God, your victim complex is boring. It’s not about the start time. It’s about you consistently whacking a great big pre-typed “if Labour doesn’t do exactly what I say it will be Armageddon” comment at the top of the page. I know it turns me off reading the rest of the thread, and I’m sure it does to others too.
(Ditto Morrissey. You two do understand that blogs are free to create, right? I recommend WordPress but I know others favour Blogger.)
I made much the same observation re: Jenny & Morrissey’s jostling for pole position, over on Lprent’s Jono post. But the way you say it is so much pithier.
The blog creation may be free, but the time isn’t – I honestly don’t know how you manage it!
Ditto Morrissey.
Hmmmm. A quick search reveals that the last time I was first to post on Open Mike was two weeks ago. Hardly enough to spark an appearance before the Monopolies Commission.
You two do understand that blogs are free to create, right? I recommend WordPress but I know others favour Blogger.
What? You’re trying to tell us to form our own blogs? Does the term “fragmentation” mean anything to you?
James
The point you made – it was just an article – is very relevant. Because writing a whole article for serious publication about how people, and particularly women, look (as compared to some ephemeral social standard) is one of the annoying ways that publications have of avoiding talking about the worth and achievements of women politicians or dignitaries.
By concentrating on style and trivia, judging politicians on style and trivia, publications avoid thinking or writing or revealing the important story and the important issues are n society.
Some of us here have been complaining about the NZ Listener going down this trivia road plus concentrating on the issues of the self-interested social climbing middle classes.
I am in agreement with many things Trotter says in his posts, but this….?
I was interested in the quote that begins the article:
“THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN the two main parties,” said the late Bruce Jesson, “is that National governs for capitalists, and Labour governs for Capitalism.”
Seeing that the article focuses on Shane Jones, I was expecting this to be highly critical of a Labour Party/Caucus that ensures capitalism survives, and to be especially critical of Shane Jones’ support of it, but …. no…. just the opposite.
Trotter seems to be in praise of Jones focusing on “jobs” over the environment, and thereby (allegedly) separating Labour from the Greens. Trotter ends the article:
t’s difficult to think of a sharper contrast between Labour’s view of the environment and the Greens’. When Mr Jones’ uses the word he is not thinking of the unspoilt sands of the East Coast or the dense bush of Northland. In his mind he sees the bleak urban environments of Tamaki Makaurau and Porirua: a world without decent housing; without steady employment; without hope.
Labour makes capitalism work not in the interests of capitalists – but for the sake of their victims.
Say what? Jones has of late seemed to me to be more in support of business and capitalism than the plight of struggling workers.
I agree with you Karol. Jones also dissed his own people from the Far North in that same Fairfax News item – because they don’t agree with mineral extraction (by overseas owned companies) happening in their rohe. I can’t understand Trotter : would have thought he’d see through the rightwing pretensions of Jones ! Instead he seems to be helping him (Jones) bolster his own made-up image.
Given that the latest round of angst is said to have arisen among the Labour Party right, I take Trotter to be talking up the local-jobs-and-industry right, of which he sees Jones as being a member, over the lap-dog-to-international-finance right.
Trotter writes superbly but can be way off-line sometimes. For instance his insistence that National has a mandate for asset sales. And he also seems to be in thrall to John Key’s charm-to me it’s so easy to see behind that jokey smile. He (Trotter) is an old-fashioned labourite who has never really come to grips with the rise of the Greens.
Let’s all remember that Trotter was also one of the biggest proponents of David Shearer in the very early days, and look at how that has turned out for the rest of us.
Agree Karol, it seemed to be providing a positive message about Shane Jones. I really enjoy reading Chris Trotter BUT I dont know how anyone can be supportive of Shane Jones, he is not only an idiot and disgrace I think he is the most over rated MP in the Labour caucus. I have just enjoyed listening to Kim Hill making her views on Shane Jones clear in her interview with Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (Worth Listening to). Shane Jones should be turfed out when Shearer gets the boot.
Whenever I find myself agreeing with anything Trotter has written, I read it more carefully. Apart from the fact that he can spout opposing views from one week to the next, he is almost inevitably an apologist for the “pragmatism” of the Labour front bench. This piece is Waitakere man to a t – saying that the interests of workers are opposed to the environment, but somehow in synch with those of Shane Jones’s capitalist mates. If Shane Jones has any interest in the downtrodden of Tamaki Makaurau or Porirua, it’s probably as cheap labour on Sealord’s boats.
Two recent events made me think about how our government is reducing services:
First I spoke to an elderly lady who had fallen and cracked a rib. She was taken to the public hospital, but as there would be a 4 hour wait she was recommended to go to a commercial after-hours service (this was on a Sunday). Her ACC claim was accepted, but she received a bill for $58 from the after hours company. They explained that the bill had been reduced due to the ACC “subsidy” – from $88 down to $58.
Second some time ago I had a free hearing test from a “National Hearing Care Clinic”. They wrote to me recently saying “The level of funding that the government via ACC provides Kiwis who have sustained a hering loss through injury or work place noise exposure has been drastically reduced since 2011. In light of this significant change I have been forced to to take the very difficult decision to close a number of our National Hearing Care clinics.”
So much for compensation – ACC is regarded by National as a “free” insurance scheme which needs to be phased out – it seems that all benefits are now to be regarded as becoming a partial subsidy for costs incurred through accidents . . .
What they could not achieve through privatisation they are attempting to achieve by ignoring the intent of the legislation and reducing benefits . . .
Ed its not a new thing. My Son tore his knee open about 10 years ago, took him to AandE and was told that is would be a LONG wait as they were dealing with a car wreck. The lady at A and E phoned ahead to a doctors surgery and we went there but it cost a LOT. 28 stiches I think tho!
So iwi are getting an exemption from having to reflag their FCVs.
Which is disgusting. Though, the whole idea of iwi prefering to use FCV’s to harvest their quota and not bothering to to build their own fishing fleet and give their people gainful employment is absolutely digusting.
They should have their quote taken from them without compensation and given to people who are willing to employ New Zealand fishing crews.
Its a rare day when i agree with Millsy but in this case he’s spot on. If the only way to make the quota viable is to use slave labour the fish are best left in the sea.
Foreign charter vessels. Basically run down dangerous boats flagged to countries with no rules around safety labour etc. They are often crewed by people who have paid a fortune to a broker for the job which is far removed from that promised. Not to mention there methods etc are far from desirable
Roughly speaking if you had say a million dollars worth of quota it might cost 900000 to catch it using a nz flagged vessel and properly paid crew. Or you can hire a fcv to catch your quota for 600000 ie more profit for the quota holder. As with any job as most here well know if your doing it cheap the first to bare the brunt are th employees terms and conditions. Not to mention dubious methods including high grading and fish dumping
This is nothing new and has been practiced for a long time now. Any discussion about it was suppressed in NZ but not overseas. You can imagine how well that looks when Kiwis voice their concern on environmental and humanitarian issues. No one will say anything, but everybody is thinking the same.
