Fabio Vighi is Professor of Critical Theory at Cardiff University, and author of Critical Theory and the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism.
He reckons it's "time to take the red pill and face reality: since the start of 2020, a macroeconomic virus disguised as a pandemic virus has taken possession of our lives, causing widespread depression and consigning entire populations to often extreme forms of legalized discrimination."
I found no evidence he's a denier of microbiology and his thesis that the control system is using the pandemic as a tool rings true. Folks who prefer to form an overview of situations ought to give his reasoning an appraisal. I'll quote a few interesting parts…
In August 2019, a white paper issued by BlackRock (the all-powerful investment fund already known as the “fourth branch of government”) had shown the Federal Reserve the way out of the coming “dramatic downturn,” urging the US Central Bank to implement an “unprecedented” monetary policy whereby large masses of money created out of thin air were to be delivered “directly into the hands of public and private spenders.” This “going direct” scheme, which according to BlackRock had to be made “permanent,” was promptly inaugurated a month later in response to the repo market crisis.
Since then, and especially after the arrival of Virus, the Fed’s balance sheet has grown by nearly 5 trillion dollars, an absolutely extraordinary expansion even when compared with the QE bailouts started at the end of 2008. And to get an idea of the global dimension of this expansion, we need to add the trillions created by other central banks around the world, as well as programs of fiscal stimulus such as ‘helicopter money.’
…the perverse logic of ‘pandemic capitalism,’ which allowed the top 1% to increase their wealth at record speed, while the middle classes are going missing… Currency depreciation appears to be a feature, not a bug, of central banking. Remember the World Economic Forum’s slogan? You will own nothing, and you will be happy! In short, it is not happening by accident but by design.
What does our macroeconomic environment look like? Its basic features are summarised below:
– Global debt of $300 trillion, growing exponentially
– Rapidly increasing deficits in most advanced and developing economies
– Colossal bubbles in the stock, bond (debt), and real estate markets
– Astronomical bubble in the derivatives market
– Surging inflation with potential for hyperinflation.
Within this explosive context, Virus and variants work as cynical cover stories whose aim is to expedite the authoritarian management of the implosive trajectory of contemporary capitalism, which cannot be contained through economic policy alone. The unrelenting manufacturing of ‘pandemic emergency’ is both a defensive strategy against collapse, and an aggressive attack on what is left of the ‘work society,’ for it allows the elites to use inflation as a means to impoverishment and domination.
The political left has opted to take the blue pill, and, as summarized by Franco Berardi (Bifo), it can only offer false perspectives: “There is no political way out of the apocalypse. For thirty years the left has been the main political instrument of the ultra-capitalist offensive, and whoever invests their hopes in the left is an imbecile who deserves to be betrayed, since betraying is the only activity that the left is capable of performing competently.”
If we want to avoid the coming tsunami of social barbarism we will need, at some point soon, to redefine the relationship between work, community and social wealth beyond its capitalist meaning. To do this we will need to take a third pill, which however will only become available after we organise meaningful popular resistance against socioeconomic tyranny legitimised by ‘emergency capitalism.’
I'm intrigued by his notion of a third pill. He doesn't explain it – and Matrix theory provides just the red/blue binary – but a green pill has aesthetic appeal…
Cheers Dennis for perusing these articles and books and passing on what you find.
I certainly can get put off by sentences with lots of big words but the bite size chunks you share give a lot of food for thought.
This virus has changed folks thinking and not in a good way by my reckoning. If we want to mitigate and adapt to CC challenges then BAU will not suffice. A simpler, humbler way of life, with sharing at the heart of it is what is needed.
5.9% inflation what does that mean ? Someone on $50k last year now in real terms will have had to have spent $3,000 less than in 2020 or obtained an increase of the same, not likely especially as many in the public sector were put on a “pay freeze”. How long can anyone substain such loss in spending power, especially as many of the essential items: rent, petroleum, food etc costs have increased at a higher rate and are inescapable to avoid?
National leader Christopher Luxon says the Government needs to stop spending money on “dumb stuff” in order to arrest rising inflation rates.
Asked for examples of wasteful spending to cut, Luxon pointed to cameras on fishing boats and consultant fees for the Three Waters reform coming out of the Covid-19 budget, and the $51m spent on the cancelled Auckland Harbour cycle bridge.
Cameras on fishing boats are estimated to cost $68m, while the policy costs from the Three Waters programme sit at around $20m. All up these costs make up about 0.1 per cent of the annual Government budget.
Spotify has begun removing Young’s music from its platform after an ultimatum issued by the star earlier this week to the company. Referring to controversial podcasts by Joe Rogan hosted by Spotify, Young said: “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Many of Young’s fans and supporters of his stance called for a boycott of the streaming platform, and for other artists to follow his lead. “I stand with Neil Young” and “#CancelSpotify” became rallying calls on social media on Thursday.
The actor and activist Mia Farrow tweeted: “Wow @Spotify you chose to keep creepy, dangerous liar Joe Rodan over the magnificent Neil Young?” There was no immediate sign of other big names in the music industry siding with Young against Spotify – an indication perhaps of its market dominance. Between 2010 and 2020, Spotify’s share of the US music market rose from 7% to 83%.
He went to visit Lynyrd Skynyrd after that was a hit & according to the report I read in RS it went okay. I also read the southern dudes got inappropriate feedback from their fans along redneck lines & the songwriter complained that "in Birmingham they love the governor, we all did what we could do" was too subtle for them…
Young’s anti-GMO rhetoric helped fuel a narrative that made it easy to spread fear and distrust about COVID vaccines, most of which used novel biotechnology methods and some of which use genetic engineering.
Foreign policy wonks have their work cut out. The international rules a small country like Aotearoa rely on are going to stretched, hopefully not beyond breaking point.
