italic; write Thousands of low-income families are enduring cold damp homes because their landlords are not taking up a government subsidy to help insulate their properties.
The government hoped its two-year $18 million programme would lead to 20,000 more homes being made warm and dry. One year in, only 3700 homes have been insulated using the subsidy.
The ‘Warm Up New Zealand: Healthy Homes’ programme splits the cost of providing ceiling and underfloor insulation in rentals occupied by low-income New Zealanders between landlords and the government – typically they pay about $1500 each.
Andrew Caseley is the chief executive for the agency that runs Healthy Homes, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. He said he suspected many landlords believed their rental properties were already insulation compliant and they might be in for a nasty surprise.
“Well, we’d certainly like them to take it up – we’d like to be able to give out those grants just as soon as we can,” Mr Caseley said.
“There are a lot of rental properties, so 20,000 is actually not a great proportion of the total, so you would think it is an achievable one – and we are doing everything we can to do that.”
Green MP Gareth Hughes said the programme was shaping up to be a massive failure and the government should be doing more to promote it.
“There are slumlords out there and it’s a tragedy, the conditions that some people live in … the government needs to be so much more proactive making sure all New Zealand homes are warm and safe.” ‘‘
New Zealand’s rich are just like the landlords of Kensington.
Greedy , selfish to the point of not caring about the lives of the poor who lives in tehir houses.
It’s ironic that the outgoing government brag and go on about insulating so many houses when being interviewed or while speaking in parliament, yet they do little to promote the incentive to landlords etc.
Meanwhile suffering continues, damp cold houses, exploited tenants and no housing WOF.
I think that’s fantastic, with 70,000 immigrants flooding our country annually, 5k over six years is peanuts. Especially when our next PM is going to cut back on immigrants, we can help more refugees, and I’m very supportive of doing just that.
65 million people in the world have been displaced, we can go on and on about looking after NZer’s first, but the outgoing government haven’t been doing that for near on a decade. Rather they’ve been putting immigrants first and bugger our citizens and bugger those who have lost everything from war.
Over the next six years with our new government, we will be able to do this, with the current government there is no way, they care more about money than people.
Self entitled landlord…??! People with mental health problems have been known to trash housing, invariably the slum landlord and the most deprived members of the community meet. THis is not eithers fault. Its simple a governing philosophy. The govts are for monied and govt has no place serving poor citizens. A civil society believes everyone has the right to basic housing, nutrition, health, security. Naffy Nat’s don’t believe in a civil society, its winner takes all, which antithetical to both democracy and capitalism, its much older type, authoritarians. Yes! The neolib is just an authoritarian under the clothes, just they select authority by how big the bank balance not what crown someone wears.
Govt need to fund housing for the poorest, else the private sector will very badly if at all.
+100
That caste indulged landlord, just like the Gnat in parliament need to be reminded of Pyaar, Daya, Nimrata, Sat and Santokh.
oops, I thought I was looking at TDB comments
Good on the Greens with both them and yourself being absolutely correct Cinny. ….
Doing the right thing and acting with humanity is good for our society in its own right ….
Historically all the waves of refugees New Zealand has offered new lives to and resettled have benefited NZ…..
From the WWII Polish orphens and Jewish concentration camp survivors … or the Dutch or other Euriopean nationalitys uprooted by WWII …. refugees are generally very grateful and work hard establishing their new lives. Their contributions have expanded our society and helped us grow well away from the backward insecure little Nation who saw a toffy english accent as a sign of superiority …. and stood up like obedient sheep to ” God save the queen” which was played in movie theaters before the film started.
On the other hand …..our immigrants laws at at present seem more like our new tax haven laws the Nacts brought in …….
Facilitating the corrupt and criminal …… caring only about the money …. and not discriminating the dirty from the clean.
Increased corruption and a sinking international reputation for NZ from this National Govt so far …..
Just heard that too. I heard through the grape vine that one of his staff left to go to canada to avoid media. I must ask the person who told me more, they are a relative of said staff member, and told me about it around Christmas time.
Where have all our trolls gone today? Are Pike River, Todd Barclay, and the fallout from Glenhill Tower too much for our neolib fans? Surely the Market will fix all these things. Come on out and play guys, we are missing your bullshit.
Really liked this post over at bootstheory, and agree except on one thing. I think it is a fundamentalist Christian view that family first are pushing, not a Christian view.