Yes while i have long been a vehement supporter of Maori having specific fishing quota for a resource that has from the time the first Maori set foot on these lands been both an immediate source of food and a much traded resource both between Maori and Maori and Maori and Pakeha i also believe that Maori settled for far less of the fish quota than they deserved,
What has to be understood is that because of the various allocations of quota it is totally uneconomic for the Iwi to all operate and own fishing craft capable of actually catching this quota along with the infrastructure to further process these fish,
The ‘catch’ we speak of here is not from the inshore fishery where small fishing boats can be put to sea on a daily basis and return with the catch that afternoon or night, what is being discussed here is deep sea fishing where the ships are at sea for weeks on end thus it is impossible for the myriad of small tribes with a small amount of quota to envisage owning sea going vessels worth many 10’s of millions of dollars,
Having said all of that i am not happy with the current ‘means’ of using foreign chartered vessels with dubious, to say the least, labour practices to catch and process these many small quota of fish,
Equally i am unamused at your ‘colonial response’ wishing for such quota to be recolonized by the State, the way forward for Iwi with an uneconomic amount of quota in my opinion lies in those Iwi pooling the quota and then investigating the fishing of this quota off of a deep sea vessel crewed by New Zealand sourced labour which they would all own as shareholding Iwi,
How long it will take for these Iwi to re-organize their fishing interests i do not know, but, they should be given the time to do so….
How’s that different to; ice got a really small forestry block so i need the feeling crew to work extra long hours in dangerous conditions for low or no wages so i can profit. Just because foreign nationals bear the brunt doesn’t make it acceptable. It must stop now
Annette Sykes gave a lecture on the appropriation of capitalism ideas by “elite” Maori, and from memory it talks about the fallacy of iwi success being measured by neoliberal values. 2010 Bruce Jesson Lecture: The Politics of the Brown Table
She speaks of how often this success comes at the expense of tikanga, especially kaitiakitikanga that guides decision making and choices.
The NBR editor thinks New Zealanders should admire the people on his paper’s “Rich List”….
RACHEL SMALLEY: What this shows is that the rich are getting richer. NEVIL BREIVIK GIBSON:[long pause to indicate seriousness] Well, everybody’s getting richer. RACHEL SMALLEY: Really? NEVIL BREIVIK GIBSON:[long pause] Yeah.
—TV3 Firstline, Friday 26 July 2013, 6:56 a.m.
Humbug Corner is dedicated to gathering, and highlighting, the most striking examples of faux solicitude, insincere apologies, and particularly stupid recycling of official canards. It is produced by the Insincerity Project®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More humbugs, mostly half-witted….
No. 19 Byron Bentley: “He is a great guy, a good man … very caring…”
No. 18 Rachel Smalley: “…heartbreak all over NSW as Queensland wins the deciding State of Origin!”
No. 17 Jay Carney: ““He is not a human rights activist, he is not a dissident.”
No. 16 Barack Obama: “I wish Muslims across America & around the world a month blessed with the joys of family, peace & understanding.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11072013/#comment-661330
No.15 John Key: “They know this is an issue of national security…”
No. 14 Charles Saatchi: “I abhor violence of any kind against women…”
No. 13 Toyota New Zealand: “The more Kiwis that lean, the more motivated our ETNZ crew will be to win.”
No. 12 Pem Bird: “We’re there to do the business of advancing our people.”
No.11 Whenua Patuwai: “They’re my brothers and to see one of them goes [sic]—it’s tough.”
No. 10 [REMOVED]
No. 9 [REMOVED]
No. 8 Barack Obama: “…people standing up for what’s right…yearning for justice and dignity…” No. 7 Barack Obama: “Nelson Mandela is my personal hero…”
No. 6 John Key: “Yeah well the Greens’ answer to everything is rail, isn’t it.”
No.5 Dr. Rodney Syme: “If you want good, open, honest practice, you have to make it transparent.”
No. 4 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton’s… integrity beyond reproach…such great character…”
No. 3 Dean Lonergan: “Y’ know what? The only people who will mock them are people who are dwarfists.”
No. 2 Peter Dunne: “What a load of drivel and sanctimonious humbug…”
No. 1 Dominic Bowden: “It’s okay to be speechless.”
Yup, as we annihilate the natural habitat around us, that provides the life sustaining and supporting properties so vital to all life on earth, you keep counting the 1’s and 0’s Gibson!
Any one else concerned about the touch and go credit cards.
I asked my bank if I could put a $0 limit on the touch and go part of the card BUT they said they couldn’t, it was only in the control of the cc company.
A YouTube clip shows an American electronic security expert demonstrating how easy it is to harvest credit card details from a passerby in a shopping mall with the $100 credit card scanner, and cloning the details on to an electronic hotel key which he then uses to pay for a meal.
In NZ
Mr Castle became concerned for consumers when he tried a new mobile contactless eftpos scanner at his Frankton business about a month ago.
As he wandered among staff with the new scanner he was able to debit $2 from each of their cards by waving the machine at them.
“We tried putting our cards in our pockets and it still worked,” Mr Castle said.
They’re advertising to push them on telly at the moment – clever ad that makes someone paying in cash look bad holding up a moving line of customers by waiting for change. Card with a pre-loaded amount that you simply touch to a reader and it debits the charge for your coffee etc.
Bad tech, Old Tech. Discriminatory Tech. Money is bad Credit is good. Therefore everyone should live life on Credit, so the Banks/CC companies can get theirs by clipping the ticket every time you use the card. Then the Bank wins again when you are in so much debt, they hammer you with HUGE fees, then take everything of material value that you own. I wonder, how long it will be before Banks want you to do slave labour to pay off your Credit Card debts?
New tech, apparently the user just need wave the card or swipe it at the reading apparatus and the deduction from their account is made without the use of a PIN number,
LOLZ, from what i read you can walk through a crowd of people with a card scanner and even if they have their card in their pocket deduct money from them,
These new cards are supposed to save time for the users, they sure as hell by the sound of them, save lots of time for the scammers…
Ok, but are they a credit card like visa with an extra function, or are they a separate card altogether? Can you just buy them and load them, or are they connected to a bank account?
A big part of Cory Doctorow’s futuristic novel about teenagers taking on the NSA (and winnning!) was how the kids exploited ‘touch and go’ cards using scanners. The cards by that time were being used for things like public transport too.
Nope just an ordinary credit card. My bank switched to tap and go for Mastercard credit cards a couple of years ago. I complained and asked if I could opt out. Answer, no. There’s no way to switch off the tap and go function. I asked if I could switch to another card. I was told they had one a=other card that didn’t have that function (a visa one I think)..