”With With this in mind I believe that 2022 will be a year where the transition from the liberal international order to something else will begin to pick up speed and as a result lead to various types of conflict between the old and new guards. What with hybrid or grey area conflict, disinformation campaigns, electoral meddling and cyberwarfare all now part of the psychological operations mix along with conventional air, land, sea and space-based kinetic military operations involving multi-domain command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and robotics (C4ISR2) systems, the ways in which conflict can be engaged covertly or overtly have multiplied. That technological fact means that it is easier for international actors, or at least some of them, to act as disruptors of the global status quo by using conflict as a systemic re-alignment vehicle“
Causes of inflation? When nobody was going anywhere two years ago except in ambulances, fuel prices plummeted. Great! Now with Putin manipulating a big war scare in Eastern Europe, fuel prices have surged. Arguably without covid, fuel may well have been in the 2.75-3.00 dollar a litre by now anyway. Most likely Russia is not invading anyone but it’s return on elevated fuel prices suits it perfectly for very little cost. Hence rapid fuel inflation which feeds on to everything else. But wait, there is a silver lining at least for us with our locally produced electricity, how much more encouragement do you need to go electric?
The other big inflation mover is the huge increase in house building big booms always raise prices, so what do you want, low inflation or not enough houses?
The other big inflation pusher that Hickey does not seem to take into account is that with 2 years of no international holiday travel Kiwis have a shitload ( proper economic term that, when you don’t know the real numbers ) of money lying around going “ spend me, spend me “. The possible real number may be close to his extra 21 billion that he says private NZers have squirrelled away or have spent it at home. How can any of these have been avoided? Almost certainly not, we didn’t get more money from wage subsidies almost certainly less, but we saved a lot of it.
The biggest single factor causing inflation is a 30% rise in fuel prices which has a huge knock on effect.
His claim people are hoarding $21 billion from cancelled overseas trips maybe true but we lost that from tourism as well.
Hickey has overlooked the number of houses being constructed is at record levels 2yrs in a row.
That has helped keep the economy ticking over nicely.
Keeping unemployment down.
Numbers on benefits are up I would say that is because of a reset during covid Nationals nasty attitude to the homeless people not able to access benefits to make their figures look good.That was changed by labour during covid.
This govt made sure homeless had accomodation,healthcare money so they didn't spread covid.
National would have left homeless to their own devices.
What role does OPEC play these days regarding fuel prices then?
We've had low inflation and 'not enough houses for years'.
Low interest rates and a lack of any other appealing asset class are 2 factors that ramped up housing prices.
Whatever the triggers, Hickey is laying out the real facts.
Tourism was supposedly NZ's biggest earner….the economy has survived that becoming irelevant ,no trouble at all.
Hickey appears to be saying the Govt did not assess the economic ramifications of Covid quickly enough.
It looks to me that it became policy to fuel the property ponzi to make GDP look good and compensate for any austerity measures(less spending/more saving)that people may have imposed on…themselves.
The next 18 months will be very interesting…indeed.
Any political theory advocating the weaponising of culture ought to cite as evidence the cultural operations of the CIA throughout history. Spooks doing cultural analysis? Who knew? Fortunately the history is becoming available via declassification:
Thomas W. Braden, the former supervisor of cultural activities at the CIA, explained the power of the Agency’s cultural assault in a frank insider’s account published in 1967: “I remember the enormous joy I got when the Boston Symphony Orchestra [which was supported by the CIA] won more acclaim for the U.S. in Paris than John Foster Dulles or Dwight D. Eisenhower could have bought with a hundred speeches.”
Perched in a privileged ivory tower, disconnected from the real world, embroiled in meaningless academic debates over specialized minutia, or floating in the abstruse clouds of high-minded theory, intellectuals are frequently portrayed as not only cut off from political reality but as incapable of having any meaningful impact on it. The Central Intelligence Agency thinks otherwise… For in an intriguing research paper written in 1985, and recently released with minor redactions through the Freedom of Information Act, the CIA reveals that its operatives have been studying the complex, international trend-setting French theory affiliated with the names of Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan and Roland Barthes.
The intelligence agency understands culture and theory to be crucial weapons in the overall arsenal it deploys to perpetuate US interests around the world. The recently released research paper from 1985, entitled “France: Defection of the Leftist Intellectuals,” examines—undoubtedly in order to manipulate—the French intelligentsia and its fundamental role in shaping the trends that generate political policy.
So to the historical origin of the triangulation adopted by the Greens towards the twin evils of the left and right:
Greg Grandin, one of the leading historians of Latin America, perfectly summarized this situation in The Last Colonial Massacre: “Aside from making visibly disastrous and deadly interventions in Guatemala in 1954, the Dominican Republic in 1965, Chile in 1973, and El Salvador and Nicaragua during the 1980s, the United States has lent quiet and steady financial, material, and moral support for murderous counterinsurgent terror states. […] But the enormity of Stalin’s crimes ensures that such sordid histories, no matter how compelling, thorough, or damning, do not disturb the foundation of a worldview committed to the exemplary role of the United States in defending what we now know as democracy.”
The author examines how the control system uses the left as dupes:
As we know from the research on the CIA’s program of psychological warfare, the organization has not only tracked and sought to coerce individuals, but it has always been keen on understanding and transforming institutions of cultural production and distribution.
Indeed, its study on French theory points to the structural role universities, publishing houses and the media play in the formation and consolidation of a collective political ethos.
In descriptions that, like the rest of the document, should invite us to think critically about the current academic situation in the Anglophone world and beyond, the authors of the report foreground the ways in which the precarization of academic labor contributes to the demolition of radical leftism. If strong leftists cannot secure the material means necessary to carry out our work, or if we are more or less subtly forced to conform in order to find employment, publish our writings or have an audience, then the structural conditions for a resolute leftist community are weakened. The vocationalization of higher education is another tool used for this end since it aims at transforming people into techno-scientific cogs in the capitalist apparatus rather than autonomous citizens with reliable tools for social critique. The theory mandarins of the CIA therefore praise the efforts on the part of the French government to “push students into business and technical courses.”
So what to do about that? Unusually for a leftist intellectual, he sees a way forward.
develop systemic and radical critique that is as egalitarian and ecological as it is anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist… In direct opposition to the spy agency’s cultural strategy of fragment and polarize, by which it has sought to sever and isolate the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist left, while opposing it to reformist positions, we should federate and mobilize by recognizing the importance of working together—across the entire left… by working together and mobilizing our capacity to collectively create the institutions necessary for a world of cultural leftism.
For the left, the road to hell has always been paved by such good intentions. Translating them into effective action requires praxis (something leftists don't like even thinking about let alone doing) in which individual talent & flair gets synthesised in group contexts to produce collaboration.
