Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Selfish.
New Zealand’s middle class.
‘Chris Trotter: The middle class have become selfish survivalists.
What has happened to the New Zealand middle class? Why has the social strata that encompasses our best educated, most highly skilled, most entrepreneurial and financially literate citizens failed so miserably to respond to our nation’s needs?
When did the middle class relinquish the moral and civic leadership upon which its claims to social pre-eminence rested? How, and by whom, has the middle class been superseded?………………
……Separated from its former working class allies; dictated to by an international ruling class it cannot control; the New Zealand middle class is, today, almost entirely absorbed with its own survival. House prices, retirement plans, and the fecklessness of the lower orders are the obsessions du jour. The besetting conundrum: how to ensure their children enjoy a middle class existence without relinquishing their own in the process?
The generous and collaborative middle class, which won New Zealand international acclaim for its progressive economic, social and political reforms, has largely ceased to exist. Without allies, and without hope, its selfish successor squabbles fractiously on a dwindling sand hill, fatally encumbered by the shabby detritus of its own illusory superiority.’
The 0.1% are finding that the bottom 90% have little left to steal. So now they are turning their thieving schemes on to the top 10% and the top 5%. Their homes, retirement savings, pension schemes, jobs.
Oh look we are number 1…
1. New Zealand: New Zealand’s economy could have grown by 44 percent between 1990 and 2010, but the country did only achieve 28 percent growth due to inequality. Hence, it lost 15.5 percentage points — more than any other country. This is particularly surprising, given that New Zealand was once considered a paradise of equality https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/01/05/how-inequality-made-these-western-countries-poorer/
What is it about a middle class and generations which where brought up being taught about the importance of telling the truth and punished, (often physically) for not, that sees them now accept and expect dishonesty and downright lies from our most senior politicians?
What consequences are there for they way they are raising their own children and grandchildren?
That is a brilliant, insightful article by Trotter – thanks Paul, for putting it up. These two bits are most telling, “Up until 1981, New Zealand society remained the co-creation of its working and middle classes,” and “The economic, cultural and political elites who had accepted the terms of the post-war social-democratic settlement were replaced by those who understood, and were fiercely loyal to, the policies of the new order.”
The two quotes put together explain the tricky situation in which political parties of the left now find themselves, while the latter by itself explains Key’s popularity. Key’s commitment to the new order keeps punishment at bay for the middle class, while demanding punishment for the working class and the poor as evidence of his commitment. Which makes it very difficult for the working class and the middle class to be allies – the championing of one means the punishment of the other. And this is where it gets tricky for parties of the left – they need the support of a mixture of working class and middle class voters if they are to gain office in a bona fide fashion.
The working class and under class are the least likely in society to vote.
Electoral logic has told Labour and Greens to not bother focussing on getting those votes.
So the working class and under class vote less and less. Many here have said how shite life as a beneficiary was under Labour. That’s not by accident. Labour have chosen which class they back.
That’s why the push has to come from the grass roots. One can only hope that New Zealanders will eventually take heart from the places where this seems to be starting to happen, like the UK and the US. According to my friends in Australia, even Shorten is making some left-leaning moves now. But all I am saying is that there really is a dilemma involved, it is not just about careerists comfortably ensconcing themselves, and a way past it needs to be be found.
The New Zealand Election Study (NZES) suggests that in 2011 – for the first time since reliable data was first collected in 1963 – National gained more working-class votes than Labour.
Even in the 70s, a time when Muldoon is widely alleged to have made deep inroads into the blue-collar vote, Labour had, in fact, easily won the working-class constituency (Muldoon’s success was actually grounded much more in middle and lower middle class support).
It’s not that National were the beneficiaries of a significant wkg-class swing in 2011, though. In fact, their share of the wkg-class vote actually fell slightly (down 1 point on 2008). Rather, Labour suffered a huge 6 point fall in their blue-collar share – with (as you’ve implied) a good deal of it heading towards Non-Voting. Thus, National slipping slightly with workers and their families, while Labour – in total freefall – sails past them on the way down.
As I’ve been saying all along and repeated only yesterday to bill murray. Labour will not improve its position significantly until it shows the non-voters that they can have confidence again in Labour actually doing something for them.
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Greedy.
Compass.
Ex-Middlemore kitchen staff say Compass owes them thousands
Ten staff who worked for decades in Middlemore Hospital’s kitchen before the Compass Group took over the operation say they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by the company.
Compass is one of the world’s biggest catering companies, and supplies nearly half of all public hospital meals in New Zealand.
The company has been the focus of protests in recent months about the quality of the food that it has supplied to hospitals in Otago and Southland. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306857/kitchen-staff-say-compass-owes-them-thousands
One of many juicy outsourced arrangements struck in health under Ryall and watched over by some rather toxic managers they’ve installed around the system.
Waiakto’s upper level has been flushed in its Chiefs image since he joined and my what a lovely upstanding fellow Dr Murray is.
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Cruel, uncaring.
‘We feel targeted because we’re black’
Yep there are lessons here for us all – if you allow people to empower themselves miracles can happen – if you suppress and treat people as lower and lesser you create more problems as well as more injustice and misery.
First appearing eight days ago. It took the establishment media a while to work out their attack angle. “She is taking our batches”. As if Wealthy or upper Middle Class would be really hard done by if they couldn’t keep a spare holiday home empty for 11 months of the year, while families live in garages and cars.
Yes, according to the media, batch owners are the real victims here.
But that is a side issue. Crone, admitting that she has a batch herself.
Adding the equivalent of one week’s capital gain to the annual rates bill will change nothing for speculative investors. It amounts to a 2% tax.
Still, it *looks* like they’re doing something, I guess, and it gives Ms Crone’s chum Paula Bennett an out for central govt doing nothing to address demand-side pressures.
“Geez … all the flak I’m coppin’ from John Key and Andrew Little and Kelvin, and all we did was put out a short statement! It’s a little bit cheeky but what the hell. Anyway, here it is. Read and enjoy folks.”
and then into the ‘get the band back together’ stuff
I’m hoping Hone plays a smart game with this – it can be done and we’ll just have to wait and see. I really hope he doesn’t do a Jon Snow and get all worked up, change the plans and just run in swinging his sword. There will be a time for that but now is the time to build the forces so the real King of the North is actually back.
Mayoral candidate Phil Goff said extra rates on empty properties would not make a big impact on the housing problem and could be unnecessarily complicated.
He said some people had properties that were not permanently occupied for legitimate reasons – like baches, or the estates of people who have died – and it could take an army of bureaucrats to work out which ones need to be charged extra.
Sez he who lives in a millionaire rural property in Clevedon.
In my opinion Goff’s line of attack is specious and unsubstantiated,
33 thousand empty homes in Auckland is not a small number, compared to the number of homeless families in Auckland, it is actually more.
And Crone’s idea of using water usage to locate these properties is thinking outside the box, requiring very little extra paper work.
And Crone’s idea of using water usage to locate these properties is thinking outside the box, requiring very little extra paper work.
Yes, but it’s also very trivially avoided: just leave the taps running.
It actually incentivises people to pour perfectly fine drinking water down the drain, because it’s cheaper than paying the increased rates.
Targeting vacant houses is a mugs game anyway. Target the land-bankers.
I’ve previously suggested ramping up the annual rates dramatically on land that is not built on (or actively under development, eg in the process of having plans drawn up for housing or subdividing further etc).
Easily fixed. Pop out each month and alter the water flow. Two taps this month. Half a tap next month. Sure that an electronic unit could be developed to make water use variable.
yeah, but then you’re beginning to get into a fair amount of effort to try to fake only a single metric that might be used in addition to other things like public reports, contact mail addresses, and comparing with historic water usage on the property.
All for the sake of committing fraud each and every time they claim cheaper rates for having an occupied dwelling.
but then you’re beginning to get into a fair amount of effort to try to fake only a single metric that might be used in addition to other things like public reports, contact mail addresses, and comparing with historic water usage on the property.
But the whole point of using water usage is that it was supposed to be a quick and inexpensive measure. As soon as you start collating other information and trying to make judgements from it, it’s no longer quick and inexpensive. Also you’re much more likely to reach the wrong conclusions in some cases.
For a couple of hundred dollars you can buy a pretty clever irrigation timer that seasonally adjusts water usage add a rain sensor and youre away. Usage will be variable and all you need to do is screw it to an outside tap and send the water down the drain.
Classic case of someone open their mouth without considering how easy it would be to circumvent and then looking like an idiot to people with a modicum of common sense.
And it is a quick and inexpensive measure for a large chunk of the problem.
The more effort and expense people are prepared to go to, the smaller the number who will do it.
And sooner or later you have the simple equation of the penalty for failure in whatever dodge they come up wit vs the trouble of just renting out the damned house.
It seems that they’re only talking about 2% increase in rates or about $100 per year compared to several hundred dollars per month for the water.
If they want to do something about this then the amount is going to have to be several thousand dollars per year. Essentially, multiples of the rates bill as it would have to be more than the untaxed capital gains.
