But from the herald we have this …
Social Development Ministry housing chief Carl Crafar said the family was evicted from the house last July due to the meth contamination.
“They are currently not eligible for a Housing NZ house, and have admitted to using meth in their past three Housing NZ properties,” he said.
But Jane said the contamination occurred before she moved into the house three years earlier.
“I have never used meth or cooked it in my life,” she said.
Can someone out there help me ? Ministry said they have admitted to using and that is the reason they are not eligible, and yet they refute this.
I would assume there’s some form of written communication or verbal communication (I delete nothing at work because you never know…), if there isn’t then he shouldn’t be making allegations like that
If its true that its three properties that’ve been affected then yes refer them to get help with meth smoking by all mean but remember that’s three families that now can’t use those houses
Personally speaking if you’re a meth user then you shouldn’t be looking after/having more kids until you get clean
Why can’t they use those houses? Someone’s smoked some toxic chemicals in them at some point – well, that used to happen multiple times a day in two thirds of NZ houses in the 1960s, and nobody felt like they couldn’t live in those houses. It’s a crock of shit.
“The problem here, as toxicologists explained to the Science Media Centre back in March, is that residues from meth being smoked – as opposed to manufacture, which involves dangerous chemicals and real health risks – pose, at worst, a “minimal” risk of toxicity.”
The issues with a lab house are real and dangerous – the issues with a house thats just had it smoked in appear to be very low to non existent.
It appears that the health guidelines are only really concerned with high level lab contamination and have very little to say on residue from consumption
The whole issue is more a moral panic created by operators trying to ramp up business in an environment where theres no licensing, no oversight, inadequate regulations and theres no right of appeal (false positive test results)
Your links are about houses that have been used as meth labs. Those are indeed dangerous – houses in which someone might have smoked a pipe now and then, not so much.
Your assuming all meth users are completely addicted and that any level of contamination is toxic to life.
I think its just a useful diversion for this government s inability to deliver its brighter future.
Your assuming all meth users are completely addicted and that any level of contamination is toxic to life.
– I just think being addicted to something like meth means you shouldn’t be in charge of kids
– While not any contamination is toxic if (and at the moment its still if) what’s said is true and that’s three houses that’ve been contaminated then I wouldn’t be surprised if that was starting to affect the kids which, as far as I’m concerned, is child abuse
– but that aside shouldn’t we, as a society, be erring on the side of caution anyway when its comes to kids safety?
I think its just a useful diversion for this government s inability to deliver its brighter future
“…if you’re deliberately harming your childs health then its child abuse….”
Unfortunately, the solution to this is not as simple as removing the child. CYFS – who are struggling to create a safe environment for children in their care know this all too well.
While some children undoubtedly benefit from removal, many others struggle with the loss of family connection and the care that is offered is often piecemeal and fragmented.
As bwaghorn points out above, there are numerous incidents that can be considered “child abuse”. What about the teenage girl that is supported in her quest for plastic surgery at a young age, or those children brought up to think that poverty is the fault of the poor? Abuse is still abuse, even if it is not physical.
Child removal from a family is something to approach with caution, reserve and comprehensive support, not from some arbitrary perspective of abuse.
I wouldn’t have a problem with that, if you’re deliberately harming your childs health then its child abuse.
Good job no-one thought that back when two-thirds of NZers were smokers, or we’d have run out of non-smoking foster parents in short order. And the cost of identifying and “decontaminating” all those filthy smokers’ houses – the government would still be paying off the debt now. At some point, you have to take the stick out of your arse and accept that not everyone achieves your own level of righteous propriety.
Heaps among the people who were doing the smoking, fuck-all for anyone else.
Still, for the sake of argument: suppose the government were to accept your view that someone smoking tobacco in a house is child abuse and we should err on the side of caution. The smoking rate in NZ is still something like 20%, which means an enormous number of tenants need to be banned from state housing and evicted along with their kids so that their houses can be “decontaminated.” The country doesn’t have that many motels, let alone that much money to waste on loan sharking. Is there any point at which you might start to think “This is a really dumb idea?”
Meth contamination seems to be more of a problem for scientists like Paula bennet, real estate agents and the meth cleaning company’s.
While meth labs are dangerous and toxic….. the presence of meth itself ….and at levels of 1 two millionth of a gram over 10 sq cms would pose zero health dangers…….,hopefully the meth scam leads to something being done about all the lead contaminated houses poisoning our kids and pets …….
“EFFECTS ON ADULTS
• Can damage the brain, affect fertility, increase the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth, and raise blood pressure. In pregnant women, lead can cross the placenta and damage the fetus. Also linked to anaemia, seizures, hearing loss, nausea, fatigue.
• Possible symptoms: headaches, irritability, aggressive behaviour, insomnia, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, constipation, anaemia.