Group-think in these contexts can be defeated by intelligent design. Principles and incentives that balance diversity of opinion with mutual commitments and agreed tasks and goals usually achieve likeminded output without infighting. Leadership to steer process towards destination can be both individual & collective. However, in our current context political activists must adapt by leaving the past failures behind them if they are serious about becoming successful…
As an old stale pale male Efeso certainly has my vote. He is a breath of fresh air. The rest of the candidates from both sides of the political divide will, in my view, be mayor of the CBD only, as Goff has proven to be. The rest of the peasantry will be ignored
It maybe a problem for Labour but I suspect they're going to have to suck it up.
Nice bloke though he is, one thing Richard Hill does not have is charisma. Efeso Collins on the other hand has it in spades. Add that to his impressive and rational thinking processes, he should be a shoo-in for the mayoralty. I believe his popularity would also transcend the Labour Party and if Labour tries to undermine him then it would likely be to their detriment.
So, the government planned to have the RAT tests available for sale in New Zealand weeks ago.
And, as the article points out, the MOH has been far too slow on approving test suppliers. Absolutely unacceptable:
"Wallis Keiller's Invitrocue rapid antigen test is banned in New Zealand – it doesn't have Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield's blessing, and very few do. It's a saliva rapid antigen test that links up to an app for a result. While approved by Germany's tough medical regulator, it's not approved here…..Keiller says his tests have a 97 percent accuracy and as soon as he gets signoff he can get loads here quickly."
Yes and they also planned to build 10,000 Kiwibuild houses a year and fix homeless and poverty and a few other things. They can't do everything at once, although they have banned plastic bags from supermarkets.
So our govt has indexed benefits to wage growth. Wage growth last year was 2.4% inflation 5.9% . Everyone faces the same struggle how to survive on less. And this decrease in spending power applies for every year that wages growth is less than inflation. But Grant Robertson said this morning “It’s really challenging people, but an awful lot of it relates to Covid, supply chain and things that unfortunately will work their way through the system this year.” Grant you and your fellow ministers are disconnected with the day to day world the rest of us live in, and our pain is due to YOUR policies.
probably, but people, the country and the health system being in the best possible position is better than letting covid run free (aka not resisting community spread). We also learn more as time goes on. At some point we may well have to make a different set of decisions, but by mid year we will have actual data on omicron and long covid.
yes, what's your point? We're in the process of developing the skills of slowing viruses that are highly contagious. That wills serve us with any new variants that are more infectious (or spread faster).
Further, it appears that there are significant numbers of people getting omicron who have already had covid. There is so much to learn yet about human immunity in response to covid, across a number of areas.
You still aren't addressing long covid, so I will assume it's a case of collateral damage in a strategy of not resisting community spread.
All of which is to say that we don't actually know what the frying pan and the fire are yet.
If "best possible position" had been a serious consideration, then there would have been over two years worth of effective public health policy, and public health messaging on what people might do to optimise their immune system. Instead we got Big Pharma's vaccinate or bust strategy that cleared the table of anything and everything that might hamper 'vaccination for all' while introducing deleterious measures that had scant regard for actual health. It has been 100% medical maleficence.
By mid- year Omicron will have washed through and the acute phase abated because people will have acquired natural immunity from infection. Covid will be endemic because it has multiple reservoirs in mammalian populations.
I'm curious as to what these imaginary skills might be (the stopping or slowing spread ones) – because we already have effective anti-virals that kill the virus (and therefor stop the spread). But they've been variously banned or not publicised. Hell. On an individual level Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo solution is a hugely effective preventative measure if used as a nasal rinse. Listerine is another effective measure if gargled. And yes. The studies have been done and were published over a year ago. And then of course, there's naturally acquired immunity from previous infection…though that was rubbished and discounted by government health agencies "everywhere" until very recently for some reason that had, honest Joe, nothing to do with any crusade.
Have you read up on the decades long health tail off from the Spanish Flu I alerted you to previously? Long Covid isn't a thing – it's Covid. Covid might have multiple health effects that will ripple for decades and that will, for some part, only ever be recognised in retrospect.
Anyway. Enough of combating denial, avoidance and fear for one day.
If Omicron BA.2 gets into the community, in lieu of Omicron BA.1 that it appears to be supplanting, the spread of Covid will be faster than it would have been, and so whatever stresses and strains on infrastructure Omicron BA.1 might have presented will be exacerbated. That was essentially all I was remarking on. Chow.
Seems NZ might have foregone the frying pan for the fire (in terms of health system capacity) by resisting community spread of Omicron BA.1.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion? Still, it will be spreading fast enough within a week or two – no hurry, eh?
Most people infected with COVID-19 will be fine, but some will suffer from various long COVID symptoms, and unvaccinated people are over-represented among the unfortunate few who are hospitalised and/or die with COVID infections. The 7-day moving average for COVID deaths in Australia is ~70 per day.
Not too late to get your booster if you're eligible, and let your immune system bank a little extra protection ahead of the Omicron surge – a prudent precaution, imho.
All of New Zealand is now at Red
Protect yourself and our community by getting boosted, wearing a face mask when out and about and reducing contact with others.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion?
No.
I've merely observed government policy was to keep one variant at bay "because highly transmissible), and we're possibly going to be hit by more transmissible one.
Isn't it NZ government policy (and MoH strategy) to keep all COVID variants at bay? Just thinking how the Team’s successful 'elimination strategy' shifted to a suppression strategy as the virus evolved – adapt or die!
Both the virus and civiisation are in uncharted waters – what next?
The much spruiked income from tourism is bullshit, figures from 10 to 40 billion were being talked about at the start of covid with sensible critics saying maybe 8 to 14. Covid proved them all wrong. A large number of Aussie visitors are kiwis visiting family and they don’t spend that much, the balance particularly from Asia are bought here in vertically integrated systems where pretty much all the trip costs are bought and paid for in their home countries and are to pay for services mostly owned by Asian entities, airlines, buses, accomodation etc and this money doesn’t get banked in NZ , they probably spend far less a day than than ordinary Kiwis on a tiki tour. Also most tourists don’t spend long in NZ, a matter of a few weeks or less, whereas Kiwis travelling take a lot longer on their overseas holidays.