Stephanie was pretty clear that she was postulating an ideal from Family First, not having a crack at Christianity:
“They just want to push a narrow-minded vision of what our society should look like. And if you aren’t the white, middle-class, patriarchal hetero monogamous Christian family unit they hold up as the ideal, they are not going to be here for you.”
In welcoming talk of a port company sell down, Prime Minister Bill English said he was pleased to see Council looking seriously at what it could do to fund its share of the city’s infrastructure. Adding Watercare to the package would, I am sure, get the action response all Aucklanders are crying out for.
In last month’s Budget, Finance Minister Steven Joyce clearly signalled the watching brief Government is keeping on the potential for further investment in the infrastructure for our growing economy by way of, as he put it, “greater use of partnerships between central and local government, and between government and the private sector.”
Selling the port is one thing, but selling the water is totally another. It will only burden Aucklanders, especially the poor with high water bills which they will be unable to pay.
Transport issues can be simply solved by encouraging businesses to relocate to suburban areas. The concept of a CBD is outdated in this era of high speed internet, dating back to the Babylonian era when all business was conducted in the Town square.
Also if NZ is such a ‘rockstar’ economy why do we keep having to sell off our assets? Statistics tell us we have all these tourists, these amazing migrants, these overseas students all apparently essential to the Natz in WELLINGTON BUT where’s the money going from all this economic activity – because whoever is getting the profits, seems to expect Joe Public to pay for all the negatives…
Just thinking how nothing is working out for NZ. We have been running our country for over a century thinking we were approaching politics and the economy seriously. And, seriously, what have we accomplished – a farce.
So I think that we should run the country as a farce, and then we will meet the problems in a flexible way, and probably things will turn out in a seriously good way.
The method is called George Doing the Opposite approach, and here is a link to George as an individual using the method that the thinking, unhappy people of this country need to use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUvKE3bQlY
One of the things is to have a another Government Department called the Department of Practical Implementation and Engineering (DOPIE) and we will pay Disney to use their icons of the little dwarfs going off to work for our logo and zeitgeist. This then will be a balance to the Ministry of Bulldust and Innovative Extenuation.
The DOPIE agency will have a relative small budget, and make small loan advances to well-presented business and tourist attraction ideas that will create NZ owned and operated business employing at least 3 people. Sort of like a grameen bank. Also regions can approach for assistance with local business already profitable and able to improve with better transport, innovation involving more workers etc.
If some are not successful, it doesn’t matter, the region will have been primed with some capital, people will have been working, and the multiplier will have been working. If big business can fail and that’s accepted as natural attrition, then small business that has a small failure rate, shouldn’t be sniffed at.
During Boris Johnson’s mayoralty, ten London fire stations were closed down; three of them within the vicinity of Grenfell Tower, something which would inevitably affect response time.
Bought to you by the ideology that bought us Cyclone Katrina, The Grenfell Tower and Pike river…
Government is not about the people stupid, it’s about protecting the interests of their donor stakeholders… not wasting money on citizens that can be easily replaced in the global market place…
Auckland volcanoes are basaltic. In a society with measuring instruments they will give quite a lot of warning before erupting. Their eruptions are pretty localized to less than 10 kilometers. The earthquakes associated with them are small. Basaltic volcanoes are almost a pleasure for emergency services dealing with evacuating people. Of course houses, buildings and businesses can’t move as easily.
To give you an idea. There is considerable evidence of Maori on the seashore across the narrow channel to Rangitoto during the last eruptions of Rangitoto about 600 years ago.
I suspect you are thinking about Andesitic (ie like White Island) or Rhyolitic volcanoes (like Ruapehu or Taupo). The latter in particular tend to go off with little warning and can cause problems worldwide. For instance the last eruption at Taupo caused problems all of the way down the Waikato to Hamilton. And then of course there is this eruption
The Oruanui eruption of the Taupo Volcano was the world’s largest known eruption in the past 70,000 years, with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8. It occurred around 26,500 years ago and generated approximately 430 km³ of pyroclastic fall deposits, 320 km³ of pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits (mostly ignimbrite) and 420 km³ of primary intracaldera material, equivalent to 530 km³ of magma.[4][5][6]
Modern Lake Taupo partly fills the caldera generated during this eruption.