Not sure where you’re getting this 2% number from:
Auckland bach owners who do not use their places frequently would be hit with a massive rate hike under a policy proposed by a mayoral candidate.
National Party-aligned Auckland Future mayoral candidate Vic Crone is proposing measures to help solve the city’s housing shortage that target unoccupied properties. Buildings sitting empty for more than six months may be in line for rates increases of up to fifty percent.
In an unsubstantiated knee jerk reaction in defence of the privileges of the well off, mayoral hopeful and long time parliamentary trougher Phill Goff says that it is legitimate for properties like, baches to remain unoccupied while families live in cars.
News Flash Phill,
If it is connected to town supply. It is not a bach it is an extra home.
and its obvious you haven’t built any buildings the last decades
… useless one-liners ……
I understand the myriad and interwoven issues dontcha worry about that. The reason for pointing the finger mostly at the builders is that they are the ones putting the buildings together, and are the last line of construction. They know when they put together a detail that will likely leak, or fail under weight of time, but they still proceed to do so…. of course they ladle the fingers of blame thick and fast and all over the place… as they do… better than any other finger-pointers on the planet….
Our business and associations take us deep into the world of building design, consenting and construction.. as deep as you can go… and this is the conclusion we come to
Builders, as a whole industry and as individuals, need to lift their game…. they are letting the country down
and in Chch you can add greed and ripoffs to that
builders like to call a spade a spade – so there’s a spade for them
“and its obvious you haven’t built any buildings the last decades”
and that would be a wrong assumption
“I understand the myriad and interwoven issues dontcha worry about that. The reason for pointing the finger mostly at the builders is that they are the ones putting the buildings together, and are the last line of construction. They know when they put together a detail that will likely leak, or fail under weight of time, but they still proceed to do so…. of course they ladle the fingers of blame thick and fast and all over the place… as they do… better than any other finger-pointers on the planet….”
that statement demonstrates exactly how moronic blaming “the end of the chain” is…
The problems are systemic and what we witness now is the foretold result of three decades of perverse incentives, self regulation and the dumbing down of ALL sectors of the construction industry and education/training organizations that support them.
As with everything it starts at the beginning…not the end.
I understand and agree almost completely with that… but I think you miss it with you last sentence…
It also starts, or ends, at the end…
If the detail is assessed as likely to leak or fail, then don’t build it… but they so very often do …. “it was on the drawings” goes the first finger of blame,.
as I said – the last line of defence and first line of actual construction. They need to stand up. They are not standing up.
I know all the other systemic stuff but that doesn’t abrogate their responsibility when banging the bare steel nail into the waterfront deck
“as I said – the last line of defence and first line of actual construction. They need to stand up. They are not standing up.”
Why would they?….producer statements, limited liability companies,a dearth of training, products and services provided from without at below local cost and no oversight, regulatory system without the ability to oversee or dispute/correct and finally no penalty even when it all turns to crap.
so the guy on the end of the nail gun is going to resolve that?…..right.
yeah, I’m with Pat.
It’s way past the point that the guy getting $25/hr should be hung out to dry and blamed for all the BS.
Thats like blaming the Pike river miners for the mine setup.
There are good builders, there are good buildings, but housing has become another commodity and management process has corrupted the craft.
You’re missing the point vto, and really making pat’s point too
The document was largely discussing how bureaucracy has lost its industry skills, experience and knowledge. Expecting a builder to identify flaws in structural design is part of the problem. A builder is neither an engineer nor an architect, it’s not their skillset or job to critique bodgy plans or bad stock.
Again, I understand and agree mostly with pat’s point, especially as it relates to failed industry due to neoliberal policy settings…
but do not agree with letting the builders off the hook so easily. . .
the time when leaky buildings were being built is a good example. It was combo of design (internal gutters were popular), poor regulatory setup (thanks neoliberalists), and frankly shoddy crap workmanship. The poorly designed internal gutters, vetted by the regulations, should still have worked better than they have…. in fact many have worked fine and don’t need repair. You will find that the ones that have failed were the ones built with crap workmanship…
… as for the view don’t blame the guy on $25/hour… I am actually not – I am blaming the person who owns the building business and employs the nail-gunner at $25/hour while charging him out at $55/hour.
The building sector, comprising the builders, needs to stand up and take responsibility to a far greater extent than they are currently.
Building co. owners aren’t about to drive themselves out of business and lose all their custom by second guessing what their clients ask them to do, let alone reporting their clients to regulatory authorities.
… as for the view don’t blame the guy on $25/hour… I am actually not – I am blaming the person who owns the building business and employs the nail-gunner at $25/hour while charging him out at $55/hour.
Pretty much what you have to charge if you have a small team of 4-5 builders and don’t want to go broke fast. Factor in the non chargable stuff like estimating, office admin, downtime, vehicles, leave and a whole heap of other costs and you are only left with a very small amount of that $55. Pretty much the 5%-10% you make on materials is your profit.
For the little guys it’s a whole stack of risk for very little reward and it’s seriously scary how many have inadequate insurance…
Basically I don’t think the Left understand how tight most small businesses are doing it at the moment. Yes, 10% of small businesses are making a killing but for 90% its week to week hoping enough custom will come in the door and enough invoices will be paid for you to make payroll and pay your own mortgage.
The reason for pointing the finger mostly at the builders is that they are the ones putting the buildings together, and are the last line of construction.
And they’re employees or, most common in Auckland, contractors which don’t have in income if the refuse to do it the way that the managers tell them to.
They know when they put together a detail that will likely leak, or fail under weight of time
Well, after talking to my nephew who’s been in the construction industry for more than 20 years, that may not actually be true. Apparently, many builders simply don’t know how to build good houses any more.
the standard in ChCh is appalling I agree ( i assume its no better in Auckland from reports I’ve heard)…..but the causes won’t be remedied by jumping on the guy that doesn’t know how to use a tape or hammer or care that his workmanship is crap.
if you sack all the incompetents the problems still remain and even less gets done.
“… as for the view don’t blame the guy on $25/hour… I am actually not – I am blaming the person who owns the building business and employs the nail-gunner at $25/hour while charging him out at $55/hour.”
The problem is the vast majority of building business owners (particularly group home) are little more than salesmen/managers who have no construction experience and due to the systems outlined in the link there is nothing to keep them to any sort of standard…it is a downward spiral and we now have a situation where even so called experienced LBPs lack basic skills and knowledge and those charged with inspecting their plans/work are no longer industry experienced as they used to be…..the complete loss of knowledge in the entire industry is frightening to behold.
You should be blaming this piss poor excuse we now have for a training system that spits out ‘qualified’ builders in less than 18 months.
We desperately need to go back to an hours based system ideally 6-8000 before final qualification.
Not to mention the myriad of other issues. Sheeting it home to the guy at the bottom scraping by on fuck all is way to simplistic.
From a dissenting opinion on Police search powers, here’s what a U.S. Supreme Court justice sounds like who has real experience with those in the hands of the Police.
“For generations, black and brown parents have given their children ‘the talk’ — instructing them never to run down the street; always keep your hands where they can be seen; do not even think of talking back to a stranger— all out of fear of how an officer with a gun will react to them.”
And later:
“By legitimizing the conduct that produces this double consciousness, this case tells everyone, white and black, guilty and innocent, that an officer can verify your legal status at any time. It says that your body is subject to invasion while courts excuse the violation of your rights. It implies that you are not a citizen of a democracy but the subject of a carceral state, just waiting to be cataloged.
We must not pretend that the countless people who are routinely targeted by police are “isolated.” They are the canaries in the coal mine whose deaths, civil and literal, warn us that no one can breathe in this atmosphere. They are the ones who recognize that unlawful police stops corrode all our civil liberties and threaten all our lives. Until their voices matter too, our justice system will continue to be anything but.”
I’ve never heard a Supreme Court judge provide such plainspoken opinion about the Police like this. I wonder if Maori experience of the New Zealand Police is also like this. After going through the Teina Pora case, Justice Sotomayor’s words ring out strong here.
I find it really depressing that this comment, the subject of which is so integral to free citizenship, can’t raise a single comment in reply.
What does that say ?
Doesn’t mean that readers of TS haven’t read Ad’s comment. Sometimes really gritty, well researched or fascinating comments go by without any comment. I don’t think it’s any indication of the quality of the comment.
Also, readers may have particular areas of interest and may not feel compelled to react to each and every subject raised, it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t care.
The content of Ad’s comment is covered in the documentary series “The System”, an expose of the U.S justice system. A real eye opener. Here’s the link to the series if you’re interested:
I listened to Andrew Little this morning on RNZ and I got a bit confused as to his position on the soldiers remaining. He seemed to have 50 cents each way. I would prefer he just said bring them home and provide a clear distinction to ShonKey. Maybe I misheard him.
AL doesnt need to risk taking a position shonky and his msm shills can take advantage of.
Playing the ‘I will let you know when I get there’ card is the way through many of these issues.
This then plays on nacts deception and lying practices which shield the reality in favour of spin and bs which most seem to be understanding alot more now.
Yes – you did mishear him, Nick.