It is not in the industry’s interest in the slightest to have the real numbers revealed, even cruise ship visits are counted as ‘ visitor nights’ when some passengers don’t even get off the boat let alone sleep ashore. This is deceitful accounting and the
reason is the leveraging power of the mythical value to the country. Just listen to the bleating over every little sensible public safety advice or instruction, and the self importance is plain to see. The economy did far better with Kiwis spending their own thwarted trip money locally on having a look around here and then putting the balance in the bank or a bit of a tart-up at home.
Looks good though, as grade separation via tunnelling along half of it works pretty well, and can always redo the southern section later on if need be. Though still need to get the North Shore section nailed down to get the full benefit and get this all started before Labour looses power. So then National can't cancel it as easily due to all the contracts involved :3
But I can sense a mighty whinge arising from National and ACT over this, partly on cost, mainly on "public transport is evils whaaaaaa!". Along with usual moaning about the time it'll take, but given how long certain National done projects (Transmission Gully, Christchurch Rebuild and Northern Motorway, etc) took or are still in progress, despite National's claims about their competency, they don't have a foot to stand on.
Now if only Labour would do the same for Public Housing already… Figure that may happen after the next election, as a Labour-Greens government is highly likely, but we shall see.
Also, I'm rather jealous Auckland's finally getting it's public transport network sorted, because Christchurch's is still kind of shit. Sure, the new bike corridors are nice and more bus lanes have helped, but the bike corridors don't have anywhere near enough reach and buses still get snarled up in rush hour traffic at chokepoints like Riccarton Road etc. But it'll be forever at this rate before heavy and light rail are accepted by ECan.
[your pre-approved user name appears to be […], so please stick with that – Incognito]
[name removed while we discuss this in the back end – weka]
I used to post here years ago, probably under TheMess or The_Mess with the same email address lawl. But depression kicked my arse so I haven't had the energy to engage here in ages…
The Mess, can you please let us know if you want to use The Mess as your username going forward, or if you want to revert back to the one you have used on TS in the past?
No idea sadly, it's mainly been Christchurch City Council pushing for it to become government policy. I probably should go read up the policy, since I now party vote Greens instead of Labour. Because despite their anti-GMO stance, they hit the mark mostly on the other social welfare and climate change stuff.
Our Future of Transport plan would set Aotearoa up for the future by:
Investing in large scale rapid rail to reboot the regions between major cities
Accelerating transformational public transportnetworks within our major cities, including busways, light rail, and rail
Setting up a $1.5 billion Cycle Superhighwayfund to provide safe, separated cycleways, with the capacity to be used by thousands of people each day
Introducing a target date for only zero emission light vehicles to be able to be imported to Aotearoa, and linking this to the date set by the UK, likely to be 2030
Incentivise heavy freight to transition to zero emissions vehicles and be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2050
Setting up a nationwide Go Anywhere transport pass that works on all public transport, and provides access to electric car share, e-bike subscriptions and e-scooters in the main cities across the country
Reducing the cost of public transport by making it free for people over 65, under 18 and community services holders, by reducing the cost by 50% for students, and by setting up weekly payment limits – so no one pays for more than eight rides a week.
National and ACT's response is at the end, and it's just as sad and useless as I suspected:
The National Party has called the plan “a dream.”
“If it ever goes ahead it will be at least $15 billion of wasted spending,” said Simeon Brown, National's transport spokesman.
Brown said, “the number one priority for Aucklanders is a second Harbour Crossing for both public transport and private vehicles.”
The ACT party said it was not opposed to light rail, but disagreed with the approach being taken by the government.
“Auckland is staring down a decade of disruption,” said ACT’s transport spokesman Simon Court.
“Questions need to be asked about whether we could be taking actions today at less cost to deliver light rail in the future. For example, options like investing in the bus network and repurposing it for light rail later could be reconsidered.”
One wonder's how it'll be wasteful Simon, when the return on investment for rail public transit systems in cities is historically very positive. It's also somewhat cheaper than filling Auckland with more highways when Auckland's running out of room for them with out very, very expensive mass buyouts of property for the space. Oh and a 2nd car bridge would result in more congestion due to pumping more cars into the network.
As for ACT, lolwut? Put light rail on bus lanes? Pray tell, how exactly is that meant to work with the sort of infrastructure light rail needs + the problems with high frequency runs vis the lack of grade separation and stations? Never mind the disruption that would entail trying to do.
Oh right, under ACT it would never happen, and instead the bus service would be entirely profit driven and thus stop serving much of Auckland bar the highest usage areas. Because Uber exists and 1 person per car/SUV is oh so much more "freedom" and everyone can totally afford it and to pay Auckland private market rents.
Xiomara Castro was sworn in as Honduras' first female president Thursday in the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Castro, a democratic socialist, won a landslide victory in last year's presidential election after campaigning on a radical agenda to counter years of governance plagued by corruption and scandal. She promised to alleviate poverty and liberalize abortion laws.
Castro's party, the Freedom and Refoundation Party (Libre) won the November 2021 vote with a lead of more than 14 points over her nearest opponent, Nasry Asfura, the capital's mayor and candidate for outgoing President Juan Orlando Hernández's National Party.
Winning 51% of the vote share and 1.7 million votes, Castro garnered the largest number of votes in the country's history, underscoring the public's appetite for change.
Castro's promise to stamp out the systemic problems behind poverty, including economic insecurity, inequality, corruption and violence — some of the root causes of migration to the north — is not only popular with the electorate, but has made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.
Her ascendancy is interesting for several reasons. Her husband was president – ousted by a coup in 2009 – for an establishment party (the liberals).
The party system is dominated by the conservative National Party of Honduras and the Liberal Party of Honduras.
This establishment duopoly prevailed for over a century!
In January 2021, Honduras changed the country's constitution to make it almost impossible to legalize abortion in the future. Before that, Honduras was already one of few countries with a complete ban on abortion. The constitutional reform was supported by Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez's ruling National Party.
She defeated the Nationals decisively – therefore has a mandate to alter that constitutional roadblock to abortion! Imagine the conservative consternation.
'made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.'
BIG…surprise.
'Honduras, where the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company dominated the country's key banana export sector and associated land holdings and railways, saw insertion of American troops in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925. The writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana republic" in 1904 to describe Honduras.'-wiki
'The US intervened in numerous military coups to protect its commercial interests, embedding a conservative, Americanised elite. Contra guerrillas backed by President Ronald Reagan used Honduras as a base to attack Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 1980s.'-Guardian.