SOURCES
• Lead-based paint peeling off or being unsafely removed from your house or a neighbour’s. Previous shoddy renovations.
• Soil and house dust.
• Food (lead particles can coat the skin of vegetables; wash before eating).
• Lead-painted toys or furniture, some Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicines.
• Pica: children eating dirt or paint.
• Hobbies: particularly indoor shooting and leadlighting.
• Drinking water from lead pipes.
EFFECTS ON CHILDREN
• Can be permanent and irreversible.
• Low levels are often undetected: no obvious symptoms. Child might be fatigued, irritable, losing weight, pale or weak.
• Can lead to learning disabilities, diminished IQ, behavioural problems, malformed bones, organ damage, hearing problems, slow growth.
• Very high levels can cause seizures, coma, death.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Take your child to a GP. Ask for a blood test if there is concern about lead exposure. Make sure siblings are tested if high levels are found.
• Frequently wash your child’s hands, toys, dummies.
• Test house dust and soil, as well as paint (on furniture and house surfaces).
• Never dry-sand lead paint or acrylic that may have lead paint underneath.
• Paint lead surfaces with acrylic. Discard contaminated carpets. Replace or cover contaminated soil.
• If working with lead, wash clothes separately and shower before cuddling kids.
“I think its just a useful diversion for this government s inability to deliver its brighter future.” – Yes! C’mon Garner do an investigation into the meth testing business now you have gone social warrior & suddenly give a shit about the poor.
Quote: The Auckland woman with the $78,000 debt said she was evicted from her Housing New Zealand house after it was found to be contaminated with methamphetamine. Despite being cleared of drugs by a CYF investigation, the woman said she was blacklisted by Housing NZ, forcing the family into emergency accommodation. Quote End
Someone is lying, its either the women, or CYF or Winz.
“I needed help due to my falling into a deep depression due to what I was getting accused of,” she said.
That comment suggests to me she is telling the truth. Anyone who has been through a situation where false allegations are leveled at them and their denials etc. are not believed, knows how devastating the consequences can be.
“They are currently not eligible for a Housing NZ house, and have admitted to using meth in their past three Housing NZ properties,” he said.
A convenient re-write of what really happened methinks. A typical Public Service track covering response if my former experiences are any indication – although not to do with Winz or Housing NZ.
I think the word you mean is “deny” rather than “refute”.
Refute means
“1.prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong or false; disprove”
Her claim may be true but I can see no proof of the statement.
“Your Prime Minister”.
I really think you should be saying “OUR Prime Minister”.
Whether you like it or not, and assuming you are a New Zealander, he is your PM as well.
USURY is what this jonkey nact government is about and it is contrary to what the founding values and principles of egalitarian New Zealand was all about…and it is a violation of Maori culture and heritage
Definition of usury:
…the action or practice of lending money at unreasonably high rates of interest.
…”the medieval prohibition on usury”
…synonyms: extortionate money lending, shylocking; informal loan-sharking
archaic…interest at unreasonably high rates.
Usury (/ˈjuːʒəri/[1][2]) is, today, the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. Originally, usury meant interest of any kind. A loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest rates or other factors.
Historically in Christian societies, and in many Islamic societies today, charging any interest at all can be considered usury.[3][4][5] Someone who practices usury can be called a usurer, but a more common term in contemporary English is loan shark.
The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others’ misfortunes—or in a legal sense where interest rates may be regulated by law.
Historically, some cultures (e.g., Christianity in much of Medieval Europe, and Islam in many parts of the world today) have regarded charging any interest for loans as sinful.
Some of the earliest known condemnations of usury come from the Vedic texts of India.[6]
Similar condemnations are found in religious texts from Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (the term is riba in Arabic and ribbit in Hebrew).[7] At times, many nations from ancient China to ancient Greece to ancient Rome have outlawed loans with any interest. Though the Roman Empire eventually allowed loans with carefully restricted interest rates, the Christian church in medieval Europe banned the charging of interest at any rate (as well as charging a fee for the use of money, such as at a bureau de change)…
Not a bad interview this morning,7.30ish by Susy F with the P.M..on the housing crisis (sorry-..’housing challenges’).
She allowed him to waffle on sounding baffled, trying to evade answering, …. ‘the reality is ‘… ‘most New Zealanders’…. ‘of course the previous Labour government didn’t do a helluva lot.’….etc. etc. Little by Little he’s losing his grip.
Yes Rodel.
An amazing flow of largely meaningless drivel. Con-man extraordinaire. When will the good folk of this country see the man for what he is?
Or should that be for what he isn’t?