But when I went into my branch to arrange it, I was told Visa would be going tap and go before too long, as would all credit cards.
I expressed my disapproval to my bank, was told others had complained, but clearly they aren’t listening or don’t care.
Does wrapping cards or wallets in foil work? The article mentions a metal sleeve that protects them.
foil works. I suspect the easiest way to remove tha tap&go function is to us a hole punch to break the foil aerial inside the card. But you might need to buy a replacement card if it stuffs the entire thing.
The National Bank insisted that the last time my cc got replaced that the new one had a chip in it. Is the chip the thing that gets swiped/allows the data transfer?
I think so. My cc has that little square at one end that I put into the EFTPOS machines (rather than swipe it down the side). I think that square is where the offending chip is located.
I tried googling National Bank of NZ and kept getting ANZ.
It looks like ANZ credit & debit cards have the contactless feature for purchases under $80.00. And they have the little squares where the chip is.
I’ve never actually used the contactless feature – always use a pin, even for payments under $80.00.
Thanks Karol. They still put the chip in the machine, but it gets processed without the PIN.
Can’t remember what the issue was re teh PIN, something to do with being able to access cash out on credit (which is dangerous for low income people IMO).
As I commented before as the bank has now transferred the burden of responsibility of who incurs any cost regarding mis use/ fraud of these cards. then the cost of using credit cards should also reduce as now the card owner has to wear an increase of cost of fraud instead of the bank, saving banks plenty. But alas the savings are never passed back.
Just waiting for the 1st example on fair go/ Campbell or 7 shape of someone who has suffered being scammed as their card has been read as they walk thru a shopping centre doing nothing wrong. Banks = all care and no responsibility.
yes I am (concerned), and I avoid carrying them where possible. Years ago, my son and I sat at Wgtn Airport with a bunch of home built electronics and a laptop – he being a bit of a nerd at the time. The results blew me away.
I’m not all that keen on the new passports either, and other new technology where there is increasing danger of the onus being placed on the holder. Sometimes there is technology for the sake of technology, rather than introducing some substantially new benefit. (e.g. what’s the big deal in a ‘swipe’ versus a ‘nudge’ – SFA
As we “card holders” are constantly being told that we are liable for not taking reasonable precautions in protecting our pin numbers and not using obvious numbers e.g. birthdays, phone numbers. How will the banks now weasel out of not covering fraudulent transactions with this buy and wave scenario.
I held on as long as possible from having only a signing authority for use of my card, as if anyone took money out they were committing fraud and that the responsibility was on the bank to protect loss of their money, now with pin numbers the burden of responsibility was transferred from the banks to me. Wonder with this scanning how we are to protect ourselves ? Or as there is no ability then are we not then talking all reasonable care and it is the banks problem as we are using a tool they have supplied.
When I got my new chipped card I was told I had to have a PIN (didn’t want one). They were adamant that it was compulsory to use. None of the retailers where I live make me use the PIN though, I just put it through the same way as I always did. Weird.
I found out my EFTPOS card will do debits without the PIN last night. I’d never noticed it before, and it’s not something I asked for. I’ll be trying to change it on Monday. If it were practically possible, I’d do everything with cash anyway.
I figured this was a massive risk as soon as I heard about the concept. And I’m no tech-y person.
The ads are fucking obnoxious, too – I can’t imagine how they got through the approval process given the rather obvious “don’t stop and think, sheeple, just keep consuming and walking through your life like automatons” subtext.
Santi is the standard’s pet astroturfer at the moment. They gets paid to come here and undermine the left. They hardly ever say anything that isn’t serving that agenda, which I guess makes them not very good at their job.
Santi, even if the public had been so demoralized that there were fewer than fifty people prepared to march against it—there will of course be many more than that, as I’m sure you realize—would that mean that their cause is wrong? Public opinion on this snooping legislation is overwhelmingly opposed to what the government is doing; do you think it is appropriate for our elected representatives—whether National, ACT, NZ First or Labour—to flout the public will so brazenly?
Thanks for posting that, CC. As so often with Pilger, this is brilliant, insightful—and uplifting, despite its grim subject matter.
I particularly like this paragraph, which should be read and meditated on by all supporters of state repression, from David Letterman to Jim Mora to Populuxe1….
How long can the British watch the uprisings across the world and do little apart from mourn the long-dead Labour Party? The Edward Snowden revelations show the infrastructure of a police state emerging in Europe, especially Britain. Yet, people are more aware than ever before; and governments fear popular resistance – which is why truth-tellers are isolated, smeared and pursued.
And his closing sentence – from perhaps the greatest political poem ever ‘The Masque of Anarchy’ to remind us of past sacrifice.
‘Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number –
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you –
Ye are many – they are few.’
An unnamed “Labour spokesman”, (I wonder who). Tries to put the toothpaste back in the tube after David Shearer’s appalling performance on Thursday night in Mt. Albert
the party would commission a review of the legislation and implement any changes that came out of that although the new law would remain in place until that process was completed.
Anonymous Labour Party ‘spokesman’
“The situation is at is has always been – Labour has committed to, when it gets in Government, to having a full and independent enquiry into the intelligence services . . . and any changes will flow out of that,” the (anonymous) spokesman said.
The comments come following a meeting in Auckland last night attended by a number of prominent New Zealanders including New Zealander of the Year Dame Anne Salmond and retired Court of Appeal Judge Ted Thomas as well as internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.
Agreed – besides she is well out of date. I posted that Stuff article here yesterday – almost 24 hours ago – as well as the earlier Herald article which referred specifically to Shearer’s statements on holding a wide review asap after the election if Labour get into power.
i watched David Shearer las night on the TV news clearly state that Labour will hold a review of the security services and the Legislation,
When the review is complete then Labour will rewrite the Legislation, if Labour simply scrapped whatever legislation was in place when it becomes the Government that will simply leave a ‘black hole’ within which the security services will be not be bound by any legislation,
i can only assume that the ‘full review’ being promised by the Labour leader will also call for public submissions and due consideration will be given to such in writing new legislation governing the security services,
What interest me is what Party you belong to, Labour by any chance…
Surely it is the legislation which allows the GCSB to act, so that if it were repealed they wouldn’t be able to do anything beyond what normal citizens can do? I think Shearer is being very disingenuous talking about black holes.