Well the Labour Party have found a way to introduce a Capital Gains Tax without calling it that. They are also going to put it on the family home. While they are about it they are going to claim that they are also providing you with the Capital Gain so it won't actually cost you anything.
How do they do it? Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. Aren't you going to be grateful? They will ignore the fact that thanks to their crazy policies the price of all Auckland homes has risen.
Then they will tax you some percentage of this supposed gain because the increase is all due to the tram line. It isn't a capital gain of course. It is a windfall profit according to Robbo. This "windfall' they will tax. They won't even wait till you get it of course. They will tax you…heavily….every year….even if you never use the damn tram.
What is near the line? Well all of New Zealand actually. After all. If you were ever allowed to visit Auckland the tram line would be a sight for you, a tourist, to swoon over. I'm sure you will love to contribute to Robbo's coffers.
There. Simple wasn't it. All we have to do is get it in quickly and line up all the Labour MPs to recite, in unison, and over and over again.
"This is a windfall, it is not a Capital Gain". Repeat this line over and over while interposing at intervals "Thank you Saint Jacinda for the bounty of your windfall".
You obviously haven't read what the Minister concerned has been saying. The "he" in the quote is Michael Wood.
'“It is fair and equitable that those who receive a financial windfall from significant public investment make a contribution to the project. We are clearly signalling that will happen, and that is a live prospect from today,” he said.
Levying properties to fund new infrastructure has already occurred, with new homes in the Milldale Development north of Auckland, paying an extra charge.
.A regime for light rail would be different in that it would apply to existing properties.'
So what are the homes he talks about if they do not include family homes?
"Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. "
A correction:
Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram, that will be patronised by only a handful of people because the public transport system is shit, somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home.
The N95 etc don't seem to take a dye even if dyeing doesn't screw them up. That leaves overmasks, or possibly masquerade masks over the top of the face, lol
Australia is nearly as useless as us so far as RATs are concerned. Pity we didn't hadn't learnt from what they are doing in the UK now, where they have lots of experience with Covid.
"Rapid antigen tests in the UK have individual bar codes which people photograph after taking their free test and upload the result to the NHS website, whether they are negative or positive. This means the health authorities have a clearer idea of the spread of COVID in the community."
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April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
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Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
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Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
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Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
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What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
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Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Fabio Vighi is Professor of Critical Theory at Cardiff University, and author of Critical Theory and the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism.
He reckons it's "time to take the red pill and face reality: since the start of 2020, a macroeconomic virus disguised as a pandemic virus has taken possession of our lives, causing widespread depression and consigning entire populations to often extreme forms of legalized discrimination."
I found no evidence he's a denier of microbiology and his thesis that the control system is using the pandemic as a tool rings true. Folks who prefer to form an overview of situations ought to give his reasoning an appraisal. I'll quote a few interesting parts…
I'm intrigued by his notion of a third pill. He doesn't explain it – and Matrix theory provides just the red/blue binary – but a green pill has aesthetic appeal…
https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/red-pill-or-blue-pill-variants-inflation-and-the-controlled-demolition-of-society/
When you look at the accelerated scale of Q.E I have no problem entertaining this..theory.
1Trillion dollars=spent @$40 a second,takes 792 years to…spend…!
Cheers Dennis for perusing these articles and books and passing on what you find.
I certainly can get put off by sentences with lots of big words but the bite size chunks you share give a lot of food for thought.
This virus has changed folks thinking and not in a good way by my reckoning. If we want to mitigate and adapt to CC challenges then BAU will not suffice. A simpler, humbler way of life, with sharing at the heart of it is what is needed.
5.9% inflation what does that mean ? Someone on $50k last year now in real terms will have had to have spent $3,000 less than in 2020 or obtained an increase of the same, not likely especially as many in the public sector were put on a “pay freeze”. How long can anyone substain such loss in spending power, especially as many of the essential items: rent, petroleum, food etc costs have increased at a higher rate and are inescapable to avoid?
I refute that!
Are you training to be a Labour candidate??
So all he needs to make his rationale compelling is a top economist agreeing that inflation is caused by 0.1% of the annual govt budget being dumb.
Unfortunately he forgot to call for volunteers to do so. Will they come to his rescue regardless? Watch this space…
Who approved transmission gully ?
You want an example of waste start there….or a vanity flag project.
From stuff — 15% expenditure was for the wage subsidy (which Luxon approved).
That is 150 x the amt that Luxon deems as dumb cause of the inflation.
So really much of the inflation probably comes from the response to covid.
WHO chief backs Neil Young over Covid misinformation row with Spotify: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/27/who-chief-backs-neil-young-over-covid-misinformation-row-with-spotify-joe-rogan
Southern man don't need him around anyhow.
He went to visit Lynyrd Skynyrd after that was a hit & according to the report I read in RS it went okay. I also read the southern dudes got inappropriate feedback from their fans along redneck lines & the songwriter complained that "in Birmingham they love the governor, we all did what we could do" was too subtle for them…
Thanks that's interesting. I will have to do some Googling.
I wonder if Mia Farrow remembers that Neil Young used to be considered dangerous?
I don't, but there is this…
https://www.thedailybeast.com/neil-youngs-long-record-of-spreading-scientific-misinformation
The new international order in 2022.
Foreign policy wonks have their work cut out. The international rules a small country like Aotearoa rely on are going to stretched, hopefully not beyond breaking point.
”With With this in mind I believe that 2022 will be a year where the transition from the liberal international order to something else will begin to pick up speed and as a result lead to various types of conflict between the old and new guards. What with hybrid or grey area conflict, disinformation campaigns, electoral meddling and cyberwarfare all now part of the psychological operations mix along with conventional air, land, sea and space-based kinetic military operations involving multi-domain command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and robotics (C4ISR2) systems, the ways in which conflict can be engaged covertly or overtly have multiplied. That technological fact means that it is easier for international actors, or at least some of them, to act as disruptors of the global status quo by using conflict as a systemic re-alignment vehicle“
http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2022/01/redrawing-the-lines/
Causes of inflation? When nobody was going anywhere two years ago except in ambulances, fuel prices plummeted. Great! Now with Putin manipulating a big war scare in Eastern Europe, fuel prices have surged. Arguably without covid, fuel may well have been in the 2.75-3.00 dollar a litre by now anyway. Most likely Russia is not invading anyone but it’s return on elevated fuel prices suits it perfectly for very little cost. Hence rapid fuel inflation which feeds on to everything else. But wait, there is a silver lining at least for us with our locally produced electricity, how much more encouragement do you need to go electric?