Tephra from the eruption covered much of the central North Island with ignimbrite up to 200 metres deep. Most of New Zealand was affected by ash fall, with even an 18 cm ash layer left on the Chatham Islands, 1,000 km away. Later erosion and sedimentation had long-lasting effects on the landscape, and caused the Waikato River to shift from the Hauraki Plains to its current course through the Waikato to the Tasman Sea.
It pays to know your volcanoes before getting too daft about them. The Auckland volcanoes that surround me are relatively safe. The ones I fear are in the central north island, and I fear that I live a bit too close to them. If I am lucky, we may get a few days warning that life will get somewhat dangerous.
Auckland Museum has a interactive exhibit about a volcano eruption – Rangitoto – in Auckland. The exhibit has the impact of the eruption simulated on Auckland’s waterfront and neighbouring suburbs.
I can’t remember how far they predicted the eruption would reach – was too busy watching Mark Sainsbury delivering the televised news segment, but I thought it was more than 10km – maybe 30.
Has anyone else been there recently that can remember?
Even if it is likely for there to be warnings about a volcano, the situation should be looked at with a worst case scenario… nowadays there are just too many situations where government seem asleep at the job in the case of a crisis.
Remember when all the power went off in Auckland. Seem to remember the civil defence was on the 13th floor of the council building, yep, lifts require electricity people. That wasn’t even a disaster and it cleared out Auckland.
There seems to be a lack of interest in actually looking at the practical reality in a disaster or even if there is a man made crisis like Electricity grid drops off.
We are pretty much doomed in Auckland because we can barely escape for the weekend out of Auckland these days in normal traffic conditions, not sure what’s gonna happen when a disaster strikes..
Many may have read this by Martyn Bradbury over at TDB but it’s good to see someone swinging wide with a baseball bat at our disastrous economy and gummint.
The National Party have nurtured and grown the speculative property bubble with open floodgate immigration and fake foreign student education because it creates a false illusion of middle class wealth that keeps them voting National.
Today – the Point England Enabling Bill is number 3 on the Order Paper.
If Green Party MPs ‘sit on the fence’ and abstain on this arguably classic environmental issues- I for one will be VERY outspoken – because, in my opinion, this is a SELLOUT.
Why on earth does Minister for Building and Construction Nick Smith, want to carve a quarter of the Point England Reserve, when, on HIS watch, there are 76 bare sections and apparently 70 empty, former Housing NZ houses already in Tamaki?
Penny Bright
2017 Independent candidate
Tamaki electorate.
(Exposing the $1.6 billion Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ – GENTRIFICATION $CAM.)
And Natz agenda is to use precedents like that to push through other developments on reserve land AND divide Maori and Pakeha AS WELL AS make Greens less trusted as environmental custodians.
Rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in NZ poultry
…NZ has a long-term problem with Campylobacter infection from contaminated fresh chicken meat [1]. In addition, recently presented research on AMR has found that a tetracycline and fluoroquinolone resistant strain of Campylobacter, first detected in poultry in 2014, has spread rapidly across the North Island [2]. By 2015 this strain was causing about a third of human Campylobacter infection cases in Auckland….
Contaminated poultry is therefore responsible for about 300 of the 600 serious Campylobacter infection cases hospitalised each year [4]. About 30 of these infections will cause paralysis (Guillain-Barré syndrome [6]), and others will result in serious invasive illness and death. One example was Rod Donald, co-leader of the Green Party, who died in 2005 at the age of 49 years from myocarditis secondary to Campylobacter infection [7].
The economic cost to the country from Campylobacter-contaminated poultry runs to tens of millions of dollars [8]. This cost is largely paid for by sick consumers, employers and the taxpayer-funded health sector rather than by the poultry industry which is the source of the problem….
The Ministry of Health (MOH) should have an interest in encouraging MPI to regulate given the considerable disease burden resulting from contaminated chicken meat. Health services pick up much of the tab for these illnesses so one would expect the MOH to be highly supportive of moves to close off this source. In addition, they have a lead role in developing NZ’s Antimicrobial Resistance strategy….
Consumer action: Finally, consumers can also ‘vote with their feet’ (or wallet) and switch to safer and lower cost protein foods [16]. If they continue to purchase poultry, then changing to cooked and frozen product would greatly lower their risks of Campylobacter infection….
In summary – NZ has a serious long-term Campylobacter epidemic but now with the added hazard of rapidly emergent antimicrobial resistance. Fortunately a range of control options exist, many of which have been proven to work in the past in this country and internationally. Now all we need is the political will to act on this important and costly public health problem.