Agreed Rodel and Wyndham. Key completely unfocused and rambling. Not for the first time. He was probably contemplating yesterday’s Reid Research poll showing his popularity at 36.7 where once this poll had him in the 60’s. It’s impossible to stick the teflon back on once it has flaked…..and he sounded flaky in that interview….Paul has posted the audio address below.
Every second word Tolley said on RNZ on last nights Checkpoint was ‘meth lab meth lab meth lab’ (OK I exaggerate but she was repeating it over & over like a chant)
Yes and on The Panel a few weeks ago an expert said in most cases all that needed to be done in “Meth Lab Houses” was wash the walls, carpets and curtains rather than the massive total recladding costing tens of $1000’s that is being done in most cases now-operators have turned this into a nice little earner while at the same time causing state houses to be out of service.
My understanding is the “meth lab” houses represent a tiny fraction of state housing stock-any info on this out there?
Also as a side note, it was on that Mihingarangi Forbes show last Sunday about Talleys workers being sacked for failing drug tests. Yet when this guy on the show got his own test done privately it came back clean so Talleys had to reinstate him. Who needs unions eh?
Wyndham
When will the good folk of this country see….? I am beginning to wonder how many in this country are good folk. I am losing respect for fellow NZs who can happily go about their business finding sneers to belittle those suffering hardship and indignity.
I guess it was the good folk that were off in their 4WDs without a care knowing they would be saved at great expense of money and time and sacrifice of others’ rest and family time. This while more ordinary people unable to afford such foolhardy outings, face demands from the gummint for huge amounts of money they don’t have, just for the necessities of life.
And the government itself keeps being elected so it can go on making a hash of being responsible, planning for the country, enabling businesses that are good employers to flourish and employ locals, and what about government managing the economy prudently and intelligently.
What do the ‘good folk’ think about this – ‘She’ll be right’ (I’m all right!). I think they are aliens come down amongst us. Try to recognise them and keep them at a distance, as you never know when their chests will break open and a new foul heart will ooze its way out to continue the species.
I’d normally agree totally TC-Susie not up to the job-but this morning allowing him to dribble on (he couldn’t be stopped per the booted-out-of-house episode) kind of worked to show him up as the duplicitous [supply other adjectives here] character he is.
Suzie Ferguson shows that our PM doers not care for the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.
“Isn’t it grotesque to dangling tax cuts while there are families living in motels and cars?”
Yes Paul. That was a good final question: Note the dodgy answer.
“Isn’t it grotesque to dangling tax cuts while there are families living in motels and cars?”
.
It is interesting to see that US is trying to kneecap the World Trade Dispute Settlement Body, no doubt so as to a means of introducing its own ISDS system through the back door via TPP and TTIP. “Greg Shaffer on the Appellate Body Reappointment Controversy”
Now, the USTR has taken its most extreme step to date by proclaiming that it will block the reappointment of the South Korean judge Seung Wha Chang. (Appellate Body members are elected for a four-year term, renewable once). The reason given is not because Mr. Chang demonstrated a lack of judicial competence or independence. On the contrary, Mr. Chang is a former national judge who has a doctorate from Harvard Law School and is the endowed Nomura Visiting Professor of International Financial Systems there. Rather, the USTR opposes judge Wha Chang because he participated in decisions against the United States.
……
The United States has a history of building and undermining international institutions. Following the horrors of WWI, an isolationist US Senate refused to ratify the Versailles Treaty, which drastically impaired the new Permanent Court of International Justice. Then, after the horrors of WWII, the Roosevelt administration spurred the creation of the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. Later, in the 1980s, the Reagan administration withdrew from recognizing the ICJ’s administration when the ICJ decided against it in the Nicaragua case, undermining that body.
It takes decades to create international institutions, often built out of tragedy. They can be undone overnight. With the Transpacific Partnership uncertain, will President Obama’s legacy on trade be destroying the WTO?
Suzie Ferguson indulges in a little unthinking USA anti Russia, anti Putin propaganda…and is complicit in blaming Russia for the shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in July 2014 in Ukraine… This despite international evidence to the contrary
Oh my goodness. Samantha Bee gets a incredible interview with Frank Schaeffer, the guy who was instrumental in establishing the religious right in the USA, and around the world.
I’m not going to predict exactly what is in the budget (my contacts have gone cold ;-)) but what I will predict is that there’ll be something in there no ones expecting that will take the wind out of the oppositions sails
This prediction is based on nothing more then the prior history of National doing something different and encroaching on the left side of politics
Yes there’s no doubt there will be , but instead of reporters seeing it as the opposition forcing the government to act, they’ll run around like giddy little twerps trying to embaress the opposition.
Helen Clark’s enemies are at it again. This time in New York. They can’t bear the thought of an ultra- intelligent and strong woman such as Helen Clark having that sort of power.