The other big inflation mover is the huge increase in house building big booms always raise prices, so what do you want, low inflation or not enough houses?
The other big inflation pusher that Hickey does not seem to take into account is that with 2 years of no international holiday travel Kiwis have a shitload ( proper economic term that, when you don’t know the real numbers ) of money lying around going “ spend me, spend me “. The possible real number may be close to his extra 21 billion that he says private NZers have squirrelled away or have spent it at home. How can any of these have been avoided? Almost certainly not, we didn’t get more money from wage subsidies almost certainly less, but we saved a lot of it.
The biggest single factor causing inflation is a 30% rise in fuel prices which has a huge knock on effect.
His claim people are hoarding $21 billion from cancelled overseas trips maybe true but we lost that from tourism as well.
Hickey has overlooked the number of houses being constructed is at record levels 2yrs in a row.
That has helped keep the economy ticking over nicely.
Keeping unemployment down.
Numbers on benefits are up I would say that is because of a reset during covid Nationals nasty attitude to the homeless people not able to access benefits to make their figures look good.That was changed by labour during covid.
This govt made sure homeless had accomodation,healthcare money so they didn't spread covid.
National would have left homeless to their own devices.
What role does OPEC play these days regarding fuel prices then?
We've had low inflation and 'not enough houses for years'.
Low interest rates and a lack of any other appealing asset class are 2 factors that ramped up housing prices.
Whatever the triggers, Hickey is laying out the real facts.
Tourism was supposedly NZ's biggest earner….the economy has survived that becoming irelevant ,no trouble at all.
Hickey appears to be saying the Govt did not assess the economic ramifications of Covid quickly enough.
It looks to me that it became policy to fuel the property ponzi to make GDP look good and compensate for any austerity measures(less spending/more saving)that people may have imposed on…themselves.
The next 18 months will be very interesting…indeed.
Any political theory advocating the weaponising of culture ought to cite as evidence the cultural operations of the CIA throughout history. Spooks doing cultural analysis? Who knew? Fortunately the history is becoming available via declassification:
So to the historical origin of the triangulation adopted by the Greens towards the twin evils of the left and right:
'defending democracy'..American style….we have to destroy the 'country' to…save it.
The author examines how the control system uses the left as dupes:
So what to do about that? Unusually for a leftist intellectual, he sees a way forward.
For the left, the road to hell has always been paved by such good intentions. Translating them into effective action requires praxis (something leftists don't like even thinking about let alone doing) in which individual talent & flair gets synthesised in group contexts to produce collaboration.
Group-think in these contexts can be defeated by intelligent design. Principles and incentives that balance diversity of opinion with mutual commitments and agreed tasks and goals usually achieve likeminded output without infighting. Leadership to steer process towards destination can be both individual & collective. However, in our current context political activists must adapt by leaving the past failures behind them if they are serious about becoming successful…
The born to rule, rich go to great lengths to maintain the status quo and their….authority.
All the Congress and Senate members being millionaires…helps too.
Two Auckland stories to follow.
The debate for the “Labour” candidate for the mayoralty.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/01/efeso-yeah-yeah.html
Light rail for the isthmus.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127610200/watch-live-auckland-light-rail-goes-for-tunnel-option-with-harbour-crossing
As an old stale pale male Efeso certainly has my vote. He is a breath of fresh air. The rest of the candidates from both sides of the political divide will, in my view, be mayor of the CBD only, as Goff has proven to be. The rest of the peasantry will be ignored
Re – the first link:
It maybe a problem for Labour but I suspect they're going to have to suck it up.
Nice bloke though he is, one thing Richard Hill does not have is charisma. Efeso Collins on the other hand has it in spades. Add that to his impressive and rational thinking processes, he should be a shoo-in for the mayoralty. I believe his popularity would also transcend the Labour Party and if Labour tries to undermine him then it would likely be to their detriment.
So, the government planned to have the RAT tests available for sale in New Zealand weeks ago.
And, as the article points out, the MOH has been far too slow on approving test suppliers. Absolutely unacceptable:
"Wallis Keiller's Invitrocue rapid antigen test is banned in New Zealand – it doesn't have Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield's blessing, and very few do. It's a saliva rapid antigen test that links up to an app for a result. While approved by Germany's tough medical regulator, it's not approved here…..Keiller says his tests have a 97 percent accuracy and as soon as he gets signoff he can get loads here quickly."
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/01/omicron-government-planned-to-have-covid-19-rapid-antigen-tests-for-sale-weeks-ago.html
Yes and they also planned to build 10,000 Kiwibuild houses a year and fix homeless and poverty and a few other things. They can't do everything at once, although they have banned plastic bags from supermarkets.
Snark!
🙂
That was more opinion than fact with much loaded and (mis)leading language.
I could not find the Invitrocue rapid antigen test on the list of approved antigen tests in Germany (https://www.bfarm.de/EN/Medical-devices/Tasks/Special-topics/Antigen-tests/_node.html), so that assertion with claimed performance cannot be verified there.
Currently, there are 9 approved RATs in NZ, but none yet for saliva samples (https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/assessment-and-testing-covid-19/rapid-antigen-testing#business).
So our govt has indexed benefits to wage growth. Wage growth last year was 2.4% inflation 5.9% . Everyone faces the same struggle how to survive on less. And this decrease in spending power applies for every year that wages growth is less than inflation. But Grant Robertson said this morning “It’s really challenging people, but an awful lot of it relates to Covid, supply chain and things that unfortunately will work their way through the system this year.” Grant you and your fellow ministers are disconnected with the day to day world the rest of us live in, and our pain is due to YOUR policies.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/factsheets/budget/factsheet-benefit-indexation-2019.pdf
http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/5/397995#:~:text=%22At%205.9%25%20for%202021%2C,has%20been%20in%20three%20decades.&text=%22With%20wage%20growth%20of%20only,record%20amounts%20of%20government%20spending.