He said quite clearly that the Iraqui troops were useless, that the NZ troops were doing a good job trying to train them (it sounds an impossible task) and that other country’s troops were the ones making a difference against ISIS – not Iraqui troops. He didn’t like NZ Troops being there on that mission. He’d said so right from the start. He thinks when ISIS is defeated Iraq will go into civil disorder and that is the time the NZ troops will be needed, in a peacekeeping role for the UN which is what NZ troops are very good at.
Edit – he also said something about if it was him he wouldn’t be extending their current mission which ShonKey has done.
I heard more of his usual lawyerish, naunced waffling. Little needs training to make a clear statement then shut his mouth. Eg: “As Prime Minister, I would bring our troops back home.”
Voters are looking for a clear policy choice and confidence that it will be delivered. Waffle kills both of those.
I have to agree. Long winded responses have been a millstone around Labour’s neck for decades. Many of us have all but lost our voices trying to tell them.
On the other hand we have managed to convince them that announcing policy planks several A4 size pages long is not a good idea. Took 20 years but we made it.
New research suggests welfare fraudsters are facing a tougher time than tax evaders, despite tax evasion costing taxpayers three times more.
A study by Victoria University shows tax discrepancies cost the Government $1.24 billion in 2014, while welfare fraud cost the Government $30.6 million.
However, tax evaders are far less likely to be investigated, prosecuted or imprisoned, and far more likely to have debts written off.
Victoria did a similar study awhile back – don’t know if is the same or an updated one, as part of ongoing analysis.
This is interesting. Tax evasion:
“The Government lost about $1,240,000,000 in tax discrepancies in 2014
– About 0.01% of taxpayers are investigated each year
– About 60-80 people are prosecuted for tax evasion each year
– It costs about $2.86 to recover $100 of evaded tax”
Vs welfare fraud:
“The Government lost about $30,553,600 in welfare fraud in 2014
– About 5% of beneficiaries are investigated each year
– About 800-1000 people are prosecuted for welfare fraud each year
– It costs about $17 to recover every $100 of fraudulently obtained welfare payments”
There’s a big discrepancy between prosecution rates and recovery costs, that is, it’s less costly to recover evaded tax but they prosecute only 60 – 80 tax evaders yet they prosecute more welfare fraudsters, 800 – 1000 even though the recovery cost is far greater. Looks fairly biased doesn’t it.
Wellingtonians would have seen billboards on the motorway and in Thorndon illustrating this bias. The billboards have the face of a man on one side and the words “tax evasion, $229,000. Fine.” The other side also has a man’s face and the words “welfare fraud, $70,000, jail.”
They are professionally manufactured signs on advertising hoardings. Don’t know who put them there.
In today’s Rural News there is a regular segment called “The Hound”
This is what he says at the end of an attack piece on Rachel Stewart
” an ex train driving, lesbian ,farm hating falconer”
This sort of shit has to stop in a national publication.
The hounds email is hound@rural news.co.nz
Oh and he calls Eugenie Sage a farmer hater and suggests that she is likely to get the primary sector portfolio if a labour green government is elected.
I can’t find the hound online I guess they’re to cunning to make this rubbish too publicly available.
If I had a mutt this nasty It would be getting put down .
Although the piece you mention is not up yet, the other articles exhibit the same ignorant bigotry.
It is a strange thing that those who claim to – call things as they see them – call a spade a spade – talk bluntly – those types of people can never handle the same thing done back to them…
… if you call a spade a spade to a person who claims to call a spade a spade, they typically react with spluttering bluster and bullshit..
Cheers . I think its straight out dirty poltics coming from the right still in operation in nz , as apposed to some knuckle dragging moron getting to spot his poison.
That is nasty, and also discriminatory. What has anyone’s sexuality got to do with anything? The writer sounds like they are spitting out the words, lesbian, like someone from the 1950’s.
Now speaking of mutt’s being put down. What would you, b wags, as a rural worker make of my friend’s comment to me the other day, when discussing animal death, saying her ex husband killed the puppies his work dogs had, with a blow to the head with a mallet?
My friend lived on the farm for 30 years. Calls her husband a good kind compassionate farmer. I would think otherwise. I’d call him a wanker actually. In fact he’s just the kind of person I would report had I witnessed such brutality. Is this a common practice? When I asked why weren’t the female dogs speyed she said it affected their work performance.
I also have spoken with a woman, and ex vet nurse, who runs an animal sanctuary. She rescues mis treated farm dogs but can’t re home them because they were never socialised around humans and are too dangerous to be domestic pets.
A few weeks ago I helped round up some sheep that got loose on the development. The farmer dog’s had their ribs showing and were cowering in the back of the work truck, looking dejected and frightened.
Why is it that people spend $1000’s each year on ridiculously pampered house dogs and put them in stupid little jackets, offending the dog’s sense of dignity, when it appears that it’s completely acceptable at the other end of the scale to abuse a dog because it’s a work animal?
That’s what made me laugh (bitterly) about the whole ‘Kiwi Values’ thing, farm dogs/working dogs are a great example of animal cruelty in NZ, it’s a brutal world for those wonderful loyal dogs.
You also got that misoginist/homophobe remark, isn’t that the kinda thing we have extended the troops stay overseas to protect NZ from (so said Gerry!).
I don’t think they can see the irony there either.
Yeah, and that Gezza speaking about NZ troops in Iraq, went totally off script when he said “we could have an Orlando type situation here in NZ”. What?
I experienced things on a farm Rosie no kid should ever witness at that age, sheep home killed throats cut, pups killed on the fencepost with a blow to the head exactly as you describe, dogs fed 2 tux triangle biscuits every couple days, work harder when they are hungry is their excuse.
In the 70’s and 80’s when I grew up things were like that and worse, these guys were handed this down from their fathers, and their fathers before them.
Times were different, there is no excuse now however, it’s just down to a lack of education and lack of farmers telling other farmers there dogs look bad, and not ignoring mal treatment.
I have two dogs, love them to bits they live inside with me, well fed and looked after, cycles can be broken it just takes education, dog handling, health and training education.
Sorry you had to witness such violence and cruelty at a young age. That’s unbelievably awful. Really bad for a child, for anyone, but especially a child.
When I was a kid in the 70’s and teen in the 80’s we lived in a small coastal/semi rural town. We rented grazing for our horses on farms and luckily I didn’t see any animal violence, despite spending so much time there, but I knew something was wrong. I was always creeped out by some of the gnarlier farm men. God knows what they got up to. I did see their dogs though, the state of them was bad. And that’s what I saw the other day on the back of the truck and the same kind of agro creepy bloke. It was shortly after my friend told me about the puppies on her farm and it made me wonder what’s changed.
I agree these methods of animal handling are passed down.
Great that you’re taking good care of your dog buddies. Bet they look after you in turn. Humans and animals are capable of having strong and loyal friendships eh.
That’s a hell of leap but seen as you asked.
yes I’ve tapped some pups on the head it was years ago and i hated it , Iv’e also tapped somewhere around 4000 possums on the head .
There are bad people in all walks of life farmers are no different, I personally am very careful to avoid miss mates , and spaying dogs does not affect performance in fact it means your bitch is not out of action for up to 6 weeks a year and spayed bitches eat less.
Most retired farm dogs work in teams and meet many other dogs so would be fine as pets but they wont be house trained .
A well timed hammer to the head of a young animal would be as humane as any other method of killing . deaths never nice
Another thing our government is good at. And the next minute the same experts are wondering why Kiwis buy property as an investment and why Kiwis have so little savings.
The real victim is the banks because how can they be expected to have savers insurance with their paltry profits unlike all the other OECD banks. sarc.
National leaves Kiwi savers the most vulnerable in OECD
Dude, WTF. Your idea that “interest” covers “risk” is idealistic bullshit from another era.
Also the idea that if a bank folds savers should consequently lose their monies is daft. It’s the kind of thing which set in motion what used to be called ‘bank panics’ and in more recent decades ‘bank runs’.
Its also completely unnecessary FFS, why is it that savers should take on the risks assumed by shitty bank management when deposit returns are sweet F.A.
As the days and weeks go by, it has become increasingly apparent that many Bernie Sanders supporters will simply never, ever endorse or vote for Hillary Clinton. If anything, the coronation of Hillary was so replete with scheming and dirty tricks, more than a few Bernie supporters who may have been open to a Clinton candidacy a few months ago, now consider themselves diehard Bernie or Busters.
Philadelphia: Cheri Honkala, the leader of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, announced that her group was organizing the world’s largest “fart-in” to be held on July 28 at the Wells Fargo Center during Hillary Clinton’s anticipated acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination.
“We will be holding a massive bean supper for Bernie Sanders delegates on American Street in my Kensington neighborhood on the afternoon of July 28,” she said. “We are setting up a Clintonville there, modeled on the Hoovervilles of the 1930s where the poor and unemployed built shanty towns. The Sanders delegates, their bellies full of beans, will be able to return to the Wells Fargo Center and greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing.”
Honkala said she would issue an invitation to Sanders to join the bean supper, which she is calling Beans for Hillary. She has asked donors to send cans of beans to 1301-W Porter Street, Philadelphia, Pa., 19148.