Band-aid bill no answer to GCSB woes | New Zealand Labour http://www.labour.org.nz/news/band-aid-bill-no-answer-to-gcsb-woes
May 6, 2013 – Under legislation tabled this afternoon, the GCSB will be allowed to assist the SIS, Police and Defence Force to spy on New Zealand citizens …
Did spies catch Key on tape on Dotcom? | New Zealand Labour http://www.labour.org.nz/news/did-spies-catch-key-on-tape-on-dotcom
Oct 11, 2012 – “I’m calling on GCSB to confirm whether that audio-visual material still exists. … I have also today made a request to the GCSB under the Official …
[PDF]
You can view David Shearer’s letter to the Prime … – Labour Party http://www.labour.org.nz/sites/…/20120928_Request_for_Inquiry_letter.pdf
Sep 27, 2012 – particular issue of the failings of the GCSB and its unlawful interception of information in the case of Kim Dotcom. However, I consider that this …
and about a 1000 more links in Labour’s own site. Since the “anonymous” spokesman just repeated what David Shearer has been saying for almost a year now, it is hardly news (and he was likely to either be David or one of his press secs repeating).
You really should learn to read more widely (and to use a search engine)
Edward Snowden can breathe a sigh of relief, he wont be tortured if he returns to the USA. If America is such a democratic country why would this have even come up an issue?. Full story here:
We won’t torture him. BUT we will stick him into an 8×10′ cell, with some thug that kills and eats people, and we won’t come to his saftey when the usual nastiness runs it’s course in the Prison at night.
\
Torture?? Who Us?
In today’s WTF MSD!? piece, an Australian consultant was paid in excess of $400,000 by the Family Commission. Dispite MSD’s preclusion to spending any money at all and playing up how the system is protecting taxpayers from those naughty bene’s milking the system of money to which they are not entitled, the minister has, “absolute confidence in management at the commission”.
The closing date of the Constitution Conversation for submissions, ie 31 July. I copied some links to the site to help get information and background which can help in deciding on a submission. We don’t want a Constitution Con.
I put them up on Friday’s Open Mike and carry them forward so they don’t get overlooked.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATION 2013 – SUBMIT, SUBMIT
See Constitutional Conversation advertisement above and check out all you need to know.
Please send your submission by 5pm 31 July 2013.
I hear that Sheaert will take the Mike at the Auckland meeting at 2.00. He will have Cunliffe on stage with him. Smart. That is how to respond to TV3’s latest distortion piece.
More proof that this gubmint can’t do sums at all … an Australian expert on what Sky City have really gotten away with .. Joyce and Shonkey are COMPLETELY USELESS.
It says Sky City will recoup all of its costs within 3 years !!!! Dammit, Shonkey can’t even do very well with what he is supposed to be good at ! Oh please, let something prevent the passage of this onerous bill.
More proof that this gubmint can’t do sums at all … an Australian expert on what Sky City have really gotten away with .. Joyce and Shonkey are COMPLETELY USELESS.
Depends upon how you look at it. They’re doping great for their rich mates and the multi-national corporations but they’re screwing over the rest of NZ to do it. Of course, that was their entire purpose all along.
Seems there’s an awful lot more to worry about than a lake at the North Pole.
A sudden methane burp in the Arctic could set the world back a colossal $60 trillion.
Billions of tonnes of the greenhouse gas methane are trapped just below the surface of the East Siberian Arctic shelf. Melting means the area is poised to deliver a giant gaseous belch at any moment – one that could bring global warming forward 35 years and cost the equivalent of almost a year’s global GDP.
conflicting details between the stuff and herald articles. stuff doesn’t mention the images of hitler and john key or the gas cylinders in the back of the jeep. methinks this is fairfax censorship at work.
All of this adds up to a new version of deterrence thinking in which a potential whistleblower should know that he or she will experience a lifetime of suffering for leaking anything; in which those, even in the highest reaches of government, who consider speaking to journalists on classified subjects should know that their calls could be monitored and their whispers criminalised; and in which the media should know that reporting on such subjects is not a healthy activity.
I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale and as time passes what it describes is coming ever closer to reality.
I wonder if Joky Hen will be able to remember 2013 in 20 years time.
Q: What were you doing when many of your fellow countryfolk were concerned about the dismantling of the welfare state that you were so much a beneficiary of, dodgy convention centre deals, spying on the citizenry?
A: Oh, umm well I don’t remember achsully. I was Prime Minister at the time, but never really got involved with the minutiae – can’t remember names or who I met. A lot of my associates and friends seemed to get plum jobs though. Ah shtrange that … mmm. I can’t remember achshully.
Oh I remember I had a rerrly bad cold while meeting a nice Korean lady. Nah, but in answer to your question … 2013 mmmm no sorry cant remember. Don’t think it was an important year.
I do not think they care. It’s pretty easy to sacrifice a few individuals when the whole nation is at risk (aka when the whole nation needs to be controlled for their own good).
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. 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 ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
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I get up early to go to work.
If you want to stop working people commenting on your Open Mike in the morning, Lynn you only need move the start time to 8am.
God, your victim complex is boring. It’s not about the start time. It’s about you consistently whacking a great big pre-typed “if Labour doesn’t do exactly what I say it will be Armageddon” comment at the top of the page. I know it turns me off reading the rest of the thread, and I’m sure it does to others too.
(Ditto Morrissey. You two do understand that blogs are free to create, right? I recommend WordPress but I know others favour Blogger.)
+1000
‘Cept why bother with a blog and building readership when you can hijack someone else’s?
@ QOT
I made much the same observation re: Jenny & Morrissey’s jostling for pole position, over on Lprent’s Jono post. But the way you say it is so much pithier.
The blog creation may be free, but the time isn’t – I honestly don’t know how you manage it!
Ditto Morrissey.
Hmmmm. A quick search reveals that the last time I was first to post on Open Mike was two weeks ago. Hardly enough to spark an appearance before the Monopolies Commission.
You two do understand that blogs are free to create, right? I recommend WordPress but I know others favour Blogger.
What? You’re trying to tell us to form our own blogs? Does the term “fragmentation” mean anything to you?
Anyway, I’m far too lazy to start a blog.
Fairfax sexism:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8970636/Will-the-real-Celia-please-stand-up
why – Just because it is a woman that is the subject of the article?
Hell – was it sexist when Clarke did the same thing (although a lot more photoshop in her one).
If it was a Maori – would you be calling racist?
Or perhaps – it was just an article.
James
The point you made – it was just an article – is very relevant. Because writing a whole article for serious publication about how people, and particularly women, look (as compared to some ephemeral social standard) is one of the annoying ways that publications have of avoiding talking about the worth and achievements of women politicians or dignitaries.
By concentrating on style and trivia, judging politicians on style and trivia, publications avoid thinking or writing or revealing the important story and the important issues are n society.
Some of us here have been complaining about the NZ Listener going down this trivia road plus concentrating on the issues of the self-interested social climbing middle classes.
I am in agreement with many things Trotter says in his posts, but this….?