So you pretty much need a 9% wage rise (before tax) to just keep 'treading water'
Hmm. Omicron BA.2 is apparently 50% more infectious than Omicron BA.1 (the original from S.A.).
Seems NZ might have foregone the frying pan for the fire (in terms of health system capacity) by resisting community spread of Omicron BA.1.
meanwhile, long covid, and there's been recent more concern about the impacts of any covid infection on human anatomy and physiology.
You're very sure of yourself on omicron being relatively harmless, but I've yet to see you address the long covid and other issues arising.
You are likely going to catch Covid. – end –
Meanwhile, were you not one of the people expressing terrible concern over NZ health care system's capacity to cope with a rapid spread of Covid?
Further, it appears that there are significant numbers of people getting omicron who have already had covid. There is so much to learn yet about human immunity in response to covid, across a number of areas.
You still aren't addressing long covid, so I will assume it's a case of collateral damage in a strategy of not resisting community spread.
All of which is to say that we don't actually know what the frying pan and the fire are yet.
If "best possible position" had been a serious consideration, then there would have been over two years worth of effective public health policy, and public health messaging on what people might do to optimise their immune system. Instead we got Big Pharma's vaccinate or bust strategy that cleared the table of anything and everything that might hamper 'vaccination for all' while introducing deleterious measures that had scant regard for actual health. It has been 100% medical maleficence.
By mid- year Omicron will have washed through and the acute phase abated because people will have acquired natural immunity from infection. Covid will be endemic because it has multiple reservoirs in mammalian populations.
I'm curious as to what these imaginary skills might be (the stopping or slowing spread ones) – because we already have effective anti-virals that kill the virus (and therefor stop the spread). But they've been variously banned or not publicised. Hell. On an individual level Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo solution is a hugely effective preventative measure if used as a nasal rinse. Listerine is another effective measure if gargled. And yes. The studies have been done and were published over a year ago. And then of course, there's naturally acquired immunity from previous infection…though that was rubbished and discounted by government health agencies "everywhere" until very recently for some reason that had, honest Joe, nothing to do with any crusade.
Have you read up on the decades long health tail off from the Spanish Flu I alerted you to previously? Long Covid isn't a thing – it's Covid. Covid might have multiple health effects that will ripple for decades and that will, for some part, only ever be recognised in retrospect.
Anyway. Enough of combating denial, avoidance and fear for one day.
If Omicron BA.2 gets into the community, in lieu of Omicron BA.1 that it appears to be supplanting, the spread of Covid will be faster than it would have been, and so whatever stresses and strains on infrastructure Omicron BA.1 might have presented will be exacerbated. That was essentially all I was remarking on. Chow.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion? Still, it will be spreading fast enough within a week or two – no hurry, eh?
Most people infected with COVID-19 will be fine, but some will suffer from various long COVID symptoms, and unvaccinated people are over-represented among the unfortunate few who are hospitalised and/or die with COVID infections. The 7-day moving average for COVID deaths in Australia is ~70 per day.
Not too late to get your booster if you're eligible, and let your immune system bank a little extra protection ahead of the Omicron surge – a prudent precaution, imho.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion?
No.
I've merely observed government policy was to keep one variant at bay "because highly transmissible), and we're possibly going to be hit by more transmissible one.
So far government policy has been to keep every variant at bay, because covid kills people.
Isn't it NZ government policy (and MoH strategy) to keep all COVID variants at bay? Just thinking how the Team’s successful 'elimination strategy' shifted to a suppression strategy as the virus evolved – adapt or die!
Both the virus and civiisation are in uncharted waters – what next?
The much spruiked income from tourism is bullshit, figures from 10 to 40 billion were being talked about at the start of covid with sensible critics saying maybe 8 to 14. Covid proved them all wrong. A large number of Aussie visitors are kiwis visiting family and they don’t spend that much, the balance particularly from Asia are bought here in vertically integrated systems where pretty much all the trip costs are bought and paid for in their home countries and are to pay for services mostly owned by Asian entities, airlines, buses, accomodation etc and this money doesn’t get banked in NZ , they probably spend far less a day than than ordinary Kiwis on a tiki tour. Also most tourists don’t spend long in NZ, a matter of a few weeks or less, whereas Kiwis travelling take a lot longer on their overseas holidays.
It is not in the industry’s interest in the slightest to have the real numbers revealed, even cruise ship visits are counted as ‘ visitor nights’ when some passengers don’t even get off the boat let alone sleep ashore. This is deceitful accounting and the
reason is the leveraging power of the mythical value to the country. Just listen to the bleating over every little sensible public safety advice or instruction, and the self importance is plain to see. The economy did far better with Kiwis spending their own thwarted trip money locally on having a look around here and then putting the balance in the bank or a bit of a tart-up at home.
Makes sense.
No wonder the effect of nearly zero international tourists was negiligble.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/460377/auckland-light-rail-tunnel-to-run-to-mt-roskill-before-following-sh20-to-the-airport
So much shade thrown, so much shade.
Looks good though, as grade separation via tunnelling along half of it works pretty well, and can always redo the southern section later on if need be. Though still need to get the North Shore section nailed down to get the full benefit and get this all started before Labour looses power. So then National can't cancel it as easily due to all the contracts involved :3
But I can sense a mighty whinge arising from National and ACT over this, partly on cost, mainly on "public transport is evils whaaaaaa!". Along with usual moaning about the time it'll take, but given how long certain National done projects (Transmission Gully, Christchurch Rebuild and Northern Motorway, etc) took or are still in progress, despite National's claims about their competency, they don't have a foot to stand on.
Now if only Labour would do the same for Public Housing already… Figure that may happen after the next election, as a Labour-Greens government is highly likely, but we shall see.
Also, I'm rather jealous Auckland's finally getting it's public transport network sorted, because Christchurch's is still kind of shit. Sure, the new bike corridors are nice and more bus lanes have helped, but the bike corridors don't have anywhere near enough reach and buses still get snarled up in rush hour traffic at chokepoints like Riccarton Road etc. But it'll be forever at this rate before heavy and light rail are accepted by ECan.
[your pre-approved user name appears to be […], so please stick with that – Incognito]
[name removed while we discuss this in the back end – weka]
Moderation note for you.