Chris Hedges, an author and activist who is an ordained Presbyterian minister, will open the Beans for Hillary meal with a nondenominational prayer.
“I am happy to bless a meal that will be put to such effective political use,” Hedges said.
Interesting that we have had 38 Prime Ministers to date. Hope soon the other Treaty partner gets a look in, you know for fairness and those sort of lofty ideals.
Your not very good at this, you make things up and then say people mean that, then make a joke of it.
Maori have had a shocking deal, but there is nothing in the treaty that says one has to be PM, so what rule specifically regarding the running of the Nation in our treaty do you think has been broken there. in specific.
Plus you post just a blatantly provocative statement like a trap and sat back and waited for someone to reply to it you could have an argument with so fire away.
White population was larger than the Maori & Polynesian population when I grew up, I would say the political parties refused to allow a maori to lead them as the whites were so damn racist.
But that was back then, Now, Winstons in with a chance, Hone leads a party, Tolleysd in there, Bennett claims Maori ancestry, would you not agree, things are not perfect but progress has been made?
I think the problem is where you said “Maori have just as much chance of reaching the top as anyone else,”. To me that is incompatible with the reality of racism. Māori haven’t had just as much chance as anyone else, that’s the point.
I got the mediteranean brown., i’m also Albanian, Albania is near Turkey but you know I see Maori getting respect for being Maori, tell someone your Albanian and you spend the afternoon talking to a customs clerk, oversea’s they follow you around the shops, in Greece they hate us, I got a knife to my throat and a group of young greeks crowded around and without any doubt the answer to the question, are you Albanian? would mean my life or death, lucky for me I look Albanian but have a kiwi accent and a NZ passport i was lucky.
So what I am saying is racism is all over, I’ve experienced it, you don’t have to be Maori to be brown nor too feel the sting of racist attitudes.
Marty grills me like he thinks i’m some out of touch white man? No?
Richardrawshark, with a knife held to your throat I suspect you understand what real racism (and real fear) is like. Not comfy abstractions to do with other people not getting six figure salaries often enough.
Would Maori representation currently be close to proportional? In terms of Parliament representatives? MP’s?
-CV, Albanians don’t get 6 figure salaries. They don’t even let you park their cars(Makines). Cough..
We often refer in racism to times past as if racism is as strong as it was then, and is still occurring as such, we need to keep current and keep focused on removing barriers. Also based on my regional area, my perception may be skewed, as this is a forestry town and Maori here in the main are doing good.
@CV, that’s interesting, I’ll remember that next time you are arguing that Labour don’t have enough Asian MPs.
@Richard, complex question, and it depends on what one believes about the treaty. Do I think that there is still institutional racism that disadvantages Māori from positions of power? Yes. Do I think that there are NZers who would actively work and vote against Māori MP becoming leader of a political party where they could become PM if that MP were overtly political and proactive about the treaty? Yes. Do Māori have to deal with personal prejudice regularly? Yes. Things aren’t the same as they were but that doesn’t mean those institutional and personal racists don’t exist.
The whole point of putting the link was to show historically and photographicly the situation – the photos tell the story and that story has continued to the present. The inequality is outrageous and I wanted my post to show that. Oh well, what a pity, nevermind…
Can’t we do it with less hostility, anger breeds anger, hate breeds hate. sarcasm breeds sarcasm.
I fully support your goals Marty, I disagree with your blunt methods, at times.
Also IMHO the most effective human rights activists who have made the biggest inroads at removing racial barriers and attitudes did it with the most peaceful actions.
lastly in my fist post I did ask
“and what’s that supposed to mean, ”
it was my first line, first words, you could have just answered me because your reasons were valid and I was missing the point you we’re making.
What’s the Māori prison population like compared to pakeha Richard? What’s the Māori rate of poverty in comparison? What are the Māori health statistics in comparison? If you know the answers to some of those questions, then you’ll know it doesn’t mean they have a higher chance of becoming PM than people of european descent.
maybe opportunity.. is a better word, but they have less chance there to, I agree with you Maui, your dead right, the reply to Marty was more about his provocative post than him being wrong completely.
Plus I didn’t get the part he made it sound like it was a treaty obligation that we elect a Maori PM?
In so much if we want to tackle inequality we should be focusing on targets that would have greater outcomes for more people than pleasing a single person for a token of equality that in reality would mean little but a simple race achievement.
It’s an example that shows who still holds the power. A couple of hundred years ago 500 or so chiefs from around the country signed this dude’s document. Since then Māori have barely been represented on local councils and have only had a fraction more representation in Parliament. I think those chiefs/leaders would have hoped for a lot more say on how they could govern their people, the areas they lived in and on the sharing of power with pakeha. But it hasn’t happened,
Winston could be the first, Obama in America, times are changing Maui, racism and homophobia are nothing compared to when I grew up, and our offspring won’t even recognize it when they get to our age. I hope.
“This week, the United Kingdom will vote on whether the nation should leave the European Union – the discussion coming on heels of intensifying displeasure with the way Brussels handles the waves of immigrants and financial troubles besieging Europe. Right-wing parties are on the rise all across the European Union, and even in Germany the support for the AFD – the right-wing Alternative for Germany party – is rapidly growing despite resistance from political establishment. What started as an anti-euro movement is now branded as “anti-immigrant” and “anti-Islam” – but what’s behind these accusations and what’s behind its growing popularity? We ask the leader of the AFD; Dr. Frauke Petry is on Sophie&Co today…
FFS I don’t like the way this is heading, I have Muslim relatives in Brussels and English relatives in the UK, and Muslim Relatives in Italy and of course Albania. Good proper Muslims. Unlike my atheist self.
Mum just came back, the catch up news has not been good, My sister in the UK has an English husband and child she is returning to raise her son here as things are getting real bad over there.
Apparently I wouldn’t recognize the North East, Newcastle or Sunderland now, totally different demographic without sounding racist.
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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 Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],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, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Selfish.
New Zealand’s middle class.
‘Chris Trotter: The middle class have become selfish survivalists.
What has happened to the New Zealand middle class? Why has the social strata that encompasses our best educated, most highly skilled, most entrepreneurial and financially literate citizens failed so miserably to respond to our nation’s needs?
When did the middle class relinquish the moral and civic leadership upon which its claims to social pre-eminence rested? How, and by whom, has the middle class been superseded?………………
……Separated from its former working class allies; dictated to by an international ruling class it cannot control; the New Zealand middle class is, today, almost entirely absorbed with its own survival. House prices, retirement plans, and the fecklessness of the lower orders are the obsessions du jour. The besetting conundrum: how to ensure their children enjoy a middle class existence without relinquishing their own in the process?
The generous and collaborative middle class, which won New Zealand international acclaim for its progressive economic, social and political reforms, has largely ceased to exist. Without allies, and without hope, its selfish successor squabbles fractiously on a dwindling sand hill, fatally encumbered by the shabby detritus of its own illusory superiority.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/81241583/chris-trotter-the-middle-class-have-become-selfish-survivalists
Brilliant article,
Read all of it.
Arent the middle class disappearing across the globe due to the neoliberal policies which favour the wealthy and powerful screwing everyone else.
So the middle either gets itself up or slides down as there’s effectively no middle ground to habitate over time.
Thomas Piketty Believes There’s Still Time to Save the Middle Class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b6dKwfa_Ds
Neoliberals Managing the Decline of the Middle Class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abrAlbOFaCk
Yep. The rich are taking it all and turning the rest of us into impoverished serfs.
The 0.1% are finding that the bottom 90% have little left to steal. So now they are turning their thieving schemes on to the top 10% and the top 5%. Their homes, retirement savings, pension schemes, jobs.
And, of course, more state assets with government guaranteed profits from taxes that they themselves don’t pay.
Oh look we are number 1…
1. New Zealand: New Zealand’s economy could have grown by 44 percent between 1990 and 2010, but the country did only achieve 28 percent growth due to inequality. Hence, it lost 15.5 percentage points — more than any other country. This is particularly surprising, given that New Zealand was once considered a paradise of equality
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/01/05/how-inequality-made-these-western-countries-poorer/
What is it about a middle class and generations which where brought up being taught about the importance of telling the truth and punished, (often physically) for not, that sees them now accept and expect dishonesty and downright lies from our most senior politicians?
What consequences are there for they way they are raising their own children and grandchildren?
Humanity’s storm is coming. No one will be able to escape from what they have done.
Thanks Paul
That is a brilliant, insightful article by Trotter – thanks Paul, for putting it up. These two bits are most telling, “Up until 1981, New Zealand society remained the co-creation of its working and middle classes,” and “The economic, cultural and political elites who had accepted the terms of the post-war social-democratic settlement were replaced by those who understood, and were fiercely loyal to, the policies of the new order.”
The two quotes put together explain the tricky situation in which political parties of the left now find themselves, while the latter by itself explains Key’s popularity. Key’s commitment to the new order keeps punishment at bay for the middle class, while demanding punishment for the working class and the poor as evidence of his commitment. Which makes it very difficult for the working class and the middle class to be allies – the championing of one means the punishment of the other. And this is where it gets tricky for parties of the left – they need the support of a mixture of working class and middle class voters if they are to gain office in a bona fide fashion.