Today at 4.45pm I received an OIA reply from Minister for Building and Construction, Nick Smith, regarding evidence I have provided which proves that the Local Government and Environment Select Committee was given inaccurate advice regarding the Pt England Development Enabling Bill.
Nick Smith advised me to contact the Chair of the Local Government and Environment Select Committee – Andrew Bayly if I thought the Selecr Committee had been given inaccurate advice – which I have.
How can the House proceed with the
Pt England Development Enabling Bill if information about this Bill has been based upon inaccurate advice?
Penny Bright
2017 Independent candidate for
Tamaki electorate.
Exposing the $1.6 billion Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ – GENTRIFICATION $CAM.
This one is almost out of this world in terms of the dumb decision’s by NZ Railways management that been made in its history so far. But worst one I’ve seen so far is not in NZ, but in Oz with building of the inland railway from Melbourne port (Dryon yards) to Brisbane port well it stops short by 35km from the port. The private venture goes to port to port.
On board with the KiwiRail insanity, but I’m not sure if you have it quite right with the Inland Route:
The Kagaru to Acacia Ridge and Bromelton (K2ARB) section is one of 13 projects that complete Inland Rail. This section of the Inland Rail Programme consists of enhancements to, as well as commissioning of, dual gauge operations along the existing interstate track between K2ARB.
There is about 52km of existing track to be upgraded enabling double-stacking capability along the existing interstate route both south from Kagaru to Bromelton and north from Kagaru to Brisbane’s major intermodal terminal at Acacia Ridge.
It depends what newspaper or rail mag I seem to pickup of late. I’m starting to think may be some misinformation floating about ie between the ARTC and the Private venture? I do know there is some work has to carried out the Dryon yards in Melbourne and the bum fight in regards to Queensland’s narrow gauge (Cape gauge) in weather dual gauge or not and then you have the Wanger brothers trying to get inland railway to go via their airport. Anyway i’m hoping it doesn’t turn to like the NBN shit fight.
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Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
The NZQA proposal released to staff today would involve a net loss of 35 roles. There are 66 roles being disestablished with 13 of those currently vacant, and 31 new roles proposed, said Fleur Fitzsimons Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga ...
Alex Casey talks to Loren Taylor, the writer, director and star of new film The Moon is Upside Down, about assembling her dream ensemble cast, toilet paper pads and turning literal dreams into reality. There’s a moment in The Moon is Upside Down where frazzled anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) gets ...
Renters and realtors are upset with a government decision to scrap a bill meant to regulate property managers over concerns about unethical and unlawful behaviours. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassy Dittman, Senior Lecturer/Head of Course (Undergraduate Psychology), Research Fellow, Manna Institute, CQUniversity Australia With winter sports swinging into action, adults around the country have volunteered or been volunteered by others (humorously known as being “volun-told”) to coach junior sports teams. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University richardernestyap/Shutterstock Parents are often advised to burp their babies after feeding them. Some people think burping after feeding is important to reduce or prevent discomfort crying, or to ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
As the government tries to get the country back on track with a school phone ban, Tara Ward has an idea for where they should turn their attention to next.New Zealand students returned to school on Monday morning, but their cellphones did not. The government’s new phone ban began ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, 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. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
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Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
‘Official London Grenfell fire toll at 79, say police.’
It will go up.
We are not being told the truth according to locals and residents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnIXJSxdICI
[stop spamming Ed. If you don’t know what I mean by that then ask. Count this as a warning – weka]
Local Residents accuse media blackout over 42 bodies found in one room in Grenfell Tower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRS76v5PTik
Lily Allen claims Grenfell Tower death count is closer to 150 people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kDfTBFmDvw
Please see my moderation comment above.
The brighter future………
Landlords neglect govt insulation offer.
italic; write Thousands of low-income families are enduring cold damp homes because their landlords are not taking up a government subsidy to help insulate their properties.
The government hoped its two-year $18 million programme would lead to 20,000 more homes being made warm and dry. One year in, only 3700 homes have been insulated using the subsidy.
The ‘Warm Up New Zealand: Healthy Homes’ programme splits the cost of providing ceiling and underfloor insulation in rentals occupied by low-income New Zealanders between landlords and the government – typically they pay about $1500 each.
Andrew Caseley is the chief executive for the agency that runs Healthy Homes, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. He said he suspected many landlords believed their rental properties were already insulation compliant and they might be in for a nasty surprise.