I was thinking the $1000 a week loan for motels was a good example of why the so called ‘public/private model’ of WINZ & HNZ is a load of shit & just adds to costs & wastes time.
The forced privatisation of Public schools in Mexico. Government response to claims this is taking jobs and hurting education?? Firing anyone who opposes the so called reforms.
This story isn’t going to go away anytime soon. In short; highly respected Rotorua journalist Phil Campbell fired off some question to Labour’s Rotorua LEC. He got a reasonable reply and would have left it at that. The candidate’s husband however jumped in and CCd Phil Campbell into a rant in which Phil Campbell was called a ‘nobody’.
Maybe I am old fashioned but I don’t believe anybody is a nobody. As Phil Campbell said in his reply, nobodies vote. Nobodies can become somebodies. Everybody deserves that basic human dignity and respect of being a human being, not a nobody. And can you get more elitist by inference suggesting you, in contrast, are a somebody?
When will Labour get serious about disciplining its candidates and sticking to its values? These closet rightists need to either get out of politics or join National. It is simply embarrassing to have them representing the party of the average worker.
Exactly. But that is why there are, or I believe there was, strong guidelines on public comment and interaction with the media and rules about bringing the party into disrepute.
If it was something particularly egregious, like, oh I don’t know, a personal relationship with a convicted criminal ratfucker or touching up little girl’s hair, I might give a fuck.
More recently Berliner, Glass and Associates produced a successor to the Berliner and Biddle publication entitled 50 Myths and Lies that Threaten America’s Public Schools – The Real Crisis in Education (2014). In the interim between the two works the influence of student testing has grown significantly and a plethora of vested interests has moved into the education space for ideological, political and financial reasons. Over three decades later the myths identified by Berliner, Biddle and subsequent writers have assumed the status of ‘facts’ in the eyes of many (Sahlberg, 2014), with additional myths/’facts’ added to the mix in a continuous, cumulative fashion, thereby adding to the strength and acceptance of the movement which, as will be seen, is thus self-fulfilling, with myth becoming reality.
And this is what Charter Schools are for – to undermine and destroy public education so that the profiteers can make even more money from the public purse.
Those shareholders had plenty of time to get alternative funding proposals together. They we commercially lazy for too long.
I have little sympathy for farmer-investors who have had over a decade to force change and/or amalgamate with the other dominant players and/or persuade central government to amalgamate the industry together for meat, just as they did for dairy in the formation of Fonterra.
Instead the Chinese stepped in, which means structural change for the meat industry is now permanently ruled out.
The Chinese takeover has upsides as well as downsides.
SO there’s your National/Meth scare link from 2008. Does Methcon offer testing/cleaning services as well? I did read somewhere that basically there is only one tester in the whole country.
Monsanto are going to get swallowed up by the German seeds multinational Bayer. They’re just holding out for something in the region of $130 per share.
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
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’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
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 ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
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 ...
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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 ...
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Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Affordable housing search leaves children out in the cold
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/80285333/affordable-housing-search-leaves-children-out-in-the-cold
Beneficiaries $417 million in debt to WINZ
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201801902
Winz pays $60k in motel bills for mother of eight
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11643936
Rents in City of Sails jump $20 a week to record high
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11643964
But from the herald we have this …
Social Development Ministry housing chief Carl Crafar said the family was evicted from the house last July due to the meth contamination.
“They are currently not eligible for a Housing NZ house, and have admitted to using meth in their past three Housing NZ properties,” he said.
But Jane said the contamination occurred before she moved into the house three years earlier.
“I have never used meth or cooked it in my life,” she said.
Can someone out there help me ? Ministry said they have admitted to using and that is the reason they are not eligible, and yet they refute this.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11643936
Either he or she is telling porkies, if he can’t offer up proof then he’s lying, simple as that.
You do understand that you can’t prove a negative don’t you?
I would assume there’s some form of written communication or verbal communication (I delete nothing at work because you never know…), if there isn’t then he shouldn’t be making allegations like that
Using meth shouldn’t be grounds for kicking someone out anyway , referring them to get help with their meth smoking should be the answer.
If its true that its three properties that’ve been affected then yes refer them to get help with meth smoking by all mean but remember that’s three families that now can’t use those houses
Personally speaking if you’re a meth user then you shouldn’t be looking after/having more kids until you get clean
Why can’t they use those houses? Someone’s smoked some toxic chemicals in them at some point – well, that used to happen multiple times a day in two thirds of NZ houses in the 1960s, and nobody felt like they couldn’t live in those houses. It’s a crock of shit.
http://scienceline.org/2010/04/are-you-living-in-a-former-meth-lab/
http://www.livescience.com/23721-meth-lab-toxins-cleanup.html
Well fair enough for you but I’m thinking its better that people don’t live in P houses
“The problem here, as toxicologists explained to the Science Media Centre back in March, is that residues from meth being smoked – as opposed to manufacture, which involves dangerous chemicals and real health risks – pose, at worst, a “minimal” risk of toxicity.”
from hard news
which links to these experts
The issues with a lab house are real and dangerous – the issues with a house thats just had it smoked in appear to be very low to non existent.
