idea, you can be assured that NZ will talk it to death, and delay the solutions.
But the taxes for emissions should be within the fuel – not the ACC component.
IMO, cars more than 10 years old should be in the recycle queue. Better to design communities so that people don’t need a car.
This is the latest in a overall plot — yes, I will call it that — to have ACC behave like just another insurance companies and start turning down more and more claims.
When people enjoy their levy cuts, they need to realise that they came in the the backs of long term claiment, thrown off ACC, onto a benefit and into hardship.
+1 Exactly.
I’d prefer they spent what they have on ensuring as full rehabilitation as possible e.g. physio, pain management and psychological needs, and for them to stop declining accidents as ‘degenerative conditions’ just because someone isn’t 20 anymore or had a medical condition way back when.
The problem will be under Part 6A the staff from Novopay will all need to be taken on by a new contractor…. Lets hope Novopay behave like Labour and ignore the intent of this policy Labour plan to make everyone else abide by.
[lprent: You haven’t explained what 6A is, nor its relevance to the topic. Moved to OpenMike. Banned for a week for what looks like a out of context comment without explanation. Banned for a further 6 weeks – one per comment I had to move. ]
Yawn… Fucking idiot – find a new drum to bang.
you grumble like an old man yet have the logic skills of a preteen – WTF is wrong with you?
please for the love of (insert deity here) – get a new complaint!
drying paint is more exciting than this
(just as trivia – do you know that “watching paint dry” is actually a job? Who do you think comes up with the “drying times” on your tin of paint)
Yep – On the subject of rewarding failure … I can see why you lovers of power at any price and say anything to get elected get shitty when Part 6A is pointed out – Part 6A is all about rewarding failure.
Guess it’s too much to ask for you people to objectively look at how insane that policy is ?
What do you see are the National-led government’s main successes in the last 5 years?
– Asset sales? How’s that MRP price going.
– Economic growth? Yeah right.
– Assisted exporters? That dollar’s still 6th-highest traded in the entire world
– Run the books into a surplus? Not yet and not likely.
– Reconstructed Christchurch? Tui billboard
– Made the place less violent to children, or decreased poverty? Nope.
Looking forward to going to the hustings on all of that.
Count the days pal because your allies are walking dead.
Surely it would be possible to write a program to keep mentioning Part 6A automatically regardless of relevance or context like this, and isn’t there something in the site policy about that?
[lprent: There is. ]
Can one of youse with connections to Cunliffe please tell him that fat jokes lose votes. Even if they are directed at Gerry Brownlee.
Cheap shots like this in the House are a really good way to keep some of us ex-Labour people staying Green…
*massive disappointment*
Yes. Cheap shots about weight are a turn off.
But the rest of Cunliffe’s speech was pretty spirited and he even had Annette King nodding in agreement.
cosgrove calling ryall ‘twinkle-toes’ was also kinda ugly/stupid..
..and parker calling (bald) joyce ‘flathead’..also sucked..
..they have more than enough ammunition to hand..
..that kinda crap just diminishes them..not their targets..
..they should cease and desist..immediately..
..just argue the ideas/policies..
..it’s not smart..it’s not classy..
..we expect better..
..leave that infantile behavoiur to key..
..he does it so much better than anyone else..
..phillip ure..
Google doodle is for Leon Foucault. What a bummer that he died so early.
Foucault died of multiple sclerosis on February 11, 1868 at the age of 48 after being made a member of many of the top scientific societies in Europe.
He was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, with his name among those of seventy-two French scientists, engineers, and mathematicians engraved on the Eiffel Tower.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-doodle-celebrates-french-physicist-lon-foucaults-194th-birthday-with-foucault-pendulum-tribute-8822360.html
Reading all the things he worked on and is credited with discovering – he was amazing. And his name is engraved on the Eiffel Tower with 72 other great French brains. Do we have a place in New Zealand that has this sort of graffiti on it? All our clever people noted on marble or something and which we could hear details through a headset as we walked around looking at them?
Someone Else’s Country
8 New areas of oil exploration up for offer from the Nacts next year.
Twice as big as the previous auctions.
434,000 km2
yet,
of the original 23 proposed last auction, only 10 were eventually taken up.
Companies are struggling to find investment; competing internationally.
Government struggling to find buyers.
Oil, and, Water folks; let the show begin!
been another EQC privacy mix-up apparently; Wellington and Seddon clients receiving combinations of theirs and others claim details, etc. (I could mail them a chisel, or whip up a filing cabinet, flatpack will do).
Getting referred to the wiki page for astroturfing when I try thestandard.org.nz – I only got in to post by clicking a link in my web history.
Either someone’s hacked into the site or the admins joke is on me.
Edit.
Now it’s back to normal.
Sorry made a slip in .htaccess while consigning a non responsive malefactor to an informative page… (not you)
Not like that means anything to me, but good to know. 🙂
lolz I got that too and wondered who it was intended for
Ask not for whom the bell tolls 😆
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006021913000
a resounding answer. Yeeha.