“Well, we’d certainly like them to take it up – we’d like to be able to give out those grants just as soon as we can,” Mr Caseley said.
“There are a lot of rental properties, so 20,000 is actually not a great proportion of the total, so you would think it is an achievable one – and we are doing everything we can to do that.”
Green MP Gareth Hughes said the programme was shaping up to be a massive failure and the government should be doing more to promote it.
“There are slumlords out there and it’s a tragedy, the conditions that some people live in … the government needs to be so much more proactive making sure all New Zealand homes are warm and safe.” ‘‘
New Zealand’s rich are just like the landlords of Kensington.
Greedy , selfish to the point of not caring about the lives of the poor who lives in tehir houses.
We need to get rid of neoliberalism.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/333390/landlords-neglect-govt-insulation-offer
It’s ironic that the outgoing government brag and go on about insulating so many houses when being interviewed or while speaking in parliament, yet they do little to promote the incentive to landlords etc.
Meanwhile suffering continues, damp cold houses, exploited tenants and no housing WOF.
Neoliberalism sucks.
Greens want to increase our refugee quota, bringing it up to 5,000 within six years.
I think that’s fantastic, with 70,000 immigrants flooding our country annually, 5k over six years is peanuts. Especially when our next PM is going to cut back on immigrants, we can help more refugees, and I’m very supportive of doing just that.
I’d rather help refugees than let in.. for example… self entitled, caste indulged landlord like we saw on The Nation in the weekend. And I’m sure anyone who has been involved with refugees would agree with me.
65 million people in the world have been displaced, we can go on and on about looking after NZer’s first, but the outgoing government haven’t been doing that for near on a decade. Rather they’ve been putting immigrants first and bugger our citizens and bugger those who have lost everything from war.
Over the next six years with our new government, we will be able to do this, with the current government there is no way, they care more about money than people.
We can,t house our own . Send them to the region’s they say . No jobs and no doctors in the region’s
I’m hearing you, but things will change over six years.
Self entitled landlord…??! People with mental health problems have been known to trash housing, invariably the slum landlord and the most deprived members of the community meet. THis is not eithers fault. Its simple a governing philosophy. The govts are for monied and govt has no place serving poor citizens. A civil society believes everyone has the right to basic housing, nutrition, health, security. Naffy Nat’s don’t believe in a civil society, its winner takes all, which antithetical to both democracy and capitalism, its much older type, authoritarians. Yes! The neolib is just an authoritarian under the clothes, just they select authority by how big the bank balance not what crown someone wears.
Govt need to fund housing for the poorest, else the private sector will very badly if at all.
+100
That caste indulged landlord, just like the Gnat in parliament need to be reminded of Pyaar, Daya, Nimrata, Sat and Santokh.
oops, I thought I was looking at TDB comments
Good on the Greens with both them and yourself being absolutely correct Cinny. ….
Doing the right thing and acting with humanity is good for our society in its own right ….
Historically all the waves of refugees New Zealand has offered new lives to and resettled have benefited NZ…..
From the WWII Polish orphens and Jewish concentration camp survivors … or the Dutch or other Euriopean nationalitys uprooted by WWII …. refugees are generally very grateful and work hard establishing their new lives. Their contributions have expanded our society and helped us grow well away from the backward insecure little Nation who saw a toffy english accent as a sign of superiority …. and stood up like obedient sheep to ” God save the queen” which was played in movie theaters before the film started.
On the other hand …..our immigrants laws at at present seem more like our new tax haven laws the Nacts brought in …….
Facilitating the corrupt and criminal …… caring only about the money …. and not discriminating the dirty from the clean.
Increased corruption and a sinking international reputation for NZ from this National Govt so far …..
http://www.noted.co.nz/money/property/taking-us-to-the-cleaners/
https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/police-43m-settlement-citizen-yan-193297
“Shanghai Pengxin, under various guises, gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the National Party;” … http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/04/22/national-party-4-sale/
Rather have refugees than Asian Landlords ?
There’s plenty of greedy, venal non Asian landlords to mate.
Holy shit the leaders fund for national was used to pay off Todd Barclays secutary in the tapeing fiasco . English knew according to news hub
Just heard that too. I heard through the grape vine that one of his staff left to go to canada to avoid media. I must ask the person who told me more, they are a relative of said staff member, and told me about it around Christmas time.