It appears that the health guidelines are only really concerned with high level lab contamination and have very little to say on residue from consumption
The whole issue is more a moral panic created by operators trying to ramp up business in an environment where theres no licensing, no oversight, inadequate regulations and theres no right of appeal (false positive test results)
Your links are about houses that have been used as meth labs. Those are indeed dangerous – houses in which someone might have smoked a pipe now and then, not so much.
Your assuming all meth users are completely addicted and that any level of contamination is toxic to life.
I think its just a useful diversion for this government s inability to deliver its brighter future.
Your assuming all meth users are completely addicted and that any level of contamination is toxic to life.
– I just think being addicted to something like meth means you shouldn’t be in charge of kids
– While not any contamination is toxic if (and at the moment its still if) what’s said is true and that’s three houses that’ve been contaminated then I wouldn’t be surprised if that was starting to affect the kids which, as far as I’m concerned, is child abuse
– but that aside shouldn’t we, as a society, be erring on the side of caution anyway when its comes to kids safety?
I think its just a useful diversion for this government s inability to deliver its brighter future
– Probably not wrong there
” I wouldn’t be surprised if that was starting to affect the kids which,as far I’m concerned, is child abuse ”
Going by that argument the kids of anyone who smokes tabbaco in the house or car with them is also a child abuser who should have their kids removed.
I wouldn’t have a problem with that, if you’re deliberately harming your childs health then its child abuse.
“…if you’re deliberately harming your childs health then its child abuse….”
Unfortunately, the solution to this is not as simple as removing the child. CYFS – who are struggling to create a safe environment for children in their care know this all too well.
While some children undoubtedly benefit from removal, many others struggle with the loss of family connection and the care that is offered is often piecemeal and fragmented.
As bwaghorn points out above, there are numerous incidents that can be considered “child abuse”. What about the teenage girl that is supported in her quest for plastic surgery at a young age, or those children brought up to think that poverty is the fault of the poor? Abuse is still abuse, even if it is not physical.
Child removal from a family is something to approach with caution, reserve and comprehensive support, not from some arbitrary perspective of abuse.
I wouldn’t have a problem with that, if you’re deliberately harming your childs health then its child abuse.
Good job no-one thought that back when two-thirds of NZers were smokers, or we’d have run out of non-smoking foster parents in short order. And the cost of identifying and “decontaminating” all those filthy smokers’ houses – the government would still be paying off the debt now. At some point, you have to take the stick out of your arse and accept that not everyone achieves your own level of righteous propriety.
So how many of those caregivers now have cancer or died from cancer or how about increased rates of cancer in kids in those households?
Heaps among the people who were doing the smoking, fuck-all for anyone else.
Still, for the sake of argument: suppose the government were to accept your view that someone smoking tobacco in a house is child abuse and we should err on the side of caution. The smoking rate in NZ is still something like 20%, which means an enormous number of tenants need to be banned from state housing and evicted along with their kids so that their houses can be “decontaminated.” The country doesn’t have that many motels, let alone that much money to waste on loan sharking. Is there any point at which you might start to think “This is a really dumb idea?”
What about the lead puckish ???
http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/ecologic/the-dreaded-lead/
Now that is a poison ………………
Meth contamination seems to be more of a problem for scientists like Paula bennet, real estate agents and the meth cleaning company’s.
While meth labs are dangerous and toxic….. the presence of meth itself ….and at levels of 1 two millionth of a gram over 10 sq cms would pose zero health dangers…….,hopefully the meth scam leads to something being done about all the lead contaminated houses poisoning our kids and pets …….
“EFFECTS ON ADULTS
• Can damage the brain, affect fertility, increase the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth, and raise blood pressure. In pregnant women, lead can cross the placenta and damage the fetus. Also linked to anaemia, seizures, hearing loss, nausea, fatigue.
• Possible symptoms: headaches, irritability, aggressive behaviour, insomnia, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, constipation, anaemia.
SOURCES
• Lead-based paint peeling off or being unsafely removed from your house or a neighbour’s. Previous shoddy renovations.
• Soil and house dust.
• Food (lead particles can coat the skin of vegetables; wash before eating).
• Lead-painted toys or furniture, some Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicines.
• Pica: children eating dirt or paint.
• Hobbies: particularly indoor shooting and leadlighting.
• Drinking water from lead pipes.
EFFECTS ON CHILDREN
• Can be permanent and irreversible.