The working class and under class are the least likely in society to vote.
Electoral logic has told Labour and Greens to not bother focussing on getting those votes.
So the working class and under class vote less and less. Many here have said how shite life as a beneficiary was under Labour. That’s not by accident. Labour have chosen which class they back.
That’s why the push has to come from the grass roots. One can only hope that New Zealanders will eventually take heart from the places where this seems to be starting to happen, like the UK and the US. According to my friends in Australia, even Shorten is making some left-leaning moves now. But all I am saying is that there really is a dilemma involved, it is not just about careerists comfortably ensconcing themselves, and a way past it needs to be be found.
The New Zealand Election Study (NZES) suggests that in 2011 – for the first time since reliable data was first collected in 1963 – National gained more working-class votes than Labour.
Even in the 70s, a time when Muldoon is widely alleged to have made deep inroads into the blue-collar vote, Labour had, in fact, easily won the working-class constituency (Muldoon’s success was actually grounded much more in middle and lower middle class support).
It’s not that National were the beneficiaries of a significant wkg-class swing in 2011, though. In fact, their share of the wkg-class vote actually fell slightly (down 1 point on 2008). Rather, Labour suffered a huge 6 point fall in their blue-collar share – with (as you’ve implied) a good deal of it heading towards Non-Voting. Thus, National slipping slightly with workers and their families, while Labour – in total freefall – sails past them on the way down.
As I’ve been saying all along and repeated only yesterday to bill murray. Labour will not improve its position significantly until it shows the non-voters that they can have confidence again in Labour actually doing something for them.
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Greedy.
Compass.
Ex-Middlemore kitchen staff say Compass owes them thousands
Ten staff who worked for decades in Middlemore Hospital’s kitchen before the Compass Group took over the operation say they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by the company.
Compass is one of the world’s biggest catering companies, and supplies nearly half of all public hospital meals in New Zealand.
The company has been the focus of protests in recent months about the quality of the food that it has supplied to hospitals in Otago and Southland.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306857/kitchen-staff-say-compass-owes-them-thousands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BYrYHs5Aes
One of many juicy outsourced arrangements struck in health under Ryall and watched over by some rather toxic managers they’ve installed around the system.
Waiakto’s upper level has been flushed in its Chiefs image since he joined and my what a lovely upstanding fellow Dr Murray is.
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Cruel, uncaring.
‘We feel targeted because we’re black’
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/we-feel-targeted-because-we-re-black
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Yet there are people who still care and who are unselfish.
Te Puea marae represents the best of New Zealand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfKVGSIX1E0
Yep there are lessons here for us all – if you allow people to empower themselves miracles can happen – if you suppress and treat people as lower and lesser you create more problems as well as more injustice and misery.
I sometimes think that the influence of The Standard is more far reaching than even the authors know.
http://thestandard.org.nz/the-ghost-house-epidemic-and-the-invisible-hand/
Widely condemned by both “Left”* and “Right”.
First appearing eight days ago. It took the establishment media a while to work out their attack angle. “She is taking our batches”. As if Wealthy or upper Middle Class would be really hard done by if they couldn’t keep a spare holiday home empty for 11 months of the year, while families live in garages and cars.
Yes, according to the media, batch owners are the real victims here.
But that is a side issue. Crone, admitting that she has a batch herself.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/top/306759/crone-targets-unoccupied-homes
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306795/crone-would-up-rates-on-empty-baches
*(That is if you consider a neo-liberal Rodgergnome “Left”, so right wing he once lost Labour’s safest of safe seats)
Adding the equivalent of one week’s capital gain to the annual rates bill will change nothing for speculative investors. It amounts to a 2% tax.
Still, it *looks* like they’re doing something, I guess, and it gives Ms Crone’s chum Paula Bennett an out for central govt doing nothing to address demand-side pressures.
Hone on facebook
“Geez … all the flak I’m coppin’ from John Key and Andrew Little and Kelvin, and all we did was put out a short statement! It’s a little bit cheeky but what the hell. Anyway, here it is. Read and enjoy folks.”
and then into the ‘get the band back together’ stuff
I’m hoping Hone plays a smart game with this – it can be done and we’ll just have to wait and see. I really hope he doesn’t do a Jon Snow and get all worked up, change the plans and just run in swinging his sword. There will be a time for that but now is the time to build the forces so the real King of the North is actually back.
He has to scale the wall somehow.
Or get someone to open the gate.
hmmm open the gate from the inside is an interesting idea – maybe find a giant or two 🙂
Sorry, Hone = Mance Rayder, Little = Stannis.
Cunliffe had much more in common with Stannis than Little does.
Nah Hone = Jon snow 😎
Winston = Jon Snow. His ex mates knifed him well and good, but he still came back.
Are you saying that Winston is a zombie? Or a vampire?
re you guys doing spoilers now?
darn sorry bout that
No worries, I’ll probably have forgotten by the time I get round to watching it.
Hair is sort of similar – that’s about it though
John Snow knows fuck-all.
Lol
One hereditary monarch is plenty, thanks.
btw – YAY thanks for fixing the comment thing for me – I so appreciate it – big hugs!!!
Rushing to fill the breach
Sez he who lives in a millionaire rural property in Clevedon.
In my opinion Goff’s line of attack is specious and unsubstantiated,
33 thousand empty homes in Auckland is not a small number, compared to the number of homeless families in Auckland, it is actually more.
And Crone’s idea of using water usage to locate these properties is thinking outside the box, requiring very little extra paper work.
Goff was part of Roger Douglas’s coup d’état
Never forget that.
He is a neoliberal through and through.
Easily fixed. Leave a tap running some of the time in a semi furnished house.
I wouldn’t consider baches to be a legitimate reason.
Yes, but it’s also very trivially avoided: just leave the taps running.
It actually incentivises people to pour perfectly fine drinking water down the drain, because it’s cheaper than paying the increased rates.
Targeting vacant houses is a mugs game anyway. Target the land-bankers.
I’ve previously suggested ramping up the annual rates dramatically on land that is not built on (or actively under development, eg in the process of having plans drawn up for housing or subdividing further etc).
Leaving the taps on would just have an almost identical meter reading month to month. No seasonal variation or general noise.
Easily fixed. Pop out each month and alter the water flow. Two taps this month. Half a tap next month. Sure that an electronic unit could be developed to make water use variable.
yeah, but then you’re beginning to get into a fair amount of effort to try to fake only a single metric that might be used in addition to other things like public reports, contact mail addresses, and comparing with historic water usage on the property.
All for the sake of committing fraud each and every time they claim cheaper rates for having an occupied dwelling.
But the whole point of using water usage is that it was supposed to be a quick and inexpensive measure. As soon as you start collating other information and trying to make judgements from it, it’s no longer quick and inexpensive. Also you’re much more likely to reach the wrong conclusions in some cases.
For a couple of hundred dollars you can buy a pretty clever irrigation timer that seasonally adjusts water usage add a rain sensor and youre away. Usage will be variable and all you need to do is screw it to an outside tap and send the water down the drain.
Classic case of someone open their mouth without considering how easy it would be to circumvent and then looking like an idiot to people with a modicum of common sense.
And it is a quick and inexpensive measure for a large chunk of the problem.
The more effort and expense people are prepared to go to, the smaller the number who will do it.
And sooner or later you have the simple equation of the penalty for failure in whatever dodge they come up wit vs the trouble of just renting out the damned house.
Leaving the taps running in Auckland will quickly have you running up several hundred dollars in water bills every month.
And if that’s cheaper than the increased rates that you would otherwise pay, then it’s worth it.
It won’t be.
It seems that they’re only talking about 2% increase in rates or about $100 per year compared to several hundred dollars per month for the water.
If they want to do something about this then the amount is going to have to be several thousand dollars per year. Essentially, multiples of the rates bill as it would have to be more than the untaxed capital gains.
Not sure where you’re getting this 2% number from:
Emphasis mine.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306795/crone-would-up-rates-on-empty-baches
Is there no low the Right wouldn’t contemplate to protect their privilege?
Easy fix for any scum who chooses to waste water to hide their keeping houses empty while families live in cars.
Lock em up and throw away the key.
In an unsubstantiated knee jerk reaction in defence of the privileges of the well off, mayoral hopeful and long time parliamentary trougher Phill Goff says that it is legitimate for properties like, baches to remain unoccupied while families live in cars.
News Flash Phill,
If it is connected to town supply. It is not a bach it is an extra home.
Not enough housing, not enough builders, poor workmanship and design, dodgy imported materials and nobody responsible…….think again.
http://canterbury.royalcommission.govt.nz/documents-by-key/20120813.4973/$file/ENG.SCA.0002.RED.pdf
Thought you were talking about Auckland for a second!
am talking about NZ….Auckland is still part of here I believe.
Yep. NZ will have poor buildings for decades to come… thanks to the standards applied to buildings going up right now today…
bureaucracy left right and centre aint changing nothing except adding to costs as the local authority ticks boxes ….