Dynamite.
This corrupt clique being exposed…
Found a link to the story
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/06/19/34853/barclay-payout-raises-questions-over-leaders-fund
And Todd Barclays file of denial
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/06/19/34827/barclay-a-file-of-denial
…taping fiasco…
When this news first broke I figured Barclay had recorded Dickson’s conversations with him.
In fact, he put a dictaphone in her office and recorded conversations with constituents. Then he denied and lied about it and made threats.
Bill English lied about knowing.
Curiously, no search warrant was sought. “Lack of evidence” is easy when you don’t look for any.
Where have all our trolls gone today? Are Pike River, Todd Barclay, and the fallout from Glenhill Tower too much for our neolib fans? Surely the Market will fix all these things. Come on out and play guys, we are missing your bullshit.
Lmfao 😀 You crack me up G.
Maybe Q2 will shine a bit more light on the outgoing governments neglect and brain fades.
ANDREW LITTLE to the Prime Minister: Does he believe that the moral standards he sets as Prime Minister are high enough?
Or Q6… Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Before making a statement, does he check the facts; if not, why not?
Power actually causes measurable brain damage. Another argument for term limits.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711/
Really liked this post over at bootstheory, and agree except on one thing. I think it is a fundamentalist Christian view that family first are pushing, not a Christian view.
https://bootstheory.wordpress.com/2017/06/20/the-truth-behind-the-lobbyists-who-want-the-right-to-hit-kids/
May all child beaters fester in hell. Hitting kids is never acceptable.
Stephanie was pretty clear that she was postulating an ideal from Family First, not having a crack at Christianity:
“They just want to push a narrow-minded vision of what our society should look like. And if you aren’t the white, middle-class, patriarchal hetero monogamous Christian family unit they hold up as the ideal, they are not going to be here for you.”
I suggest you all watch “Handmaid’s Tale”, which is currently on Spark’s Lightbox service, or the grey area of The Pirate Bay.
It offers a very chilling depiction of what life would be like if Family Fist had their way.
Still trying to sell shit:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11879290
Wonder if Goff will reply?
Selling the port is one thing, but selling the water is totally another. It will only burden Aucklanders, especially the poor with high water bills which they will be unable to pay.
Transport issues can be simply solved by encouraging businesses to relocate to suburban areas. The concept of a CBD is outdated in this era of high speed internet, dating back to the Babylonian era when all business was conducted in the Town square.
When Goff was campaigning he very clearly pointed out the economic lunacy of selling Watercare.
Hopefully Phil Goff will reply “Fuck off”.
Also if NZ is such a ‘rockstar’ economy why do we keep having to sell off our assets? Statistics tell us we have all these tourists, these amazing migrants, these overseas students all apparently essential to the Natz in WELLINGTON BUT where’s the money going from all this economic activity – because whoever is getting the profits, seems to expect Joe Public to pay for all the negatives…
Immigration is a question of workers’ solidarity:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/workers-rights-internationalism-and-open-borders/
Just thinking how nothing is working out for NZ. We have been running our country for over a century thinking we were approaching politics and the economy seriously. And, seriously, what have we accomplished – a farce.
So I think that we should run the country as a farce, and then we will meet the problems in a flexible way, and probably things will turn out in a seriously good way.
The method is called George Doing the Opposite approach, and here is a link to George as an individual using the method that the thinking, unhappy people of this country need to use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUvKE3bQlY
One of the things is to have a another Government Department called the Department of Practical Implementation and Engineering (DOPIE) and we will pay Disney to use their icons of the little dwarfs going off to work for our logo and zeitgeist. This then will be a balance to the Ministry of Bulldust and Innovative Extenuation.
The DOPIE agency will have a relative small budget, and make small loan advances to well-presented business and tourist attraction ideas that will create NZ owned and operated business employing at least 3 people. Sort of like a grameen bank. Also regions can approach for assistance with local business already profitable and able to improve with better transport, innovation involving more workers etc.
If some are not successful, it doesn’t matter, the region will have been primed with some capital, people will have been working, and the multiplier will have been working. If big business can fail and that’s accepted as natural attrition, then small business that has a small failure rate, shouldn’t be sniffed at.
Hmmm, I’d like to second that motion.
During Boris Johnson’s mayoralty, ten London fire stations were closed down; three of them within the vicinity of Grenfell Tower, something which would inevitably affect response time.