• Low levels are often undetected: no obvious symptoms. Child might be fatigued, irritable, losing weight, pale or weak.
• Can lead to learning disabilities, diminished IQ, behavioural problems, malformed bones, organ damage, hearing problems, slow growth.
• Very high levels can cause seizures, coma, death.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
• Take your child to a GP. Ask for a blood test if there is concern about lead exposure. Make sure siblings are tested if high levels are found.
• Frequently wash your child’s hands, toys, dummies.
• Test house dust and soil, as well as paint (on furniture and house surfaces).
• Never dry-sand lead paint or acrylic that may have lead paint underneath.
• Paint lead surfaces with acrylic. Discard contaminated carpets. Replace or cover contaminated soil.
• If working with lead, wash clothes separately and shower before cuddling kids.
“I think its just a useful diversion for this government s inability to deliver its brighter future.” – Yes! C’mon Garner do an investigation into the meth testing business now you have gone social warrior & suddenly give a shit about the poor.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80094682/work-and-income-keeps-clients-in-dark-says-poverty-group
Quote: The Auckland woman with the $78,000 debt said she was evicted from her Housing New Zealand house after it was found to be contaminated with methamphetamine. Despite being cleared of drugs by a CYF investigation, the woman said she was blacklisted by Housing NZ, forcing the family into emergency accommodation. Quote End
Someone is lying, its either the women, or CYF or Winz.
Or the journalist involved has “massaged” what was said…
“I needed help due to my falling into a deep depression due to what I was getting accused of,” she said.
That comment suggests to me she is telling the truth. Anyone who has been through a situation where false allegations are leveled at them and their denials etc. are not believed, knows how devastating the consequences can be.
“They are currently not eligible for a Housing NZ house, and have admitted to using meth in their past three Housing NZ properties,” he said.
A convenient re-write of what really happened methinks. A typical Public Service track covering response if my former experiences are any indication – although not to do with Winz or Housing NZ.
I think the word you mean is “deny” rather than “refute”.
Refute means
“1.prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong or false; disprove”
Her claim may be true but I can see no proof of the statement.
Your Prime Minister doesn’t know the difference either.
“Your Prime Minister”.
I really think you should be saying “OUR Prime Minister”.
Whether you like it or not, and assuming you are a New Zealander, he is your PM as well.
only in name
+100 Paul… re ‘Beneficiaries $417 million in debt to WINZ’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201801902
USURY is what this jonkey nact government is about and it is contrary to what the founding values and principles of egalitarian New Zealand was all about…and it is a violation of Maori culture and heritage
Definition of usury:
…the action or practice of lending money at unreasonably high rates of interest.
…”the medieval prohibition on usury”
…synonyms: extortionate money lending, shylocking; informal loan-sharking
archaic…interest at unreasonably high rates.
A history of Usuary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury
Usury (/ˈjuːʒəri/[1][2]) is, today, the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. Originally, usury meant interest of any kind. A loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest rates or other factors.
Historically in Christian societies, and in many Islamic societies today, charging any interest at all can be considered usury.[3][4][5] Someone who practices usury can be called a usurer, but a more common term in contemporary English is loan shark.
The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others’ misfortunes—or in a legal sense where interest rates may be regulated by law.
Historically, some cultures (e.g., Christianity in much of Medieval Europe, and Islam in many parts of the world today) have regarded charging any interest for loans as sinful.
Some of the earliest known condemnations of usury come from the Vedic texts of India.[6]
Similar condemnations are found in religious texts from Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (the term is riba in Arabic and ribbit in Hebrew).[7] At times, many nations from ancient China to ancient Greece to ancient Rome have outlawed loans with any interest. Though the Roman Empire eventually allowed loans with carefully restricted interest rates, the Christian church in medieval Europe banned the charging of interest at any rate (as well as charging a fee for the use of money, such as at a bureau de change)…
Not a bad interview this morning,7.30ish by Susy F with the P.M..on the housing crisis (sorry-..’housing challenges’).
She allowed him to waffle on sounding baffled, trying to evade answering, …. ‘the reality is ‘… ‘most New Zealanders’…. ‘of course the previous Labour government didn’t do a helluva lot.’….etc. etc. Little by Little he’s losing his grip.
Yes Rodel.
An amazing flow of largely meaningless drivel. Con-man extraordinaire. When will the good folk of this country see the man for what he is?
Or should that be for what he isn’t?
Agreed Rodel and Wyndham. Key completely unfocused and rambling. Not for the first time. He was probably contemplating yesterday’s Reid Research poll showing his popularity at 36.7 where once this poll had him in the 60’s. It’s impossible to stick the teflon back on once it has flaked…..and he sounded flaky in that interview….Paul has posted the audio address below.