I was interested in the quote that begins the article:
Seeing that the article focuses on Shane Jones, I was expecting this to be highly critical of a Labour Party/Caucus that ensures capitalism survives, and to be especially critical of Shane Jones’ support of it, but …. no…. just the opposite.
Trotter seems to be in praise of Jones focusing on “jobs” over the environment, and thereby (allegedly) separating Labour from the Greens. Trotter ends the article:
Say what? Jones has of late seemed to me to be more in support of business and capitalism than the plight of struggling workers.
Our national parks are under threat. If Jones and others had their way, they would be strip mined.
I agree with you Karol. Jones also dissed his own people from the Far North in that same Fairfax News item – because they don’t agree with mineral extraction (by overseas owned companies) happening in their rohe. I can’t understand Trotter : would have thought he’d see through the rightwing pretensions of Jones ! Instead he seems to be helping him (Jones) bolster his own made-up image.
Pompous gits both of them !
Given that the latest round of angst is said to have arisen among the Labour Party right, I take Trotter to be talking up the local-jobs-and-industry right, of which he sees Jones as being a member, over the lap-dog-to-international-finance right.
Trotter writes superbly but can be way off-line sometimes. For instance his insistence that National has a mandate for asset sales. And he also seems to be in thrall to John Key’s charm-to me it’s so easy to see behind that jokey smile. He (Trotter) is an old-fashioned labourite who has never really come to grips with the rise of the Greens.
Let’s all remember that Trotter was also one of the biggest proponents of David Shearer in the very early days, and look at how that has turned out for the rest of us.
Okay! Okay! I’m Un-Surrendering. Replace Shearer.
Chris Trotter seems to disagree with you.
Trotter was for Shearer at the, then he was against Shearer, then after NZ Power he was for Shearer, and as of June he’s against Shearer.
Great.
To paraphrase Wilde, to switch favoured leaders once could be regarded as an unfortunate mistake, but to do it twice suggests carelessness 🙂
If Trotter disagrees with you, just wait a week or so. He’ll change his mind.
I think he also was a proponent of Goff in the early days and he ran with the hounds in hounding Helen …..
Agree Karol, it seemed to be providing a positive message about Shane Jones. I really enjoy reading Chris Trotter BUT I dont know how anyone can be supportive of Shane Jones, he is not only an idiot and disgrace I think he is the most over rated MP in the Labour caucus. I have just enjoyed listening to Kim Hill making her views on Shane Jones clear in her interview with Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (Worth Listening to). Shane Jones should be turfed out when Shearer gets the boot.
Whenever I find myself agreeing with anything Trotter has written, I read it more carefully. Apart from the fact that he can spout opposing views from one week to the next, he is almost inevitably an apologist for the “pragmatism” of the Labour front bench. This piece is Waitakere man to a t – saying that the interests of workers are opposed to the environment, but somehow in synch with those of Shane Jones’s capitalist mates. If Shane Jones has any interest in the downtrodden of Tamaki Makaurau or Porirua, it’s probably as cheap labour on Sealord’s boats.
Two recent events made me think about how our government is reducing services:
First I spoke to an elderly lady who had fallen and cracked a rib. She was taken to the public hospital, but as there would be a 4 hour wait she was recommended to go to a commercial after-hours service (this was on a Sunday). Her ACC claim was accepted, but she received a bill for $58 from the after hours company. They explained that the bill had been reduced due to the ACC “subsidy” – from $88 down to $58.
Second some time ago I had a free hearing test from a “National Hearing Care Clinic”. They wrote to me recently saying “The level of funding that the government via ACC provides Kiwis who have sustained a hering loss through injury or work place noise exposure has been drastically reduced since 2011. In light of this significant change I have been forced to to take the very difficult decision to close a number of our National Hearing Care clinics.”
So much for compensation – ACC is regarded by National as a “free” insurance scheme which needs to be phased out – it seems that all benefits are now to be regarded as becoming a partial subsidy for costs incurred through accidents . . .
What they could not achieve through privatisation they are attempting to achieve by ignoring the intent of the legislation and reducing benefits . . .
Ed its not a new thing. My Son tore his knee open about 10 years ago, took him to AandE and was told that is would be a LONG wait as they were dealing with a car wreck. The lady at A and E phoned ahead to a doctors surgery and we went there but it cost a LOT. 28 stiches I think tho!
So iwi are getting an exemption from having to reflag their FCVs.
Which is disgusting. Though, the whole idea of iwi prefering to use FCV’s to harvest their quota and not bothering to to build their own fishing fleet and give their people gainful employment is absolutely digusting.
They should have their quote taken from them without compensation and given to people who are willing to employ New Zealand fishing crews.
Its a rare day when i agree with Millsy but in this case he’s spot on. If the only way to make the quota viable is to use slave labour the fish are best left in the sea.
What are FCVs?
Foreign charter vessels. Basically run down dangerous boats flagged to countries with no rules around safety labour etc. They are often crewed by people who have paid a fortune to a broker for the job which is far removed from that promised. Not to mention there methods etc are far from desirable
Roughly speaking if you had say a million dollars worth of quota it might cost 900000 to catch it using a nz flagged vessel and properly paid crew. Or you can hire a fcv to catch your quota for 600000 ie more profit for the quota holder. As with any job as most here well know if your doing it cheap the first to bare the brunt are th employees terms and conditions. Not to mention dubious methods including high grading and fish dumping
This is nothing new and has been practiced for a long time now. Any discussion about it was suppressed in NZ but not overseas. You can imagine how well that looks when Kiwis voice their concern on environmental and humanitarian issues. No one will say anything, but everybody is thinking the same.
Yes while i have long been a vehement supporter of Maori having specific fishing quota for a resource that has from the time the first Maori set foot on these lands been both an immediate source of food and a much traded resource both between Maori and Maori and Maori and Pakeha i also believe that Maori settled for far less of the fish quota than they deserved,
What has to be understood is that because of the various allocations of quota it is totally uneconomic for the Iwi to all operate and own fishing craft capable of actually catching this quota along with the infrastructure to further process these fish,
The ‘catch’ we speak of here is not from the inshore fishery where small fishing boats can be put to sea on a daily basis and return with the catch that afternoon or night, what is being discussed here is deep sea fishing where the ships are at sea for weeks on end thus it is impossible for the myriad of small tribes with a small amount of quota to envisage owning sea going vessels worth many 10’s of millions of dollars,
Having said all of that i am not happy with the current ‘means’ of using foreign chartered vessels with dubious, to say the least, labour practices to catch and process these many small quota of fish,
Equally i am unamused at your ‘colonial response’ wishing for such quota to be recolonized by the State, the way forward for Iwi with an uneconomic amount of quota in my opinion lies in those Iwi pooling the quota and then investigating the fishing of this quota off of a deep sea vessel crewed by New Zealand sourced labour which they would all own as shareholding Iwi,
How long it will take for these Iwi to re-organize their fishing interests i do not know, but, they should be given the time to do so….