Paul Embery, London organiser of the Fire Brigades Union, warned in 2014 that people would die:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/firefighter-organiser-2014-warning-re-closures-of-london-fire-stations/
And, of course, the Grenfell residents had pointed out last November that it would take people dying before anything was done about the safety of the Tower: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/grenfell-fire-tenants-predicted-the-disaster/
Interesting comments by an ex-firefighter about how fire deaths are under-recorded:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/ex-firefighter-on-the-grenfell-tragedy/
To most people you would think loss of life would be the main concern with a volcanic eruption, but not in NZ…
How a city eruption would hit Auckland’s economy
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11879120
Bought to you by the ideology that bought us Cyclone Katrina, The Grenfell Tower and Pike river…
Government is not about the people stupid, it’s about protecting the interests of their donor stakeholders… not wasting money on citizens that can be easily replaced in the global market place…
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/198
Auckland volcanoes are basaltic. In a society with measuring instruments they will give quite a lot of warning before erupting. Their eruptions are pretty localized to less than 10 kilometers. The earthquakes associated with them are small. Basaltic volcanoes are almost a pleasure for emergency services dealing with evacuating people. Of course houses, buildings and businesses can’t move as easily.
To give you an idea. There is considerable evidence of Maori on the seashore across the narrow channel to Rangitoto during the last eruptions of Rangitoto about 600 years ago.
I suspect you are thinking about Andesitic (ie like White Island) or Rhyolitic volcanoes (like Ruapehu or Taupo). The latter in particular tend to go off with little warning and can cause problems worldwide. For instance the last eruption at Taupo caused problems all of the way down the Waikato to Hamilton. And then of course there is this eruption
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taupo_Volcano#The_Oruanui_eruption
It pays to know your volcanoes before getting too daft about them. The Auckland volcanoes that surround me are relatively safe. The ones I fear are in the central north island, and I fear that I live a bit too close to them. If I am lucky, we may get a few days warning that life will get somewhat dangerous.
Yes … ask a geologist about the “Okataina Complex”.
https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Volcanoes/New-Zealand-Volcanoes/Volcano-Geology-and-Hazards/Okataina-Volcanic-Centre-Geology
I’ve heard one speaker describe it as by far the most underestimated geo-hazard in NZ. As if we didn’t already have plenty.
Auckland Museum has a interactive exhibit about a volcano eruption – Rangitoto – in Auckland. The exhibit has the impact of the eruption simulated on Auckland’s waterfront and neighbouring suburbs.
I can’t remember how far they predicted the eruption would reach – was too busy watching Mark Sainsbury delivering the televised news segment, but I thought it was more than 10km – maybe 30.
Has anyone else been there recently that can remember?
Even if it is likely for there to be warnings about a volcano, the situation should be looked at with a worst case scenario… nowadays there are just too many situations where government seem asleep at the job in the case of a crisis.
Remember when all the power went off in Auckland. Seem to remember the civil defence was on the 13th floor of the council building, yep, lifts require electricity people. That wasn’t even a disaster and it cleared out Auckland.
There seems to be a lack of interest in actually looking at the practical reality in a disaster or even if there is a man made crisis like Electricity grid drops off.
We are pretty much doomed in Auckland because we can barely escape for the weekend out of Auckland these days in normal traffic conditions, not sure what’s gonna happen when a disaster strikes..
Many may have read this by Martyn Bradbury over at TDB but it’s good to see someone swinging wide with a baseball bat at our disastrous economy and gummint.
This is IT explicitly and well said on 19/6/2017.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/06/19/so-it-seems-our-rock-star-economy-was-completely-dependent-on-an-imported-audience/
For clmate change buffs and everyone else too – compact information pack from Skeptical Science.
https://skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=3786
Today – the Point England Enabling Bill is number 3 on the Order Paper.
If Green Party MPs ‘sit on the fence’ and abstain on this arguably classic environmental issues- I for one will be VERY outspoken – because, in my opinion, this is a SELLOUT.
Why on earth does Minister for Building and Construction Nick Smith, want to carve a quarter of the Point England Reserve, when, on HIS watch, there are 76 bare sections and apparently 70 empty, former Housing NZ houses already in Tamaki?
Penny Bright
2017 Independent candidate
Tamaki electorate.
(Exposing the $1.6 billion Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ – GENTRIFICATION $CAM.)