Frankly, I lay the blame squarely with the builders…
then you would be blaming the wrong party
no I wouldn’t
then it is obvious you havn’t read the linked submission
and its obvious you haven’t built any buildings the last decades
… useless one-liners ……
I understand the myriad and interwoven issues dontcha worry about that. The reason for pointing the finger mostly at the builders is that they are the ones putting the buildings together, and are the last line of construction. They know when they put together a detail that will likely leak, or fail under weight of time, but they still proceed to do so…. of course they ladle the fingers of blame thick and fast and all over the place… as they do… better than any other finger-pointers on the planet….
Our business and associations take us deep into the world of building design, consenting and construction.. as deep as you can go… and this is the conclusion we come to
Builders, as a whole industry and as individuals, need to lift their game…. they are letting the country down
and in Chch you can add greed and ripoffs to that
builders like to call a spade a spade – so there’s a spade for them
“and its obvious you haven’t built any buildings the last decades”
and that would be a wrong assumption
“I understand the myriad and interwoven issues dontcha worry about that. The reason for pointing the finger mostly at the builders is that they are the ones putting the buildings together, and are the last line of construction. They know when they put together a detail that will likely leak, or fail under weight of time, but they still proceed to do so…. of course they ladle the fingers of blame thick and fast and all over the place… as they do… better than any other finger-pointers on the planet….”
that statement demonstrates exactly how moronic blaming “the end of the chain” is…
The problems are systemic and what we witness now is the foretold result of three decades of perverse incentives, self regulation and the dumbing down of ALL sectors of the construction industry and education/training organizations that support them.
As with everything it starts at the beginning…not the end.
I understand and agree almost completely with that… but I think you miss it with you last sentence…
It also starts, or ends, at the end…
If the detail is assessed as likely to leak or fail, then don’t build it… but they so very often do …. “it was on the drawings” goes the first finger of blame,.
as I said – the last line of defence and first line of actual construction. They need to stand up. They are not standing up.
I know all the other systemic stuff but that doesn’t abrogate their responsibility when banging the bare steel nail into the waterfront deck
“as I said – the last line of defence and first line of actual construction. They need to stand up. They are not standing up.”
Why would they?….producer statements, limited liability companies,a dearth of training, products and services provided from without at below local cost and no oversight, regulatory system without the ability to oversee or dispute/correct and finally no penalty even when it all turns to crap.
so the guy on the end of the nail gun is going to resolve that?…..right.
yeah, I’m with Pat.
It’s way past the point that the guy getting $25/hr should be hung out to dry and blamed for all the BS.
Thats like blaming the Pike river miners for the mine setup.
There are good builders, there are good buildings, but housing has become another commodity and management process has corrupted the craft.
You’re missing the point vto, and really making pat’s point too
The document was largely discussing how bureaucracy has lost its industry skills, experience and knowledge. Expecting a builder to identify flaws in structural design is part of the problem. A builder is neither an engineer nor an architect, it’s not their skillset or job to critique bodgy plans or bad stock.
Again, I understand and agree mostly with pat’s point, especially as it relates to failed industry due to neoliberal policy settings…
but do not agree with letting the builders off the hook so easily. . .
the time when leaky buildings were being built is a good example. It was combo of design (internal gutters were popular), poor regulatory setup (thanks neoliberalists), and frankly shoddy crap workmanship. The poorly designed internal gutters, vetted by the regulations, should still have worked better than they have…. in fact many have worked fine and don’t need repair. You will find that the ones that have failed were the ones built with crap workmanship…
… as for the view don’t blame the guy on $25/hour… I am actually not – I am blaming the person who owns the building business and employs the nail-gunner at $25/hour while charging him out at $55/hour.
The building sector, comprising the builders, needs to stand up and take responsibility to a far greater extent than they are currently.
Building co. owners aren’t about to drive themselves out of business and lose all their custom by second guessing what their clients ask them to do, let alone reporting their clients to regulatory authorities.
… as for the view don’t blame the guy on $25/hour… I am actually not – I am blaming the person who owns the building business and employs the nail-gunner at $25/hour while charging him out at $55/hour.
Pretty much what you have to charge if you have a small team of 4-5 builders and don’t want to go broke fast. Factor in the non chargable stuff like estimating, office admin, downtime, vehicles, leave and a whole heap of other costs and you are only left with a very small amount of that $55. Pretty much the 5%-10% you make on materials is your profit.
For the little guys it’s a whole stack of risk for very little reward and it’s seriously scary how many have inadequate insurance…
Basically I don’t think the Left understand how tight most small businesses are doing it at the moment. Yes, 10% of small businesses are making a killing but for 90% its week to week hoping enough custom will come in the door and enough invoices will be paid for you to make payroll and pay your own mortgage.
And they’re employees or, most common in Auckland, contractors which don’t have in income if the refuse to do it the way that the managers tell them to.
Well, after talking to my nephew who’s been in the construction industry for more than 20 years, that may not actually be true. Apparently, many builders simply don’t know how to build good houses any more.
“Apparently, many builders simply don’t know how to build good houses any more”
is what we see
the amount of shoddy workmanship around Chch post-eq is frightening…
caveat emptor unfortunately
the standard in ChCh is appalling I agree ( i assume its no better in Auckland from reports I’ve heard)…..but the causes won’t be remedied by jumping on the guy that doesn’t know how to use a tape or hammer or care that his workmanship is crap.
if you sack all the incompetents the problems still remain and even less gets done.
“… as for the view don’t blame the guy on $25/hour… I am actually not – I am blaming the person who owns the building business and employs the nail-gunner at $25/hour while charging him out at $55/hour.”
The problem is the vast majority of building business owners (particularly group home) are little more than salesmen/managers who have no construction experience and due to the systems outlined in the link there is nothing to keep them to any sort of standard…it is a downward spiral and we now have a situation where even so called experienced LBPs lack basic skills and knowledge and those charged with inspecting their plans/work are no longer industry experienced as they used to be…..the complete loss of knowledge in the entire industry is frightening to behold.
Yes it is frightening..
Another industry failure recurring due to the philosophies, policies and attitudes of the new New Zealand since 1984…
pretty much
You should be blaming this piss poor excuse we now have for a training system that spits out ‘qualified’ builders in less than 18 months.
We desperately need to go back to an hours based system ideally 6-8000 before final qualification.
Not to mention the myriad of other issues. Sheeting it home to the guy at the bottom scraping by on fuck all is way to simplistic.
From a dissenting opinion on Police search powers, here’s what a U.S. Supreme Court justice sounds like who has real experience with those in the hands of the Police.
“For generations, black and brown parents have given their children ‘the talk’ — instructing them never to run down the street; always keep your hands where they can be seen; do not even think of talking back to a stranger— all out of fear of how an officer with a gun will react to them.”
And later:
“By legitimizing the conduct that produces this double consciousness, this case tells everyone, white and black, guilty and innocent, that an officer can verify your legal status at any time. It says that your body is subject to invasion while courts excuse the violation of your rights. It implies that you are not a citizen of a democracy but the subject of a carceral state, just waiting to be cataloged.
We must not pretend that the countless people who are routinely targeted by police are “isolated.” They are the canaries in the coal mine whose deaths, civil and literal, warn us that no one can breathe in this atmosphere. They are the ones who recognize that unlawful police stops corrode all our civil liberties and threaten all our lives. Until their voices matter too, our justice system will continue to be anything but.”
I’ve never heard a Supreme Court judge provide such plainspoken opinion about the Police like this. I wonder if Maori experience of the New Zealand Police is also like this. After going through the Teina Pora case, Justice Sotomayor’s words ring out strong here.
I find it really depressing that this comment, the subject of which is so integral to free citizenship, can’t raise a single comment in reply.
What does that say ?
Doesn’t mean that readers of TS haven’t read Ad’s comment. Sometimes really gritty, well researched or fascinating comments go by without any comment. I don’t think it’s any indication of the quality of the comment.
Also, readers may have particular areas of interest and may not feel compelled to react to each and every subject raised, it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t care.
The content of Ad’s comment is covered in the documentary series “The System”, an expose of the U.S justice system. A real eye opener. Here’s the link to the series if you’re interested:
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/ajam-presents-thesystem.html
thanks Rosie
JUST TESTING……..Good morning everyone.
Morning
I listened to Andrew Little this morning on RNZ and I got a bit confused as to his position on the soldiers remaining. He seemed to have 50 cents each way. I would prefer he just said bring them home and provide a clear distinction to ShonKey. Maybe I misheard him.
AL doesnt need to risk taking a position shonky and his msm shills can take advantage of.
Playing the ‘I will let you know when I get there’ card is the way through many of these issues.
This then plays on nacts deception and lying practices which shield the reality in favour of spin and bs which most seem to be understanding alot more now.
Yes – you did mishear him, Nick.
He said quite clearly that the Iraqui troops were useless, that the NZ troops were doing a good job trying to train them (it sounds an impossible task) and that other country’s troops were the ones making a difference against ISIS – not Iraqui troops. He didn’t like NZ Troops being there on that mission. He’d said so right from the start. He thinks when ISIS is defeated Iraq will go into civil disorder and that is the time the NZ troops will be needed, in a peacekeeping role for the UN which is what NZ troops are very good at.