New rules come into effect in 2016, isnt that long enough?
No one is saying that Iwi cant rent out the quota only that the boats must follow NZ labour rules and laws.
I think this is the first time ever I have agreed with Millsy! 🙂
Evidently, Iwi have threatened to re-open treaty negs and seek a further $300Mil if they cannot use slave ships to do the fishing. What the fuck?
How’s that different to; ice got a really small forestry block so i need the feeling crew to work extra long hours in dangerous conditions for low or no wages so i can profit. Just because foreign nationals bear the brunt doesn’t make it acceptable. It must stop now
Why Iwi dont train and employ Maori youth for this work is beyond me.
Is it just that the fatcats at the top dont really give a rats arse?
The Māori elite have taken the lessons of capitalism to heart.
Annette Sykes gave a lecture on the appropriation of capitalism ideas by “elite” Maori, and from memory it talks about the fallacy of iwi success being measured by neoliberal values.
2010 Bruce Jesson Lecture: The Politics of the Brown Table
She speaks of how often this success comes at the expense of tikanga, especially kaitiakitikanga that guides decision making and choices.
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-23/slaves-put-squid-on-u-s-dining-tables-from-south-pacific-catch.html
Humbug Corner
No. 20: NEVIL GIBSON
The NBR editor thinks New Zealanders should admire the people on his paper’s “Rich List”….
RACHEL SMALLEY: What this shows is that the rich are getting richer.
NEVIL BREIVIK GIBSON: [long pause to indicate seriousness] Well, everybody’s getting richer.
RACHEL SMALLEY: Really?
NEVIL BREIVIK GIBSON: [long pause] Yeah.
—TV3 Firstline, Friday 26 July 2013, 6:56 a.m.
Humbug Corner is dedicated to gathering, and highlighting, the most striking examples of faux solicitude, insincere apologies, and particularly stupid recycling of official canards. It is produced by the Insincerity Project®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More humbugs, mostly half-witted….
No. 19 Byron Bentley: “He is a great guy, a good man … very caring…”
No. 18 Rachel Smalley: “…heartbreak all over NSW as Queensland wins the deciding State of Origin!”
No. 17 Jay Carney: ““He is not a human rights activist, he is not a dissident.”
No. 16 Barack Obama: “I wish Muslims across America & around the world a month blessed with the joys of family, peace & understanding.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11072013/#comment-661330
No.15 John Key: “They know this is an issue of national security…”
No. 14 Charles Saatchi: “I abhor violence of any kind against women…”
No. 13 Toyota New Zealand: “The more Kiwis that lean, the more motivated our ETNZ crew will be to win.”
No. 12 Pem Bird: “We’re there to do the business of advancing our people.”
No.11 Whenua Patuwai: “They’re my brothers and to see one of them goes [sic]—it’s tough.”
No. 10 [REMOVED]
No. 9 [REMOVED]
No. 8 Barack Obama: “…people standing up for what’s right…yearning for justice and dignity…” No. 7 Barack Obama: “Nelson Mandela is my personal hero…”
No. 6 John Key: “Yeah well the Greens’ answer to everything is rail, isn’t it.”
No.5 Dr. Rodney Syme: “If you want good, open, honest practice, you have to make it transparent.”
No. 4 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton’s… integrity beyond reproach…such great character…”
No. 3 Dean Lonergan: “Y’ know what? The only people who will mock them are people who are dwarfists.”
No. 2 Peter Dunne: “What a load of drivel and sanctimonious humbug…”
No. 1 Dominic Bowden: “It’s okay to be speechless.”
“Everybody’s getting richer”
Yup, as we annihilate the natural habitat around us, that provides the life sustaining and supporting properties so vital to all life on earth, you keep counting the 1’s and 0’s Gibson!
Fool!
Any one else concerned about the touch and go credit cards.
I asked my bank if I could put a $0 limit on the touch and go part of the card BUT they said they couldn’t, it was only in the control of the cc company.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/8970775/Hi-tech-criminals-target-cards
A YouTube clip shows an American electronic security expert demonstrating how easy it is to harvest credit card details from a passerby in a shopping mall with the $100 credit card scanner, and cloning the details on to an electronic hotel key which he then uses to pay for a meal.
In NZ
Mr Castle became concerned for consumers when he tried a new mobile contactless eftpos scanner at his Frankton business about a month ago.
As he wandered among staff with the new scanner he was able to debit $2 from each of their cards by waving the machine at them.
“We tried putting our cards in our pockets and it still worked,” Mr Castle said.
It’s just another reason to reject the use of cards, or any banking company that will not supply cards with some degree of security.
These RFID bank cards were long since known to have no security features and be prone to fraud, that is how they were designed.
The question is, why would the companies involved, produce such insecure cards!
What’s a touch and go credit card?
They’re advertising to push them on telly at the moment – clever ad that makes someone paying in cash look bad holding up a moving line of customers by waiting for change. Card with a pre-loaded amount that you simply touch to a reader and it debits the charge for your coffee etc.
Bad tech, Old Tech. Discriminatory Tech. Money is bad Credit is good. Therefore everyone should live life on Credit, so the Banks/CC companies can get theirs by clipping the ticket every time you use the card. Then the Bank wins again when you are in so much debt, they hammer you with HUGE fees, then take everything of material value that you own. I wonder, how long it will be before Banks want you to do slave labour to pay off your Credit Card debts?
New tech, apparently the user just need wave the card or swipe it at the reading apparatus and the deduction from their account is made without the use of a PIN number,
LOLZ, from what i read you can walk through a crowd of people with a card scanner and even if they have their card in their pocket deduct money from them,
These new cards are supposed to save time for the users, they sure as hell by the sound of them, save lots of time for the scammers…
Ok, but are they a credit card like visa with an extra function, or are they a separate card altogether? Can you just buy them and load them, or are they connected to a bank account?
A big part of Cory Doctorow’s futuristic novel about teenagers taking on the NSA (and winnning!) was how the kids exploited ‘touch and go’ cards using scanners. The cards by that time were being used for things like public transport too.
It’s a good read on future tech that is here now. http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/
Nope just an ordinary credit card. My bank switched to tap and go for Mastercard credit cards a couple of years ago. I complained and asked if I could opt out. Answer, no. There’s no way to switch off the tap and go function. I asked if I could switch to another card. I was told they had one a=other card that didn’t have that function (a visa one I think)..
But when I went into my branch to arrange it, I was told Visa would be going tap and go before too long, as would all credit cards.
I expressed my disapproval to my bank, was told others had complained, but clearly they aren’t listening or don’t care.