Good points Penny Bright. Get a grip Greens, you are being USED by the Natz to help push their agenda.
And Natz agenda is to use precedents like that to push through other developments on reserve land AND divide Maori and Pakeha AS WELL AS make Greens less trusted as environmental custodians.
From a 2015 report on campylobacter and chicken.
Fresh chicken is the likely source of 50% of the 600 serious campylobacter cases yearly.
https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/2015/12/19/nzs-long-running-campylobacter-epidemic-from-poultry-now-with-antibiotic-resistance/
Rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in NZ poultry
…NZ has a long-term problem with Campylobacter infection from contaminated fresh chicken meat [1]. In addition, recently presented research on AMR has found that a tetracycline and fluoroquinolone resistant strain of Campylobacter, first detected in poultry in 2014, has spread rapidly across the North Island [2]. By 2015 this strain was causing about a third of human Campylobacter infection cases in Auckland….
Contaminated poultry is therefore responsible for about 300 of the 600 serious Campylobacter infection cases hospitalised each year [4]. About 30 of these infections will cause paralysis (Guillain-Barré syndrome [6]), and others will result in serious invasive illness and death. One example was Rod Donald, co-leader of the Green Party, who died in 2005 at the age of 49 years from myocarditis secondary to Campylobacter infection [7].
The economic cost to the country from Campylobacter-contaminated poultry runs to tens of millions of dollars [8]. This cost is largely paid for by sick consumers, employers and the taxpayer-funded health sector rather than by the poultry industry which is the source of the problem….
The Ministry of Health (MOH) should have an interest in encouraging MPI to regulate given the considerable disease burden resulting from contaminated chicken meat. Health services pick up much of the tab for these illnesses so one would expect the MOH to be highly supportive of moves to close off this source. In addition, they have a lead role in developing NZ’s Antimicrobial Resistance strategy….
Consumer action: Finally, consumers can also ‘vote with their feet’ (or wallet) and switch to safer and lower cost protein foods [16]. If they continue to purchase poultry, then changing to cooked and frozen product would greatly lower their risks of Campylobacter infection….
In summary – NZ has a serious long-term Campylobacter epidemic but now with the added hazard of rapidly emergent antimicrobial resistance. Fortunately a range of control options exist, many of which have been proven to work in the past in this country and internationally. Now all we need is the political will to act on this important and costly public health problem.
Buy it frozen, and cook the hell out of it. Otherwise you are at risk. Stuff any official reassurances.
Yes I think I’ll change my MO with chicken.
Today at 4.45pm I received an OIA reply from Minister for Building and Construction, Nick Smith, regarding evidence I have provided which proves that the Local Government and Environment Select Committee was given inaccurate advice regarding the Pt England Development Enabling Bill.
Nick Smith advised me to contact the Chair of the Local Government and Environment Select Committee – Andrew Bayly if I thought the Selecr Committee had been given inaccurate advice – which I have.
How can the House proceed with the
Pt England Development Enabling Bill if information about this Bill has been based upon inaccurate advice?
Penny Bright
2017 Independent candidate for
Tamaki electorate.
Exposing the $1.6 billion Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ – GENTRIFICATION $CAM.
Get a load of this, if you think the business case study for third main in Auckland was a load bollocks. Get a load of this one WTF!
http://politik.co.nz/en/content/economy/1121/Decision-making-in-a-rush-Kiwirail-Treasury.htm
This one is almost out of this world in terms of the dumb decision’s by NZ Railways management that been made in its history so far. But worst one I’ve seen so far is not in NZ, but in Oz with building of the inland railway from Melbourne port (Dryon yards) to Brisbane port well it stops short by 35km from the port. The private venture goes to port to port.
On board with the KiwiRail insanity, but I’m not sure if you have it quite right with the Inland Route:
https://inlandrail.artc.com.au/k2arb
If you check out the map the rest of the rail route from the Acacia Ridge terminal to the Port appears to already exist. Is there more to this?
It depends what newspaper or rail mag I seem to pickup of late. I’m starting to think may be some misinformation floating about ie between the ARTC and the Private venture? I do know there is some work has to carried out the Dryon yards in Melbourne and the bum fight in regards to Queensland’s narrow gauge (Cape gauge) in weather dual gauge or not and then you have the Wanger brothers trying to get inland railway to go via their airport. Anyway i’m hoping it doesn’t turn to like the NBN shit fight.