If I were clever I’d have linked straight to the poem and not the yahoo q+a.
If I were dishonest I’d have edited my post once I found out who actually wrote it.
clever is for jugglers
the unedited was seen
thoughts are not final
the printed word is.
as a two finger 😉 typer , assembling as I go, oftentimes the intention is incomplete on some comments ie, the closing quote marks and refs. for eg. J.R McNiell and William H. McNeil, The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View 😉 of World History. New York. 2003; pp 137-142. sigh. know lie, and numbers once you have them are TooLish.
“as a two finger typer”
I’m a two finger driver, although I’m competent at using just one when needed. 🙂
Look! Chum, no hands at 60MPH; beware looking over the shoulder and ride that Full Moon Fever.
(easy-peasy Japanesee) no more do’h. Old Hat.sigh. nostalgia aye. Abandon romanticism. (great link) Still synthesizing music.
I’ll be okay when I’m a teenage girl and/or the next big pretty thing with breasts.
I’m in love with a German film star – http://www.u-he.com/cms/diva
Luvely Jubbly, all those knobby bits to twiddle with.
A person who used 5 different identities this morning, has seen my warning, not responded, and who now can read a page on astroturfing whenever they look at the site – at least until they get another IP, start to use a direct RSS feed through our proxy, or discover the joys of getting a proxy through our anti-spam software. I like to spread the workload…
Vicious 😎
apparently there has been another privacy breach by EQC, mailing combinations of two claiments details combined to a number of folk. Maybe I could mail them a chisel, or a flatpack filing cabinet to assemble.
Just received from EQC after an OIA request :
“Please be aware that EQC has received a substantial increase of Official Information requests in recent months and a response will take longer to prepare than the 20 working day statutory timeframe. If you consider that your request should be given priority, for example you are experiencing severe health or financial issues, please advise us as soon as possible with supporting documentation so that we may consider whether your request should be escalated.
Presently your request may face a 5-6 month delay as EQC works through the significant demand for such information. EQC is addressing this by employing further staff and implementing smarter systems. This timeframe will be periodically reviewed with the aim of getting a response to you sooner.”
(Emphasis added).
@#&*%$* what can I say, if you follow me and do as your told and don’t cause any trouble we have a nice room where you can shower with your friends, otherwise sit in the rain and mud till you change your mind, EQC the stone in your shoe.
It seems no lessons have been learned from the GFC. When you read anything about it, it’s likely to blame sub-prime mortgages, but these were only a symptom. The real problem is the derivatives market, played with fantasy money and run by computers using algorithms based on an equation which the operators don’t understand. Within capitalism, there are no long term solutions, but short term ones could be:
1. Prison for anyone involved in the derivatives market. Fraud is the only word to adequately describe what they are doing.
2. A financial transactions tax, which would act to slow down the rate of transactions and damp out the problems a little.
3. An enforced limit on the number of speculative transactions that any dealer can make over a given time period. One a week might be reasonable.
4. Computers running trading algorithms should only be available to a trader who can publish an article on financial mathematics and the applicability of the Black-Scholes equation in a peer reviewed mathematical journal. In the hands of anyone else, they are weapons of mass destruction and severe penalties should be applied.
In defence of mathematics – the actual equation is good maths. It just doesn’t describe the economy or the financial market in any way, shape or form. The “econophysicists” and others who try to use Fokker-Planck or stochastic differential equations to do this are modelling it as Brownian motion with a few bells and whistles. They are assuming that the Central Limit Theorem applies and the distribution of events will be Gaussian – the famous Bell curve. That’s what these equations describe. Following this approach, we should get an average of one financial crisis every century or two, at the most. Extreme events should be very rare, but they’re not. The maths is great, it’s just irrelevant.
The main problem is that the traders don’t care. They know that we’ll bail them out. Again and again. Well, about time we bailed them up instead. Against a wall.
Its become a massive mathematised ponzi scheme underwritten by savers, pensioners, tax payers and ordinary citizens.
Lost your job and your house and want a govt bailout? Too bad buddy, only the big end of town get that!
Very good Murray, that’s nicely put, and on the mark!
The underwriting of many orders of magnitude worth of planetary energy supply, or human existence, is most likely past the point of no return, but they knew the outcomes when the path was cleared back in the 90’s.
Now everything that is necessary to keep it together, is laid out, and when the time is right, they will collapse the lot, but that’s a little way off still, IMO!
well, that was worth waiting up for Murray Olsen. (had a primary teacher Mr. Olsen, seemed like a kind chap). All the best for the improvement of your health.
If it was either of Maunu or Ngunguru Schools, he would have been my father.
Richmond
NZ is increasing its metadata & information sharing ties to the US meanwhile in Brazil…
Nick Smith old lizard eyes continuing govt sleaze misleading public and parliament yesterday PinoKeyo lied about sue sheldon of Chorus ph call $600 million bail out today leak of internal email at doc proves nick smith sent a directive demanding to read any recommendations opposing hawksbay dam!