Does wrapping cards or wallets in foil work? The article mentions a metal sleeve that protects them.
foil works. I suspect the easiest way to remove tha tap&go function is to us a hole punch to break the foil aerial inside the card. But you might need to buy a replacement card if it stuffs the entire thing.
Well, foil i is for the time being.
I just checked. <ASB still has a Visa card that does not have the marvelous, miraculous “contactless” function.
I may do another check into changing my card. All but the first Visa option have the contactless feature.
ASB on their contactless cards.
The National Bank insisted that the last time my cc got replaced that the new one had a chip in it. Is the chip the thing that gets swiped/allows the data transfer?
I think so. My cc has that little square at one end that I put into the EFTPOS machines (rather than swipe it down the side). I think that square is where the offending chip is located.
I tried googling National Bank of NZ and kept getting ANZ.
It looks like ANZ credit & debit cards have the contactless feature for purchases under $80.00. And they have the little squares where the chip is.
I’ve never actually used the contactless feature – always use a pin, even for payments under $80.00.
ANZ brought National bank several years ago. Bit unfortunate as I’d gone to the National Bank to get away from the ANZ
Thanks Karol. They still put the chip in the machine, but it gets processed without the PIN.
Can’t remember what the issue was re teh PIN, something to do with being able to access cash out on credit (which is dangerous for low income people IMO).
ANZ took over the National Bank last year.
As I commented before as the bank has now transferred the burden of responsibility of who incurs any cost regarding mis use/ fraud of these cards. then the cost of using credit cards should also reduce as now the card owner has to wear an increase of cost of fraud instead of the bank, saving banks plenty. But alas the savings are never passed back.
Just waiting for the 1st example on fair go/ Campbell or 7 shape of someone who has suffered being scammed as their card has been read as they walk thru a shopping centre doing nothing wrong. Banks = all care and no responsibility.
yes I am (concerned), and I avoid carrying them where possible. Years ago, my son and I sat at Wgtn Airport with a bunch of home built electronics and a laptop – he being a bit of a nerd at the time. The results blew me away.
I’m not all that keen on the new passports either, and other new technology where there is increasing danger of the onus being placed on the holder. Sometimes there is technology for the sake of technology, rather than introducing some substantially new benefit. (e.g. what’s the big deal in a ‘swipe’ versus a ‘nudge’ – SFA
As we “card holders” are constantly being told that we are liable for not taking reasonable precautions in protecting our pin numbers and not using obvious numbers e.g. birthdays, phone numbers. How will the banks now weasel out of not covering fraudulent transactions with this buy and wave scenario.
I held on as long as possible from having only a signing authority for use of my card, as if anyone took money out they were committing fraud and that the responsibility was on the bank to protect loss of their money, now with pin numbers the burden of responsibility was transferred from the banks to me. Wonder with this scanning how we are to protect ourselves ? Or as there is no ability then are we not then talking all reasonable care and it is the banks problem as we are using a tool they have supplied.
When I got my new chipped card I was told I had to have a PIN (didn’t want one). They were adamant that it was compulsory to use. None of the retailers where I live make me use the PIN though, I just put it through the same way as I always did. Weird.
I found out my EFTPOS card will do debits without the PIN last night. I’d never noticed it before, and it’s not something I asked for. I’ll be trying to change it on Monday. If it were practically possible, I’d do everything with cash anyway.
I figured this was a massive risk as soon as I heard about the concept. And I’m no tech-y person.
The ads are fucking obnoxious, too – I can’t imagine how they got through the approval process given the rather obvious “don’t stop and think, sheeple, just keep consuming and walking through your life like automatons” subtext.
The way forward is becoming clearer – John Pilger’s latest article: http://johnpilger.com/articles/how-we-are-impoverished-gentrified-and-silenced-and-what-to-do-about-it.
What if 50 000 marched to, then trashed Waihopai?
The way forward is becoming clearer – John Pilger’s latest article: http://johnpilger.com/articles/how-we-are-impoverished-gentrified-and-silenced-and-what-to-do-about-it.
What if 50 000 marched to – then trashed Waihopai?
You will be lucky if 50 (fitfy, five zero) march.
Santi, how many people did you predict would be at the Stop the GCSB meeting? And how many turned up?
Do you ever have anything constructive to say?
Santi is the standard’s pet astroturfer at the moment. They gets paid to come here and undermine the left. They hardly ever say anything that isn’t serving that agenda, which I guess makes them not very good at their job.
Lprent just banned Santi for dickism.
I just saw that 🙂
http://thestandard.org.nz/the-worst-advice-in-the-world/#comment-669149
Well he was warned. But in one ear, and out the other, with nothing in between, to even, slow it down.
Sadly Brett Dale has now been told to take his place.
Nah, Brett is mostly harmless, even when he is annoying.
And King Kong is still here. Now Santi can join he who shall be unnamed at Kiwibog
I’ve never been able to figure out why KKK gets to stay, but then it’s not my blog. If I don’t like it, I can leave any time.
But when you are having a stressful day they are good for making you laugh with their ineptness.
You will be lucky if 50 (fitfy, five zero) march.
Santi, even if the public had been so demoralized that there were fewer than fifty people prepared to march against it—there will of course be many more than that, as I’m sure you realize—would that mean that their cause is wrong? Public opinion on this snooping legislation is overwhelmingly opposed to what the government is doing; do you think it is appropriate for our elected representatives—whether National, ACT, NZ First or Labour—to flout the public will so brazenly?
LOLZ it only took 3 last time, that’s three, 03…
Thanks for posting that, CC. As so often with Pilger, this is brilliant, insightful—and uplifting, despite its grim subject matter.
I particularly like this paragraph, which should be read and meditated on by all supporters of state repression, from David Letterman to Jim Mora to Populuxe1….
How long can the British watch the uprisings across the world and do little apart from mourn the long-dead Labour Party? The Edward Snowden revelations show the infrastructure of a police state emerging in Europe, especially Britain. Yet, people are more aware than ever before; and governments fear popular resistance – which is why truth-tellers are isolated, smeared and pursued.
+1
And his closing sentence – from perhaps the greatest political poem ever ‘The Masque of Anarchy’ to remind us of past sacrifice.
‘Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number –
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you –
Ye are many – they are few.’
Labour goes into damage control.
An unnamed “Labour spokesman”, (I wonder who). Tries to put the toothpaste back in the tube after David Shearer’s appalling performance on Thursday night in Mt. Albert
🙄
Yep.
Maybe we could try not feeding her today?