Bah, let my name be >_<
I used to post here years ago, probably under TheMess or The_Mess with the same email address lawl. But depression kicked my arse so I haven't had the energy to engage here in ages…
I take that as you wanting The Mess. Just check the name field next time you comment, you will probably have to retype it. Cheers.
The Mess, Glad you are beating The Black Dog. Enjoyed your comments. I agree that National say they are good managers, but facts say otherwise.
The Mess, can you please let us know if you want to use The Mess as your username going forward, or if you want to revert back to the one you have used on TS in the past?
Yeah, I'll take it 😛
I've got my gravatar so it'll work well enough for my purposes.
😎
Nice to have you back.
Good name too. I like it. Wish I'd thought of it.
did the Greens have a plan for Christchurch rail?
No idea sadly, it's mainly been Christchurch City Council pushing for it to become government policy. I probably should go read up the policy, since I now party vote Greens instead of Labour. Because despite their anti-GMO stance, they hit the mark mostly on the other social welfare and climate change stuff.
As part of the 2020 election they announced this plan:
Also connected to the 2020 Future of Transport election priority:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127610200/auckland-light-rail-goes-for-tunnel-option-with-harbour-crossing
National and ACT's response is at the end, and it's just as sad and useless as I suspected:
One wonder's how it'll be wasteful Simon, when the return on investment for rail public transit systems in cities is historically very positive. It's also somewhat cheaper than filling Auckland with more highways when Auckland's running out of room for them with out very, very expensive mass buyouts of property for the space. Oh and a 2nd car bridge would result in more congestion due to pumping more cars into the network.
As for ACT, lolwut? Put light rail on bus lanes? Pray tell, how exactly is that meant to work with the sort of infrastructure light rail needs + the problems with high frequency runs vis the lack of grade separation and stations? Never mind the disruption that would entail trying to do.
Oh right, under ACT it would never happen, and instead the bus service would be entirely profit driven and thus stop serving much of Auckland bar the highest usage areas. Because Uber exists and 1 person per car/SUV is oh so much more "freedom" and everyone can totally afford it and to pay Auckland private market rents.
Right, lunch calls, finally…
Her ascendancy is interesting for several reasons. Her husband was president – ousted by a coup in 2009 – for an establishment party (the liberals).
This establishment duopoly prevailed for over a century!
She defeated the Nationals decisively – therefore has a mandate to alter that constitutional roadblock to abortion! Imagine the conservative consternation.
'made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.'
BIG…surprise.
'Honduras, where the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company dominated the country's key banana export sector and associated land holdings and railways, saw insertion of American troops in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925. The writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana republic" in 1904 to describe Honduras.'-wiki
'The US intervened in numerous military coups to protect its commercial interests, embedding a conservative, Americanised elite. Contra guerrillas backed by President Ronald Reagan used Honduras as a base to attack Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 1980s.'-Guardian.
I wonder if they shared a banana at the civic reception later? In honour of the grand tradition I mean…
Xiomara: "Did you know your country invaded mine seven times a century ago?"
Kamala: (gulp) "Yes, I got a briefing on the history before I left."
Xiomara: "Seven is the magic number. It cast a godalmighty spell on us. We've been spell-bound ever since."
Kamala: "Well, my president is a wizard with words. He trumped Trump!"
Xiomara: "You think he could do a counter-spell for us?"
Kamala: "You need help with abortion rights. He could talk to the Pope."
Well the Labour Party have found a way to introduce a Capital Gains Tax without calling it that. They are also going to put it on the family home. While they are about it they are going to claim that they are also providing you with the Capital Gain so it won't actually cost you anything.
How do they do it? Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. Aren't you going to be grateful? They will ignore the fact that thanks to their crazy policies the price of all Auckland homes has risen.
Then they will tax you some percentage of this supposed gain because the increase is all due to the tram line. It isn't a capital gain of course. It is a windfall profit according to Robbo. This "windfall' they will tax. They won't even wait till you get it of course. They will tax you…heavily….every year….even if you never use the damn tram.
What is near the line? Well all of New Zealand actually. After all. If you were ever allowed to visit Auckland the tram line would be a sight for you, a tourist, to swoon over. I'm sure you will love to contribute to Robbo's coffers.
There. Simple wasn't it. All we have to do is get it in quickly and line up all the Labour MPs to recite, in unison, and over and over again.
"This is a windfall, it is not a Capital Gain". Repeat this line over and over while interposing at intervals "Thank you Saint Jacinda for the bounty of your windfall".
There, done.
'They are also going to put it on the family home. '
Alwyn,I say alwyn…are you feeling…alright!
You obviously haven't read what the Minister concerned has been saying. The "he" in the quote is Michael Wood.
'“It is fair and equitable that those who receive a financial windfall from significant public investment make a contribution to the project. We are clearly signalling that will happen, and that is a live prospect from today,” he said.
Levying properties to fund new infrastructure has already occurred, with new homes in the Milldale Development north of Auckland, paying an extra charge.
.A regime for light rail would be different in that it would apply to existing properties.'
So what are the homes he talks about if they do not include family homes?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300505493/properties-around-aucklands-light-rail-likely-to-face-value-capture-tax
You've gone very quiet Blazer? Have your mates embarrassed you? When do you think the PM will quit, or veto Robertson and Wood's little ploy?
Or do you think she will behave like a typical politician and just deny she said it?
It was a revelation alwyn…I would actually like 'Tony Blair ' in high heels to quit.
This 'transformational' Govt is almost as disappointing as the Natz.
"Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. "
A correction:
Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram, that will be patronised by only a handful of people because the public transport system is shit, somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home.
If it moves (a train moves) tax it! If it doesn't move (like your house) tax it anyway!
Any thoughts on personalising masks?
The N95 etc don't seem to take a dye even if dyeing doesn't screw them up. That leaves overmasks, or possibly masquerade masks over the top of the face, lol
Australia is nearly as useless as us so far as RATs are concerned. Pity we didn't hadn't learnt from what they are doing in the UK now, where they have lots of experience with Covid.
"Rapid antigen tests in the UK have individual bar codes which people photograph after taking their free test and upload the result to the NHS website, whether they are negative or positive. This means the health authorities have a clearer idea of the spread of COVID in the community."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-government-has-been-found-wanting-once-again-20220104-p59ltc.html
But we are so woefully unprepared so far as RATs go that our government has hit the panic button by diverting supplies away from the private sector.