Every second word Tolley said on RNZ on last nights Checkpoint was ‘meth lab meth lab meth lab’ (OK I exaggerate but she was repeating it over & over like a chant)
almost as if she was instructed
notice how often nat MPs say that in regards to state housing?
Yes and on The Panel a few weeks ago an expert said in most cases all that needed to be done in “Meth Lab Houses” was wash the walls, carpets and curtains rather than the massive total recladding costing tens of $1000’s that is being done in most cases now-operators have turned this into a nice little earner while at the same time causing state houses to be out of service.
My understanding is the “meth lab” houses represent a tiny fraction of state housing stock-any info on this out there?
Also as a side note, it was on that Mihingarangi Forbes show last Sunday about Talleys workers being sacked for failing drug tests. Yet when this guy on the show got his own test done privately it came back clean so Talleys had to reinstate him. Who needs unions eh?
Rodel
lol
Wyndham
When will the good folk of this country see….? I am beginning to wonder how many in this country are good folk. I am losing respect for fellow NZs who can happily go about their business finding sneers to belittle those suffering hardship and indignity.
I guess it was the good folk that were off in their 4WDs without a care knowing they would be saved at great expense of money and time and sacrifice of others’ rest and family time. This while more ordinary people unable to afford such foolhardy outings, face demands from the gummint for huge amounts of money they don’t have, just for the necessities of life.
And the government itself keeps being elected so it can go on making a hash of being responsible, planning for the country, enabling businesses that are good employers to flourish and employ locals, and what about government managing the economy prudently and intelligently.
What do the ‘good folk’ think about this – ‘She’ll be right’ (I’m all right!). I think they are aliens come down amongst us. Try to recognise them and keep them at a distance, as you never know when their chests will break open and a new foul heart will ooze its way out to continue the species.
A decent interviewer would have dissected his dribble and wiped his face with it.
Letting him wibble on exposes nothing new and lets him off the hook.
She is ineffective as designed
I’d normally agree totally TC-Susie not up to the job-but this morning allowing him to dribble on (he couldn’t be stopped per the booted-out-of-house episode) kind of worked to show him up as the duplicitous [supply other adjectives here] character he is.
Thats not news though is it he does that all the time.
However if she did a half decent job and didnt allow his scripted BS you increase the chance he puts his foot in it.
Letting him ramble plays into nacts hands as hes perfected that years ago.
She needed to shut off his microphone and then say “have you finally finished, can I now continue my question”. Some hope of that.
In the budget tomorrow will be lots of money to build flash hotels for wealthy tourists and SFA for people without homes
If you interested on a different view on China – from the inside. Try this blog, some awesome resources. Very new, and is updated, when they can.
http://chuangcn.org/
Suzie Ferguson shows that our PM doers not care for the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.
“Isn’t it grotesque to dangling tax cuts while there are families living in motels and cars?”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201801957
Yes Paul. That was a good final question: Note the dodgy answer.
“Isn’t it grotesque to dangling tax cuts while there are families living in motels and cars?”
.
It is interesting to see that US is trying to kneecap the World Trade Dispute Settlement Body, no doubt so as to a means of introducing its own ISDS system through the back door via TPP and TTIP.
“Greg Shaffer on the Appellate Body Reappointment Controversy”
http://worldtradelaw.typepad.com/
NZ should not ratify the TPP. It is a big mistake to be bound to the US.
+100 TMM
Suzie Ferguson indulges in a little unthinking USA anti Russia, anti Putin propaganda…and is complicit in blaming Russia for the shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in July 2014 in Ukraine… This despite international evidence to the contrary
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201801979/mh17-lawyer-confident-ahead-of-lawsuit
‘BBC shrugs off Kiev’s demand to say ‘Russian aggression’ instead of ‘civil war’ ‘
https://www.rt.com/news/343000-ukraine-bbc-civil-war-aggression/
‘‘It remains our belief’: US insists rebels downed MH17 with BUK missile, ignores Dutch report’
https://www.rt.com/news/318613-usa-rebels-mh17-buk/
Oh my goodness. Samantha Bee gets a incredible interview with Frank Schaeffer, the guy who was instrumental in establishing the religious right in the USA, and around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhLY0JqXP-s
So budget time…
I’m not going to predict exactly what is in the budget (my contacts have gone cold ;-)) but what I will predict is that there’ll be something in there no ones expecting that will take the wind out of the oppositions sails
This prediction is based on nothing more then the prior history of National doing something different and encroaching on the left side of politics
Repurposing labour policy as their own seems to be SOP.
But that’s not a bad thing is it?
When it is in appearance only and not in intent – it is.
Yes there’s no doubt there will be , but instead of reporters seeing it as the opposition forcing the government to act, they’ll run around like giddy little twerps trying to embaress the opposition.