Agreed – besides she is well out of date. I posted that Stuff article here yesterday – almost 24 hours ago – as well as the earlier Herald article which referred specifically to Shearer’s statements on holding a wide review asap after the election if Labour get into power.
i watched David Shearer las night on the TV news clearly state that Labour will hold a review of the security services and the Legislation,
When the review is complete then Labour will rewrite the Legislation, if Labour simply scrapped whatever legislation was in place when it becomes the Government that will simply leave a ‘black hole’ within which the security services will be not be bound by any legislation,
i can only assume that the ‘full review’ being promised by the Labour leader will also call for public submissions and due consideration will be given to such in writing new legislation governing the security services,
What interest me is what Party you belong to, Labour by any chance…
Surely it is the legislation which allows the GCSB to act, so that if it were repealed they wouldn’t be able to do anything beyond what normal citizens can do? I think Shearer is being very disingenuous talking about black holes.
Don’t get too silly Jenny. Why don’t you use the net to figure out Labour’s policy rather than simply trying to do a jono and invent the story..
Try this for instance – a google query for “site:labour.org.nz GCSB”
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=site%3Awww.labour.org.nz+GCSB&oq=site%3Awww.labour.org.nz+GCSB
and about a 1000 more links in Labour’s own site. Since the “anonymous” spokesman just repeated what David Shearer has been saying for almost a year now, it is hardly news (and he was likely to either be David or one of his press secs repeating).
You really should learn to read more widely (and to use a search engine)
Edward Snowden can breathe a sigh of relief, he wont be tortured if he returns to the USA. If America is such a democratic country why would this have even come up an issue?. Full story here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-tells-russia-we-wont-torture-edward-snowden-if-he-is-extradited-home-8734490.html
The fact that he had to say it, condemned him in the eyes of millions and for all time.
We won’t torture him. BUT we will stick him into an 8×10′ cell, with some thug that kills and eats people, and we won’t come to his saftey when the usual nastiness runs it’s course in the Prison at night.
\
Torture?? Who Us?
Is democratic really the world you want here? A majority can vote for some pretty foul stuff. Look at our government, for example.
In today’s WTF MSD!? piece, an Australian consultant was paid in excess of $400,000 by the Family Commission. Dispite MSD’s preclusion to spending any money at all and playing up how the system is protecting taxpayers from those naughty bene’s milking the system of money to which they are not entitled, the minister has, “absolute confidence in management at the commission”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8970559/Commission-rapped-for-411-000-consultant
The closing date of the Constitution Conversation for submissions, ie 31 July. I copied some links to the site to help get information and background which can help in deciding on a submission. We don’t want a Constitution Con.
I put them up on Friday’s Open Mike and carry them forward so they don’t get overlooked.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATION 2013 – SUBMIT, SUBMIT
See Constitutional Conversation advertisement above and check out all you need to know.
Please send your submission by 5pm 31 July 2013.
Get thinking with a quiz on each of five Topics.
1 The Constitution http://www.ourconstitution.org.nz/store/doc/NZC_QuizSheet.doc
2 The Bill of Rights http://www.ourconstitution.org.nz/store/doc/BOR_QuizSheet.doc
3 The Treaty of Waitangi http://www.ourconstitution.org.nz/store/doc/TOW_QuizSheet.doc
4 Maori Representation http://www.ourconstitution.org.nz/store/doc/MOR_QuizSheet.doc
5 Electoral Matters http://www.ourconstitution.org.nz/store/doc/ELM_QuizSheet.doc
http://www.3news.co.nz/Cunliffe-takes-mic-at-anti-GCSB-meeting/tabid/370/articleID/306521/Default.aspx
I hear that Sheaert will take the Mike at the Auckland meeting at 2.00. He will have Cunliffe on stage with him. Smart. That is how to respond to TV3’s latest distortion piece.
It’d be nice to see Labour doing something smart.
Remember the issue is about Civil Liberties not the Labour party leadership.
+1
“Remember the issue is about Civil Liberties not the Labour party leadership.”
Yes, but Boadicea’s comment was about Labour, which is what I was responding too.
Shearer has NO choice. He is about as popular, and wanted as a toothache.
More proof that this gubmint can’t do sums at all … an Australian expert on what Sky City have really gotten away with .. Joyce and Shonkey are COMPLETELY USELESS.
It says Sky City will recoup all of its costs within 3 years !!!! Dammit, Shonkey can’t even do very well with what he is supposed to be good at ! Oh please, let something prevent the passage of this onerous bill.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8970513/A-licence-to-print-money
Depends upon how you look at it. They’re doping great for their rich mates and the multi-national corporations but they’re screwing over the rest of NZ to do it. Of course, that was their entire purpose all along.
Seems there’s an awful lot more to worry about than a lake at the North Pole.
A sudden methane burp in the Arctic could set the world back a colossal $60 trillion.
Billions of tonnes of the greenhouse gas methane are trapped just below the surface of the East Siberian Arctic shelf. Melting means the area is poised to deliver a giant gaseous belch at any moment – one that could bring global warming forward 35 years and cost the equivalent of almost a year’s global GDP.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23923-huge-methane-belch-in-arctic-could-cost-60-trillion.html#.UfMcuNLfBrM
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v499/n7459/full/499401a.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/jul/24/arctic-ice-free-methane-economy-catastrophe
Agreed, it puts other problems in perspective.
WTF? Lol. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8972333/Bizarre-protest-against-Key-in-Seoul
conflicting details between the stuff and herald articles. stuff doesn’t mention the images of hitler and john key or the gas cylinders in the back of the jeep. methinks this is fairfax censorship at work.
How to be a rogue superpower
I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale and as time passes what it describes is coming ever closer to reality.
I wonder if Joky Hen will be able to remember 2013 in 20 years time.
Q: What were you doing when many of your fellow countryfolk were concerned about the dismantling of the welfare state that you were so much a beneficiary of, dodgy convention centre deals, spying on the citizenry?
A: Oh, umm well I don’t remember achsully. I was Prime Minister at the time, but never really got involved with the minutiae – can’t remember names or who I met. A lot of my associates and friends seemed to get plum jobs though. Ah shtrange that … mmm. I can’t remember achshully.
Oh I remember I had a rerrly bad cold while meeting a nice Korean lady. Nah, but in answer to your question … 2013 mmmm no sorry cant remember. Don’t think it was an important year.
Security experts to test phone anti-theft locks
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10900115
40% of all robberies in NY and 50% in San Francisco were phone related.
175 million phones purchased in the last year in the states and almost 1 in three were stolen.
I do not think that the proposed GCSB legislation is going to be able to track the user of a stolen phone and an innocent person will be incriminated.
I do not think they care. It’s pretty easy to sacrifice a few individuals when the whole nation is at risk (aka when the whole nation needs to be controlled for their own good).
Shearer on Q&A tomorrow morning. Don’t miss it.
Looking forward to him waxing eloquent, sounding smart and sharp as the PM-in-waiting.
His typical media performance is gradually improving. But his political judgement and personal value system is still a total black box.