Edit – he also said something about if it was him he wouldn’t be extending their current mission which ShonKey has done.
Thanks for your good ears Jenny
Here’s the interview: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201805247/little-says-key-has-not-made-case-for-longer-iraq-deployment
I heard more of his usual lawyerish, naunced waffling. Little needs training to make a clear statement then shut his mouth. Eg: “As Prime Minister, I would bring our troops back home.”
Voters are looking for a clear policy choice and confidence that it will be delivered. Waffle kills both of those.
QFT
I have to agree. Long winded responses have been a millstone around Labour’s neck for decades. Many of us have all but lost our voices trying to tell them.
On the other hand we have managed to convince them that announcing policy planks several A4 size pages long is not a good idea. Took 20 years but we made it.
The Herald seems to have heard what I heard Andrew Little say re troops in Middle East.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11660080
Betcha someone will pick that article to bits and turn it on its head,
DTB,TC ,Nick????
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/welfare-fraudsters-hit-harder-than-tax-evaders-research/
New research suggests welfare fraudsters are facing a tougher time than tax evaders, despite tax evasion costing taxpayers three times more.
A study by Victoria University shows tax discrepancies cost the Government $1.24 billion in 2014, while welfare fraud cost the Government $30.6 million.
However, tax evaders are far less likely to be investigated, prosecuted or imprisoned, and far more likely to have debts written off.
The language is the clue:
Welfare Fraudster “a person who engages in fraud : cheat”
vs
Tax evader “to escape from by trickery or cleverness”
I get the feeling that this is all part the unthinking acceptance of ‘bludgerism’ and blaming the bottom.
Imagine an after match function, where the people who bring nothing are given a free pass, but woe betide anyone taking more than one mallowpuff.
Victoria did a similar study awhile back – don’t know if is the same or an updated one, as part of ongoing analysis.
This is interesting. Tax evasion:
“The Government lost about $1,240,000,000 in tax discrepancies in 2014
– About 0.01% of taxpayers are investigated each year
– About 60-80 people are prosecuted for tax evasion each year
– It costs about $2.86 to recover $100 of evaded tax”
Vs welfare fraud:
“The Government lost about $30,553,600 in welfare fraud in 2014
– About 5% of beneficiaries are investigated each year
– About 800-1000 people are prosecuted for welfare fraud each year
– It costs about $17 to recover every $100 of fraudulently obtained welfare payments”
There’s a big discrepancy between prosecution rates and recovery costs, that is, it’s less costly to recover evaded tax but they prosecute only 60 – 80 tax evaders yet they prosecute more welfare fraudsters, 800 – 1000 even though the recovery cost is far greater. Looks fairly biased doesn’t it.
Wellingtonians would have seen billboards on the motorway and in Thorndon illustrating this bias. The billboards have the face of a man on one side and the words “tax evasion, $229,000. Fine.” The other side also has a man’s face and the words “welfare fraud, $70,000, jail.”
They are professionally manufactured signs on advertising hoardings. Don’t know who put them there.
Or in other terms:
“People who commit welfare fraud are 10 times more likely to be prosecuted than tax evaders, who do 33 times more damage to the economy.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306926/welfare-fraud-targeted-more-than-tax-evasion
In today’s Rural News there is a regular segment called “The Hound”
This is what he says at the end of an attack piece on Rachel Stewart
” an ex train driving, lesbian ,farm hating falconer”
This sort of shit has to stop in a national publication.
The hounds email is hound@rural news.co.nz
Oh and he calls Eugenie Sage a farmer hater and suggests that she is likely to get the primary sector portfolio if a labour green government is elected.
I can’t find the hound online I guess they’re to cunning to make this rubbish too publicly available.
If I had a mutt this nasty It would be getting put down .
Here mr waghorn http://www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/rural-news/rural-opinion/hound
Although the piece you mention is not up yet, the other articles exhibit the same ignorant bigotry.
It is a strange thing that those who claim to – call things as they see them – call a spade a spade – talk bluntly – those types of people can never handle the same thing done back to them…
… if you call a spade a spade to a person who claims to call a spade a spade, they typically react with spluttering bluster and bullshit..
there aint too many spades in the world you see
Cheers . I think its straight out dirty poltics coming from the right still in operation in nz , as apposed to some knuckle dragging moron getting to spot his poison.
+1
That is nasty, and also discriminatory. What has anyone’s sexuality got to do with anything? The writer sounds like they are spitting out the words, lesbian, like someone from the 1950’s.
Now speaking of mutt’s being put down. What would you, b wags, as a rural worker make of my friend’s comment to me the other day, when discussing animal death, saying her ex husband killed the puppies his work dogs had, with a blow to the head with a mallet?
My friend lived on the farm for 30 years. Calls her husband a good kind compassionate farmer. I would think otherwise. I’d call him a wanker actually. In fact he’s just the kind of person I would report had I witnessed such brutality. Is this a common practice? When I asked why weren’t the female dogs speyed she said it affected their work performance.
I also have spoken with a woman, and ex vet nurse, who runs an animal sanctuary. She rescues mis treated farm dogs but can’t re home them because they were never socialised around humans and are too dangerous to be domestic pets.
A few weeks ago I helped round up some sheep that got loose on the development. The farmer dog’s had their ribs showing and were cowering in the back of the work truck, looking dejected and frightened.
Why is it that people spend $1000’s each year on ridiculously pampered house dogs and put them in stupid little jackets, offending the dog’s sense of dignity, when it appears that it’s completely acceptable at the other end of the scale to abuse a dog because it’s a work animal?
That’s what made me laugh (bitterly) about the whole ‘Kiwi Values’ thing, farm dogs/working dogs are a great example of animal cruelty in NZ, it’s a brutal world for those wonderful loyal dogs.
You also got that misoginist/homophobe remark, isn’t that the kinda thing we have extended the troops stay overseas to protect NZ from (so said Gerry!).
We live in a country full of horrible ironies.
We live in a NZ where these business owners feel like victims:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/81250908/company-involved-in-bobby-calf-scandal-closes-down
I don’t think they can see the irony there either.
Yeah, and that Gezza speaking about NZ troops in Iraq, went totally off script when he said “we could have an Orlando type situation here in NZ”. What?
I experienced things on a farm Rosie no kid should ever witness at that age, sheep home killed throats cut, pups killed on the fencepost with a blow to the head exactly as you describe, dogs fed 2 tux triangle biscuits every couple days, work harder when they are hungry is their excuse.
In the 70’s and 80’s when I grew up things were like that and worse, these guys were handed this down from their fathers, and their fathers before them.
Times were different, there is no excuse now however, it’s just down to a lack of education and lack of farmers telling other farmers there dogs look bad, and not ignoring mal treatment.
I have two dogs, love them to bits they live inside with me, well fed and looked after, cycles can be broken it just takes education, dog handling, health and training education.
Sorry you had to witness such violence and cruelty at a young age. That’s unbelievably awful. Really bad for a child, for anyone, but especially a child.
When I was a kid in the 70’s and teen in the 80’s we lived in a small coastal/semi rural town. We rented grazing for our horses on farms and luckily I didn’t see any animal violence, despite spending so much time there, but I knew something was wrong. I was always creeped out by some of the gnarlier farm men. God knows what they got up to. I did see their dogs though, the state of them was bad. And that’s what I saw the other day on the back of the truck and the same kind of agro creepy bloke. It was shortly after my friend told me about the puppies on her farm and it made me wonder what’s changed.
I agree these methods of animal handling are passed down.
Great that you’re taking good care of your dog buddies. Bet they look after you in turn. Humans and animals are capable of having strong and loyal friendships eh.
That’s a hell of leap but seen as you asked.
yes I’ve tapped some pups on the head it was years ago and i hated it , Iv’e also tapped somewhere around 4000 possums on the head .
There are bad people in all walks of life farmers are no different, I personally am very careful to avoid miss mates , and spaying dogs does not affect performance in fact it means your bitch is not out of action for up to 6 weeks a year and spayed bitches eat less.
Most retired farm dogs work in teams and meet many other dogs so would be fine as pets but they wont be house trained .
A well timed hammer to the head of a young animal would be as humane as any other method of killing . deaths never nice
Thanks for that B wags. I’m glad you clarified the spaying situation. I thought it sounded like an iffy excuse.
Possums, god forgive me for being a hypocrite, I have slightly less sorrow about.
Just wish there was a humane way of breeding them out of existence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11660502
NZ Employers are angels compared to these guys!
i dont think thats any sort of useful comparison – unless your doing some framing
Another thing our government is good at. And the next minute the same experts are wondering why Kiwis buy property as an investment and why Kiwis have so little savings.
The real victim is the banks because how can they be expected to have savers insurance with their paltry profits unlike all the other OECD banks. sarc.
National leaves Kiwi savers the most vulnerable in OECD
https://blog.greens.org.nz/2016/06/21/national-leaves-kiwi-savers-the-most-vulnerable-in-oecd/
When you loan someone money you’re taking the risk that you’re not going to get it back.