It had to happen:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11644241
Helen Clark’s enemies are at it again. This time in New York. They can’t bear the thought of an ultra- intelligent and strong woman such as Helen Clark having that sort of power.
I was thinking the $1000 a week loan for motels was a good example of why the so called ‘public/private model’ of WINZ & HNZ is a load of shit & just adds to costs & wastes time.
Yes. You’re right.
PM aint bovvered by his declining popularity and says he “slept like a baby”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80356136/prime-minister-john-key-not-losing-sleep-over-new-poll
Don’t babies wake up in the night crying with a wet nappy?
Bob Dole after his presidential flop – “I slept like a baby. I woke up every three hours and cried.”
Lols. Not a bad line for a Republican.
Our PM might have also woken up in the middle of the night demanding a bottle.
Maybe “slept like a log” would have been more suitable. Logs don’t cry and wet themselves.
The forced privatisation of Public schools in Mexico. Government response to claims this is taking jobs and hurting education?? Firing anyone who opposes the so called reforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THKV9ReDyi4
OK last videos of the day.
The Coup d’état in Brazil is being exposed slowly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmnZY4E8S2U
And the coup leader is having his house protested, with the usual response from the right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CK3GTvIgY4
This story isn’t going to go away anytime soon. In short; highly respected Rotorua journalist Phil Campbell fired off some question to Labour’s Rotorua LEC. He got a reasonable reply and would have left it at that. The candidate’s husband however jumped in and CCd Phil Campbell into a rant in which Phil Campbell was called a ‘nobody’.
Maybe I am old fashioned but I don’t believe anybody is a nobody. As Phil Campbell said in his reply, nobodies vote. Nobodies can become somebodies. Everybody deserves that basic human dignity and respect of being a human being, not a nobody. And can you get more elitist by inference suggesting you, in contrast, are a somebody?
When will Labour get serious about disciplining its candidates and sticking to its values? These closet rightists need to either get out of politics or join National. It is simply embarrassing to have them representing the party of the average worker.
http://www.steamnmud.co.nz/signs-covered-time-soon
http://www.steamnmud.co.nz/whale-oils-whale-tale
Yes, halfwit repeater repeating won’t go away.
You don’t think it is at all relevant?
Poor political and media management at the local level.
Exactly. But that is why there are, or I believe there was, strong guidelines on public comment and interaction with the media and rules about bringing the party into disrepute.
Well unlike you then I seem to have some standards for people I want to represent me.
When myths of education become reality
And this is what Charter Schools are for – to undermine and destroy public education so that the profiteers can make even more money from the public purse.
Were Silver Fern Farms shareholders duped?
The FMA say no.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1605/S00774/fma-assessment-of-complaints-against-silver-fern-farms.htm
http://www.newshub.co.nz/tvshows/story/shareholders-unhappy-with-nzs-biggest-meat-company-split-2016052419#axzz49cNCdqQY
Thoughts?
Those shareholders had plenty of time to get alternative funding proposals together. They we commercially lazy for too long.
I have little sympathy for farmer-investors who have had over a decade to force change and/or amalgamate with the other dominant players and/or persuade central government to amalgamate the industry together for meat, just as they did for dairy in the formation of Fonterra.
Instead the Chinese stepped in, which means structural change for the meat industry is now permanently ruled out.
The Chinese takeover has upsides as well as downsides.
What’s your take on the complaint (SFF Information Pack misrepresenting the financial position of the company)?
Winston isn’t happy with the investigation.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1605/S00471/fma-placebo-look-at-silver-fern-farms-beggars-belief.htm
Goddam anti-Sanders truthers!:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-womack/hints-for-sanders-and-less-earthbound-enthusiasts_b_10057430.html
Looks like he took the Red Pill.
This is when I first heard of Mike Sabin, was when he used to go on telly talking about the harm of P,
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/462985/Alcohol-and-tobacco-kill-more-than-P
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00476/methcons-meth-solutions-a-con.htm
&
http://www.methcon.co.nz/
SO there’s your National/Meth scare link from 2008. Does Methcon offer testing/cleaning services as well? I did read somewhere that basically there is only one tester in the whole country.
& then he joins parliament & tried to change the drug laws to be able to test more people for drugs…ching ching!!!!
http://blog.eternalvigilance.me/2013/12/random-drug-test/
Monsanto…those bastards
https://www.rt.com/in-vision/343977-world-march-against-monsanto/
(oops doesnt the ACT Party support Monsanto ?)
Monsanto are going to get swallowed up by the German seeds multinational Bayer. They’re just holding out for something in the region of $130 per share.
Go Steven Adams
Awesome result
Much respect
The man’s a human windmill!