That’s why interest is paid on the loan – to cover the risk. Your bank deposit is a loan to the bank. If the bank loses, so should you.
Dude, WTF. Your idea that “interest” covers “risk” is idealistic bullshit from another era.
Also the idea that if a bank folds savers should consequently lose their monies is daft. It’s the kind of thing which set in motion what used to be called ‘bank panics’ and in more recent decades ‘bank runs’.
Its also completely unnecessary FFS, why is it that savers should take on the risks assumed by shitty bank management when deposit returns are sweet F.A.
Risk is the entire basis of capitalism according to the RWNJs and economists. If you don’t like the risks then don’t put your money in the bank.
If we’re going to have a capitalist economy then the rules actually need to be capitalist
Sanders supporters fighting back anyway they can:
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2016/06/20/sanders-supporters-plan-worlds-largest-fart-in-during-hillary-clintons-acceptance-speech/
As the days and weeks go by, it has become increasingly apparent that many Bernie Sanders supporters will simply never, ever endorse or vote for Hillary Clinton. If anything, the coronation of Hillary was so replete with scheming and dirty tricks, more than a few Bernie supporters who may have been open to a Clinton candidacy a few months ago, now consider themselves diehard Bernie or Busters.
Philadelphia: Cheri Honkala, the leader of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, announced that her group was organizing the world’s largest “fart-in” to be held on July 28 at the Wells Fargo Center during Hillary Clinton’s anticipated acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination.
“We will be holding a massive bean supper for Bernie Sanders delegates on American Street in my Kensington neighborhood on the afternoon of July 28,” she said. “We are setting up a Clintonville there, modeled on the Hoovervilles of the 1930s where the poor and unemployed built shanty towns. The Sanders delegates, their bellies full of beans, will be able to return to the Wells Fargo Center and greet the rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton with the real thing.”
Honkala said she would issue an invitation to Sanders to join the bean supper, which she is calling Beans for Hillary. She has asked donors to send cans of beans to 1301-W Porter Street, Philadelphia, Pa., 19148.
Chris Hedges, an author and activist who is an ordained Presbyterian minister, will open the Beans for Hillary meal with a nondenominational prayer.
“I am happy to bless a meal that will be put to such effective political use,” Hedges said.
Interesting that we have had 38 Prime Ministers to date. Hope soon the other Treaty partner gets a look in, you know for fairness and those sort of lofty ideals.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_New_Zealand
and what’s that supposed to mean, Maori have just as much chance of reaching the top as anyone else, join a political party.
There is nothing in the treaty that says you get to be PM for a term, cus your Maori’s, that really would be racist.
So you think we’ve had equal opportunity for both Treaty partners since 1840 – lol
No
Your not very good at this, you make things up and then say people mean that, then make a joke of it.
Maori have had a shocking deal, but there is nothing in the treaty that says one has to be PM, so what rule specifically regarding the running of the Nation in our treaty do you think has been broken there. in specific.
Plus you post just a blatantly provocative statement like a trap and sat back and waited for someone to reply to it you could have an argument with so fire away.
Why haven’t there been any Māori PM’s then?
You know the heredity of all our past PM’s Marty? Because I don’t and it would be a bold claim to make in NZ.
Try answering the question – what do you think are the reasons?
White population was larger than the Maori & Polynesian population when I grew up, I would say the political parties refused to allow a maori to lead them as the whites were so damn racist.
But that was back then, Now, Winstons in with a chance, Hone leads a party, Tolleysd in there, Bennett claims Maori ancestry, would you not agree, things are not perfect but progress has been made?
I think the problem is where you said “Maori have just as much chance of reaching the top as anyone else,”. To me that is incompatible with the reality of racism. Māori haven’t had just as much chance as anyone else, that’s the point.
I got the mediteranean brown., i’m also Albanian, Albania is near Turkey but you know I see Maori getting respect for being Maori, tell someone your Albanian and you spend the afternoon talking to a customs clerk, oversea’s they follow you around the shops, in Greece they hate us, I got a knife to my throat and a group of young greeks crowded around and without any doubt the answer to the question, are you Albanian? would mean my life or death, lucky for me I look Albanian but have a kiwi accent and a NZ passport i was lucky.
So what I am saying is racism is all over, I’ve experienced it, you don’t have to be Maori to be brown nor too feel the sting of racist attitudes.
Marty grills me like he thinks i’m some out of touch white man? No?
Yes racism is in many places and many situations. That doesn’t change the fact that Māori don’t have as much chance as anyone else though.
Richardrawshark, with a knife held to your throat I suspect you understand what real racism (and real fear) is like. Not comfy abstractions to do with other people not getting six figure salaries often enough.
“haven’t”, do you think that applies today?
Would Maori representation currently be close to proportional? In terms of Parliament representatives? MP’s?
-CV, Albanians don’t get 6 figure salaries. They don’t even let you park their cars(Makines). Cough..
We often refer in racism to times past as if racism is as strong as it was then, and is still occurring as such, we need to keep current and keep focused on removing barriers. Also based on my regional area, my perception may be skewed, as this is a forestry town and Maori here in the main are doing good.
@CV, that’s interesting, I’ll remember that next time you are arguing that Labour don’t have enough Asian MPs.
@Richard, complex question, and it depends on what one believes about the treaty. Do I think that there is still institutional racism that disadvantages Māori from positions of power? Yes. Do I think that there are NZers who would actively work and vote against Māori MP becoming leader of a political party where they could become PM if that MP were overtly political and proactive about the treaty? Yes. Do Māori have to deal with personal prejudice regularly? Yes. Things aren’t the same as they were but that doesn’t mean those institutional and personal racists don’t exist.
The whole point of putting the link was to show historically and photographicly the situation – the photos tell the story and that story has continued to the present. The inequality is outrageous and I wanted my post to show that. Oh well, what a pity, nevermind…
Can’t we do it with less hostility, anger breeds anger, hate breeds hate. sarcasm breeds sarcasm.
I fully support your goals Marty, I disagree with your blunt methods, at times.
Also IMHO the most effective human rights activists who have made the biggest inroads at removing racial barriers and attitudes did it with the most peaceful actions.
lastly in my fist post I did ask
“and what’s that supposed to mean, ”
it was my first line, first words, you could have just answered me because your reasons were valid and I was missing the point you we’re making.
No one asked you to comment on what I wrote – I’d have preferred if you didnt.
Answer my question now.
“Why haven’t there been any Māori PM’s then?”
Coz they fucked Winston over.
There’s been a Maori Acting PM iirc.
He’s not THAT old mate
What’s the Māori prison population like compared to pakeha Richard? What’s the Māori rate of poverty in comparison? What are the Māori health statistics in comparison? If you know the answers to some of those questions, then you’ll know it doesn’t mean they have a higher chance of becoming PM than people of european descent.
maybe opportunity.. is a better word, but they have less chance there to, I agree with you Maui, your dead right, the reply to Marty was more about his provocative post than him being wrong completely.
Plus I didn’t get the part he made it sound like it was a treaty obligation that we elect a Maori PM?
In so much if we want to tackle inequality we should be focusing on targets that would have greater outcomes for more people than pleasing a single person for a token of equality that in reality would mean little but a simple race achievement.
It’s an example that shows who still holds the power. A couple of hundred years ago 500 or so chiefs from around the country signed this dude’s document. Since then Māori have barely been represented on local councils and have only had a fraction more representation in Parliament. I think those chiefs/leaders would have hoped for a lot more say on how they could govern their people, the areas they lived in and on the sharing of power with pakeha. But it hasn’t happened,
Winston could be the first, Obama in America, times are changing Maui, racism and homophobia are nothing compared to when I grew up, and our offspring won’t even recognize it when they get to our age. I hope.
“It’s an example that shows who still holds the power”
why I failed to see the symbolism of that tonight is beyond me, of course that is true.
All good.
‘Chancellor Merkel has given up German sovereignty – right-wing party leader’
https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/347415-brexit-germany-rightwing-party/
“This week, the United Kingdom will vote on whether the nation should leave the European Union – the discussion coming on heels of intensifying displeasure with the way Brussels handles the waves of immigrants and financial troubles besieging Europe. Right-wing parties are on the rise all across the European Union, and even in Germany the support for the AFD – the right-wing Alternative for Germany party – is rapidly growing despite resistance from political establishment. What started as an anti-euro movement is now branded as “anti-immigrant” and “anti-Islam” – but what’s behind these accusations and what’s behind its growing popularity? We ask the leader of the AFD; Dr. Frauke Petry is on Sophie&Co today…
FFS I don’t like the way this is heading, I have Muslim relatives in Brussels and English relatives in the UK, and Muslim Relatives in Italy and of course Albania. Good proper Muslims. Unlike my atheist self.
Mum just came back, the catch up news has not been good, My sister in the UK has an English husband and child she is returning to raise her son here as things are getting real bad over there.
Apparently I wouldn’t recognize the North East, Newcastle or Sunderland now, totally different demographic without sounding racist.